Staged Dyno Results for 2010 MazdaSpeed3

We have received a lot of questions regarding the dyno numbers for our products for the 2010 Speed3. So far we’ve only released a Stock vs. (Intake+RacePipe) dyno sheet, and I figured it was time to add some clarity to the questions and comments in a centralized location instead of replying on specific forums and leaving other people in the dark. In the end, our Intake + Racepipe + Downpipe give customers the ability to crank out 51 more horsepower for $687. The key to getting the most out of your car isn’t just to make ample power increases, but to have money left in your wallet to add more options sooner. CorkSport has you covered at a cost of $13.74/hp with a peak gain of 51 Wheel Horsepower and 47 Ft Lb of Torque.

The 2010 Speed3 has a lot of power left on the table, and our product development has really brought that to light. Unfortunately, we stage build everything -starting with an Intake, adding a RacePipe, then the DownPipe…and Dyno and labor hours add cost to parts, so we try our best to get the data we need to validate our products without adding a lot of cost to the parts based on a variety of test iterations and combinations. This blog post details the results of the staged build on our 2010 Speed3. In addition, it makes some details clear about comparing our systems to other options on the market -what’s included in intake and downpipe packages to provide detail to costs vs. gains.

Stock vs. Power Series Intake System
Our $239 intake system includes our aluminum turbo inlet pipe, billet MAF housing and CorkSport Dry Flow Air Filter. Again, this package includes the turbo inlet pipe -it is the only system on the market that is packaged including the inlet pipe -all others are marketed separately. The torque gains were nearly 20ft lbs increase on average. We also saw large sections of torque gain that were up to 33ft lbs of torque. The horsepower gains were equally impressive with the largest differential being a 36whp gain over the stock numbers. Our system works great, we have put a lot of time into the design and validation testing of it and it generates some serious power…at $6.63 per horse at the wheels.

Racepipes and Downpipes…*
The CorkSport TurboBack Exhaust packages are broken into three components: The Downpipe which evacuates exhaust gasses from the turbocharger into the main exhaust system; The Racepipe (available with or without high flow catalytic converter) which replaces the factory secondary restrictive catalytic converter; The CatBack Exhaust System which is comprised of the primary 80mm (3.15″) exhaust pipe and resonators and the dual 80mm tailpipe section. The main component to discuss is the comparison of the CorkSport Downpipe and Racepipe to other Downpipes on the market. A few other Downpipes cost substantially more -due partially to the fact that they include what we sell as a Racepipe. Despite our separate packaging, our pricing is still competitive at $448 for the combined package, and allow our customers to swap in the wide open 80mm Racepipe on track days and retain their factory catalytic converters or choose the Racepipe which features a high flow spun metallic catalytic converter (an additional $200). Whether you choose the Downpipe/Racepipe combination with or without a high flow catalyst, you’ll find our prices aggressively competitive.

Stock vs. Power Series Intake System + Power Series Stock Fitment Racepipe
This stage adds the Power Series RacePipe to the 2010 Speed3 w/ CorkSport Short Ram Intake & Turbo Inlet Pipe. Power goes up nicely to a combined gain of 41whp and 33ft lb of torque at peak and a blistering 50ft lb of torque at 3000rpm. Where the intake alone dropped low end (1600-2900RPM) torque by a few pound feet relative to stock, the addition of the racepipe puts the entire torque curve higher than that of the stock setup. If you’re running a rally car or just want blistering torque -this is your prime combination.

Stock vs. CorkSport Intake + Racepipe + Downpipe
This stage adds the Power Series Downpipe from CorkSport to the 2010 Speed3 w/ Short Ram Intake & Turbo Inlet Pipe. The CorkSport downpipe features a divorced wastegate dump design -providing a separate outlet for wastegate gasses and avoiding disruption of the primary exhaust pathway when the wastegate cracks open to bypass excess exhaust pressure past the turbine wheel. Adding the downpipe to the previously detailed combination of intake and racepipe, power jumps another 10 horse at the cost of a little bit of peak torque, but the low end of the torque curve increases nicely. As a combined package, the CorkSport Intake, Racepipe and Downpipe put down 51 horsepower and 47 pound feet of torque at the wheels. Watch for the release of our downpipe for the 2010 Speed3 in the coming weeks.

Jason

* Consult with your local governing body regarding the legality of removal of a factory catalytic converter, whether it is for track or for street use and whether you are using the full race open pipe or a high flow catalyst. High Flow Performance Catalystsare ILLEGAL in the State of California, and will NOT be sold into California.

CorkSport Dyno Day

Last Saturday at our CorkSport Swap Meet, we had a great turnout for the Dyno Testing. With 16 people signing up ahead of time and 5 signing up on site, we got some great runs in from a diverse group of participants. We even felt sorry for a handful of non-Mazdas and let them participate as well!

DYNODAY

High horsepower of the day was Jason O’Neill with his ’01 Miata. Jay’s car made 393hp to the rear wheels with a brutal 368 ft lb of torque. A week earlier he had the motor out to diagnose some issues with the variable valve timing as well as try to get the head into the shop for new valve guides and seals and couldn’t make it in time so he threw it back in just to drive down to the event on a set of beefy drag radials. Later in the evening he ran an 11.51 at 124mph out at Portland International Raceway. Brutal. I’ll say this much, when a lightweight little Miata pushing 400+hp (it was uncharacteristically chilly out Saturday night) on a cold track makes a 1.6 second reaction time, it’s driver has had some practice. Hats off to Jay for his awesome car and sticky launch skills.

Close behind was an LS2 powered FD RX-7 that was unbelievably clean. The install was gorgeous, with little over 1000 miles on the clock since the swap, and the powerband was equally beautiful. Dropping an Earth shaking 300ft lb of torque at 1600RPM and following that up with a 45 degree horsepower curve topping out at 376hp, this car would be more adrenaline pumping fun than a barrel of monkeys in an AK-47 factory. And the owner’s passion for Mazdas goes way back…he bought an FD off the lot new in ’93 as well. While purists will wince at the addition of Chevy Power to one of the crown jewels of Mazda’s Rotary history, I would guess anyone who saw the meticulous install and the owners passion for making this an all around amazing car would give it a thumbs up. The drivetrain wasn’t the only amazing thing about the car – the suspension and bodywork were phenomenal as well.

We had a pair of Speed3’s and a Speed6 on the dyno as well, with high HP numbers in the high 260’s and high torque numbers in the high 290’s. The dyno runs on these cars are all over the map, preferencing torque on one run, horsepower on the next. One car ran 257HP w/ 296ft lb followed by a run of 269HP w/ 282ft lb. And I always thought the less the driver could effect the run the more consistent the output would be – not so with the MZR 2.3 DISI powered sedans.

The rest of the pool consisted of two FS Powered Mazdaspeed Protégés, a BP Turbo Powered Protégé, Four Miata’s and two eardrum scalding FB RX-7’s that both gave the LS2 a run for its money for smoothest powerband.

All in all it was a great day, and we had some good opportunities to talk shop and discuss opportunities for more power. The Seattle area group from MazdasNW.com came down and were able to meet up with more of the folks on the forum who are from the Portland Area. All in all, it became clear that a lot of these Mazda enthusiasts are hungry for opportunities to spend time discussing their wrenching projects and spending time with like minded people. I look forward to future opportunities like this. Thanks again for everyone who came out to the event…without such great participation, none of us would have had as much fun as we did.

P.S. If you have video of your car on our Dyno during the CorkSport Dyno Day and it’s not included in the above video playlist, fire over a copy for me and we’ll add it! Sorry for not getting all of the cars on video, I had a few different hats I was wearing and wasn’t able to get them all.

Jason

CorkSport September 2009 Swap Meet and Dyno Day

We had our swap meet and dyno day on Saturday the 19th. The weather for the day was pretty ominous with rain forecasted from early morning to around noon and it was right on. At 6am the rain started up but that didn’t stop us from getting the event going.


10am with the rain coming down


Alan Webb Mazda showed up at the event early and brought along some parts to sell at a discount and a new 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 to show off. We had the swap meet spaces in doors to keep people dry during the entire day. There were lots of good deals to be had at the event that we offered and other people brought as well.


People checking out the deals (including the sweet RE-Amemiya MS3 hood)


We had almost the entire Mazda range of models represented at the event. All models of Rx7s, Rx8s, Mazda Proteges (new and older models), Miatas, Mazda 6s, and Mazda 3s.


Scott’s FC with the drift damage can be seen at the right (Scott too)


The dyno event had 20 cars on run on it during the day. The best power made was a NB Miata with a GT3076R turbocharger at 400 wheel hp. The car is very un-assuming until the driver hits the throttle.


The biggest dyno number of the day went to the red Miata above.


The day even had a few surprises in it too. The 1st gen Rx7 after its dyno run drove around the parking lot and the tie rod end broke. After a quick assessment and help from CorkSport the tie rod end was repaired and the car was back on 4 wheels. Thankfully it happened in our parking lot and not on his drive home.


Oh Snap!


Thank you to everyone for coming out and making the event despite the not so pleasant weather early in the day. I would like to mention a special thanks to Alan Webb Mazda for braving the weather and to MazdasNW group for driving down from the Seattle area.

Derrick

Product Testing Has Never Been So Fun!

I have finally got some time to polish the washer behind the steering wheel on the 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 and I can without a doubt say it is an unbelievably fun car. I come from a world of cars that have an immense amount of what I like to call ‘Soul.’ Meaning they’re rickety and loud and generally belch mass quantities of fuel out the tailpipe on tipping into the throttle after 7500rpm decel because the 45mm Weber DCOE’s are washing the cylinder walls down like a firehose. So for me to drive a refined car is usually an exercise in complaining about how quiet it is or that it doesn’t have enough of this so called ‘Soul.’ Meaning I feel out of place because I’m actually in a nice car that behaves like it should and also accelerates and handles like a monster. It’s my exercise in self justification that my 70’s and 80’s cars have something that replaces the refinement that I am so dearly missing.

During the product validation phase for our Power Series Intake System we found that the 2010 Speed3 has a very low tolerance for improved intake designs – the window for fuel trim on the 2010 seems to be far narrower than it was with the 2007-2009. And the car runs pig-rich at wide open throttle from the factory, and from what we can tell Mazda wants to keep it that way. Which is ridiculous – maximum best torque isn’t made at 10:1 AFR. We have managed to design a system that pushes the envelope for power and also resides at the upper end of the safe zone as it relates to ECU Long Term Fuel Trims (LTFTs). This required us to spend a lot of time behind the wheel with an OBD2 datalogger to gather data off the 2nd Gen. ECU. We’d then head back to the lab to crunch some numbers and improve our understanding of what the ECU wants to see, what factors effect that and how to manipulate them for safe running and excellent power while simultaneously avoiding the dreaded CEL/MIL light. And no, the first step of the install instructions aren’t ‘Remove Gauge Cluster and cut traces on Tachometer circuit board that lead to check engine LED.’

But wait, this technical background story is nothing compared to the best part – all those hours behind the wheel!! After countless hours of punching up and down the freeway at various levels of cruise, I switched gears and took the 2010 out on one of my favorite loops… Until this point, I hadn’t had a good opportunity to really see what the car was capable of, as most of my time in it was on commutes and around town driving.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with where we’re located, CorkSport is in Vancouver, Washington – right across the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon. Vancouver is in the shadow of Mt. St. Helens, the cascade range volcano that blew 2000′ off its top in 1980. I live about halfway between Mt. St. Helens and Vancouver and the North Clark County area has an amazing array of roads snaking over the landscape. Banked 180 degree curves abound and just when you’re ready to pull over and lean your head out to paint the tarmac with your lunch, the road opens up to 1-2 mile straights that give your inner ear the slightest respite prior to wrapping right back into beautiful Nurburgring-esque sweepers among gorgeous green foliage and narrow cliff-lined lakes.



The Speed3 performed phenomenally. There were plenty of areas for improvement, what with it having stock suspension, no strut braces, factory tires, etc. For the most part, however, it was a blast to drive. The factory brakes are surprisingly capable and the transmission gearing is perfectly matched for putting lots of power down through the curves and even more as the straights open up. The engine management provides a very crisp deceleration with its overrun (deceleration) fuel cut algorithm. There were a number of times when I had to remind myself that I was simply going waay too fast and back off in areas where sight distance was limited, but the car is so smooth to accelerate through 2nd, 3rd and 4th that it’s hard to realize you’re doing 90-100mph.

Coming from a predominantly rear wheel and all wheel drive background, the Speed takes some getting used to when hammering it around corners laying down 300lb-ft of torque. In sharp turns under acceleration, the massive torque-steer requires some elbow grease to reorient the treads to follow the road, but the benefit gained on big sweepers is well worth the tradeoff provided in the FWD drivetrain configuration. This is a wonderful car and if you can get past the torque steer and not be bothered by it (which takes very little time from what I’ve found), the benefits had from the power that causes it far outweigh the initial surprise of how heavy handed the car can be under certain conditions. But for me, the torquesteer is an excellent addition – I think I have slowly identified that what I see to be the feeling of ‘Soul’ in a car is really just elements of a visceral experience – and the torquesteer is the only unrefined and live thing about the car that reminds you that you’re not driving your girlfriend’s Jetta. As automotive enthusiasts we long for these elements in our cars which is why we love to modify them – a throaty exhaust system and an intake / turbo inlet that allow you to hear the turbo spool up both go a long way to bringing your Mazda’s Soul out of its cage and to the surface.

Jason

2010 MazdaSpeed3 First Dyno Results

MazdaSpeed3 Dyno


Just got got the 2010 Mazdaspeed3 off the dyno after doing some installs and have some results to share.

The Dyno run went great for the 2010 MS3. It’s bone stock with three mods – CorkSport Power Series Racepipe (80mm with factory 65mm outlet) and CS Power Series Intake w/ Turbo Inlet and a set of CorkSport Motor Mount Inserts. Each of these products will be released shortly for the 2010 MS3 including some revised design considerations for the new 2010.

The stock baseline numbers for the 2010 were 231hp 269tq (73.8F/45%Humidity). With the two mods, it hammered down 272hp and 301tq (78.7F/43%Humidity).

41hp gain, 32ft lb of torque. Boost went from factory 16.4psi to 18.6. $388! Can’t wait to see what it picks up with the downpipe.

If you have a Speed3 without any exhaust modifications or haven’t added an intake or a turbo inlet pipe, hit me up…there’s power on the table right in front of you.

Jason