Tag: MazdaSpeed 3

Posted on

Cold Air Induction Box

CorkSport is proud to announce that we are expanding our Cold Air Induction Box product line to include an Air Box for the COBB SF Intake system as well as our current development of cold air boxes for the 2010 Mazdaspeed3 and 2010 Mazda3.

In our testing of this product we wanted to define:

  • Where the cold and hot air fronts exist in the engine compartment and what differential can be expected between these areas.
  • Where high and low pressure areas exist which direct requirements for sealing off areas to ensure the coldest air temperatures into the filter.

To achieve these results, we determined that extensive pressure drop testing under dynamic conditions was not possible while delivering a box that retails under $100. A well planned design of experiment which measured temperatures in the engine compartment, airbox and surrounding areas would give us not only the hard numbers we needed to show results, but also some intuition as to where the various pressure zones exist and how that effects movement of hot and cold air in the vicinity of the filter. What we found is that the various pressure zones in the engine compartment can create barriers preventing the intake from drawing hot air.

Our testing utilized a MSD DashHawk OBD2 Datalogging system and an Innovate TC-4 Four Channel Thermocouple Logger to measure Inlet Air Temperatures, Boost Air Temperatures, Ambient Air Temperature and two channels of thermocouple inside the box and directly outside the box in the hot engine compartment. The ambient air temperature on this day was about 64F. Earlier in the day we tested the short ram intake without our box and found intake air temps were 2-8 degrees lower than the engine compartment temperature.

Testing these variables on our cold air box design we saw a huge benefit – over 30 degree difference between the engine compartment and the interior of the box. By time of this testing, the engine compartment had a chance to heat soak and the hot air in the engine compartment 10-15 degrees higher. Despite this increase in temperature, our average temperature differential was now in the 25-28 degree range and inlet air temperatures were down 8-12 degrees dependent on volume of airflow past the sensor – obviously in traffic you’re going to get some level of heatsoak in the inlet system, MAF Housing, etc. – but that cools off quickly when 64 degree ambient air temperatures blast past at the rate of an office cubicle of volume per minute.

Some may ask, why is your box not enclosed or better sealed within the engine compartment? In the course of our testing seal off surfaces, we found areas – such as the gap under the box – are either a source of cool air or have a pressure effect that prevents hot air from entering into them. Some of these, such as the seams on the box, were beneficial to seal off, some provide relatively cool air, but others were completely inconclusive. Bottom line, there are a number of areas which may appear to allow hot air into the box, but testing proved otherwise.

The end result is a series of boxes which use a overhanging lid with seal strip along the mating surface, silicone seal at the filter port and contoured front edges which align with the headlight assembly. These systems promote filter temperatures roughly equivalent to ambient air temperature and 8-12 degree inlet air temperatures drops compared to similar intake systems without the box. Note: As we did not test at all possible outside air temperatures, extremely hot or extremely cold ambient temperatures may show some variation from these results, but the effects should be minimal.

If you have any questions or suggestions of further tests or concerns you may have with the CorkSport Power Series Intake System or CorkSport Cold Air Induction Systems, feel free to post comments to this blog so we may update the details and content.

– Jason

Posted on

MazdasNW Monthly Meet

I had the opportunity to head out to the MazdasNW.com Wednesday Night meet at Jasmine Grill in Federal Way, WA last Wednesday and I really had a great time. Roughly 70 enthusiasts turned out with 48 Mazdas and a handful of other cars.

MazdasNW Meet
Photos of the event by E. Reyes

Organized by MazdasNW.com, a forum for Northwest Mazda Owners and Enthusiasts, the weeknight meets appear to be just the tip of the iceberg as meets go for this group of enthusiasts of a really wide demographic.

It was great to be out among Mazda enthusiasts and like minded gearheads. The best part was seeing a lot of the custom work people had put into their cars – from custom fabricated dash pods to harness bars. Bringing along the CorkSport 2010 Mazdaspeed3 had some surprising results – mixed opinions abound whenever discussing the 2010 – but one thing was certain, the new Mazdaspeed3 gets attention wherever it goes.

CorkSport 2010 MazdaSpeed 3Photos of the event by E. Reyes

Here are a few photos from the meet. If you’re in the Pacific Northwest, take a look at MazdasNW.com and head out to one of the next meets. The meets are on the second Wednesday of every month, even numbered months at the Southcenter Mall in Tukwilla and odd numbered months at the Northgate Mall in North Seattle. Hope to see you in North Seattle on the 9th of September – go to www.MazdasNW.com for more info.

Click here to see some more photos of the event by E. Reyes

– Jason

Posted on

2010 CorkSport MazdaSpeed 3 Part II

MS3

I was originally going to finish up the rest of the 323GTX adventure but driving the Mazdaspeed 3 made me change my mind.  I decided to do a comparison of the Mazda turbo hatchbacks.  Driving the Mazdaspeed 3 for a week the car is really making me consider getting rid of the other cars I own.  As I drove my 323 GTX to work today for a change, getting into an older car really makes you appreciate the refinement Mazda has put into the new Mazdaspeed 3.

Consider the following, in late1987 when the 323 GTX was new Mazda sold the car for around 16k.  Back in 1988 that was a lot of money for a sporty hatchback.  The 323 GTX was the most advanced hatchback you could purchase at the time from Mazda.  Jump forward 20 years and Mazda decided to go all in on the hotrod hatch market again with the Mazdaspeed 3.  Granted the 2010 model is the refined version and so was the 323GTX when it was introduced to North America.  Little known to some people the 323 GTX had gone through a facelift and revisions from the 1986-87 models to the version we received in 1988.  20 years is a long time in car production so now I will get to the comparison.

Note:  the 323GTX used in this comparison has been modified in about every way possible.  The modifications of the 323 give it a chance against the Mazdaspeed 3 in terms of power and handling despite the 20 year gap in production.

The 323GTX is very coarse in all aspects of the engine.  The boost hits very fast with lots of exhaust noise and the Greddy BOV venting between shifts.  The shifts come up fast too, as the gearing is very short in the transmission.  The Mazdaspeed 3 in comparison the power comes up fast but it is much smoother.  I can give the car some throttle and not worry about the exhaust volume or the venting BOV waking up the neighbors on the way to work at 6am. (I like my neighbors so I short shift it and keep the rpm low.  If you don’t like your neighbors ask me to take the long way to work some morning through your neighborhood)

The Mazdas are pretty close in terms of acceleration.  The 323GTX would take the Mazdaspeed 3 off the line due to the AWD advantage and lighter weight but once you are moving the Mazdaspeed 3 is faster with a higher top speed.

Handling is really close in terms of grip but the Mazdaspeed 3 handles with less steering effort.  I took some local customers for a ride in the car and we left the off ramp on the merge lane to I205 about 10 miles an hour faster than I feel comfortable doing in my 323 with just me in the car.  I had an uneven load of weight in the Mazdaspeed 3 and the car still felt more secure with the extra 175lbs on the driver’s side in the back seat.

The brakes are really no comparison.  The 323GTX did not get the brakes a car like that needed.  The Mazdaspeed 3 on the other hand has massive brakes.
You can tell Mazda spent some time on the interiors of both cars.  The 323 GTX had some of the best production seats ever made in terms of support and comfort.  The Mazdaspeed 3 seats are just as good but will be more durable with leather bolsters.  The Mazdaspeed 3 really shines in terms of how quiet the interior is.  You can drive the car fast and not drown out the screams of the passengers crying “I’m gonna die” in an effort to get you to slow down or not take the next corner as fast.  The layout of the new dash and all of the switch gear placed better and more intuitive compared to the 20 year old 323GTX.

Style of the cars is debatable as well.  The 323 GTX is more of a classic car now so you do not find people being critical of its styling these days.  I am sure back in 1988 there were comments about the two wings on the back hatch and the look of the car from people.  Looking at the 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 the styling is edgy and very forward thinking.  It has some great styling elements which are throw backs to other Mazda vehicles of the past.  The body line on the sides of the car matches the J curve of the door on the 93 Rx7 and the Mx-3.  The hood scoop gives a bit of a nod back to the FC turbo Rx7.  The hatch wing is a tribute to the 323 GTX.  Below is a comparison between the FD Rx7 and the 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 with the J curve highlighted.

MS3

FD

To answer the question of would I really sell off my other cars for the Mazdaspeed 3, this is the first car I have driven that I would trade in my 323 GTX on. Thankfully in this case I didn’t have to make that choice, I get to keep both.

– Derrick

Posted on

Catalysts for All!

Now I know what you may be thinking – WHAT? We don’t need no steenking catalysts. But ya see, that’s the rub – those track days at the ‘ring are lots of fun, but you’re not fooling anyone when the people in the lunch line at Laguna Seca can smell your exhaust. I’ll be the first to say that catalysts serve a great purpose and beyond the evils of over-restrictive cats on stock vehicles, can be a great addition to any performance vehicle.

At CorkSport we have been listening to you, our customers, and there seems to be an interest to have the performance of a racepipe without the foul, eye-scorching smell of fuel every time you cold start the vehicle. Well, you’re in luck – we’ve recently found a source for high quality metallic substrate catalysts in a compact yet high flowing 410 stainless steel package and we plan on offering a range of products that provide these catalysts as a configurable option with our current line of racepipes.

Catalysts: How they work and their failure modes.

A catalytic converter is a device resembles a muffler or resonator – basically an enlarged section of your exhaust system that has a honeycomb structure held inside of it. The honeycomb is then coated with a substrate that creates a chemical reaction based on heat and any unburnt fuel in your exhaust system. Anyone who has used a propane space heater – the kind that glow and don’t really give off any tangible flame – has seen a catalyst at work. Substrate and brick/insert design is relatively straightforward – the more surface area you have, the more efficient the catalyst is at burning unburnt fuel. In the search for more surface area, the density of the honeycomb increases – as does restriction of the system.

This honeycomb comes in two forms – a metallic stainless foil version and a ceramic version. Based on the manufacturing process, the ceramic version must be retained in the canister with a fiberglass or vermiculite packing material around the circumference of the ceramic ‘brick’. In rotary and turbocharged applications, this material often deteriorates from excess heat and pressure allowing the ceramic substrate to rotate and/or crack.

Our catalysts

Our catalysts utilize a 200 cell metallic substrate design and have the honeycomb material all the way to the wall of the canister without any additional packing material that may deteriorate. The metallic spiral is held in place mechanically from either end to prevent movement. The canisters and tubing are made of 410 Stainless Steel and all carry a 5 year manufacturers warranty.

New products

To start with we will be offering the RX-8 Power Series Racepipe in a single resonator/single 65mm catalyst configuration (as well as a single or dual resonator configuration). We’re in the process of doing the first production run on these and hope to have them out in the next two or three weeks.

The next product we will be working with is the Mazdaspeed3 Racepipe with 80mm high flow catalyst, this should be available in the next month in production quantities.

Finally, we are also working on Mazdaspeed6 Racepipe with 80mm high flow catalyst.

Drop me an email if you’re interested in getting in on these products hot off the mandrel – we’ll have a handful of pre-tested prototypes and then full production runs of all of these products within the coming months.

– Jason

Posted on

Introducing the Corksport 2010 MazdaSpeed 3

I have to admit at first glance the Mazdaspeed 3 looked a little “off” with the smile in the front bumper.  After spending quite a few hours with the car I can tell you with a straight face, you don’t even notice it. This may be different on a Mazdaspeed 3 that is not Black Mica like ours, where there is a bigger contrast in color between the car body and the bumper insert.

What I can tell you for sure is that cleaning the front bumper is not a lot of fun.  Bugs get wedged in the strakes inside the insert quite easily and at weird angles. You have to get down low to get them all out of there. The wheels are not bad to clean nor is the rest of the body. The rear wing is an interesting design, it is basically a smaller wing with another wing over it.

Driving the car is great. The car seems to be planted better on the road compared to the older Mazdaspeed 3. I had a chance to go through some decent corners and get on the throttle a bit.  You can feel the differential really pushing the outside tire to get you through the corner.  It is quite a rewarding feeling having the car urging you to go faster. The car almost begs you to take a corner as fast as you can.  The only two initial changes I would make to the handling are to make the Mazdaspeed 3 a little flatter in corners with some larger sway bars, and lower it around an inch or so to close up the wheel gap. The Dunlop SP 2050 tires seem decent but I have not had a chance to really push them to the limit to see what happens.

The exhaust note is very subtle and is quieter than the older Mazdaspeed 3 stock exhaust.  You get a a small hint of the flat exhaust note but not a lot. The dual tips are also much nicer than what the pre-release pictures showed. The angle of the tips matching the bumper contour was a nice design touch as well.

There are a few items I wish Mazda would have given the North American market. Being that the sport model is the only version available we were not able to get the HID headlights and LED tail lights with the car. We’ll have to wait and see what kinds of options become available and see about changing the lights out with something better.  On the plus side this is the first car I have had to actually “speak” with the car to setup the Bluetooth, and for making phone calls.  The navigation works well from the limited places I have driven so far. I really love the boost gauge. It is a nice throwback to the old style of the turbine boost light from the 323 turbo.

So now that we have the car what are we going to do with it? Maybe a better question is what we are not going to do with it. We have quite a few projects planned for the new car.  If you want to follow along with updates to this project and other CorkSport products be sure to sign up and follow us on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/corksport or click the “Twitter” buttons above and below.

– Derrick