Tag: MazdaSpeed 6

Same engine as the Mazdaspeed 6 but with AWD and a seriously stealthy exterior. CorkSport offers plenty of performance parts for the Speed6

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When Products in Development Don’t Make the Grade

Things don’t always go as planned. We begin a project thinking our customers will be able to get good results out of a new performance product only to find, when we start testing, those results don’t show up.

An example of this is the CorkSport Cold Pipe. After investing months in the development process, we are choosing to abandon the product and put our development efforts elsewhere. Focus on products that will provide our customers with the type of performance benefits that inevitably did not show up during the testing of this product.

How it all began:

After seeing the great success of our Top Mount Intercooler and the amazing benefits it offered, we wanted to find a way to give customers who chose to stick to a TMIC even more performance. Looking over the TMIC system we noticed that when the air exits the intercooler it immediately hits a wall. It exits the intercooler towards the front of the car, but just after exiting it is forced to the driver side.

Once we identified this potential air flow restriction, we decided that it would be worth it to try and expand the stock cold-pipe to provide a better path for the air to flow, as well as a larger volume to accommodate the increased flow seen with a CorkSport TMIC.

The development process:

We scanned the stock pipe into a solid model so we could improve flow and still provide a great OEM fit.

Once we had a CAD model, we noticed the access to one of the four TMIC mounting holes became covered so we added an access hole to be able to tighten down this bolt as well as provide a NPT fitting to be used with water/methanol injection.

We proceeded with some virtual testing and discovered that the flow was more even and fluid as it moved through the redesigned pipe when compared to the stock pipe. Once we felt good about the revised drawing, we took the CAD model and did a 3D print to check fitment and conduct real world flow testing.

The part fit great and looked great. We were very happy with how the project was turning out, so the next step was to do some flow tests to determine the exact gains that the redesigned part offered.

The outcome:

We were disappointed with the results. The redesigned cold-pipe by itself offered a 15% increase in flow over the stock cold-pipe. When combined with a CorkSport TMIC however, both pipes flowed the same. Since the intercooler’s max flow (still significantly higher than the stock TMIC) was less than either of the cold pipes by themselves, the redesigned cold-pipe and CorkSport TMIC only flowed 0.7 CFM more than the stock cold-pipe and CorkSport TMIC, a negligible amount.

Knowing this, we now had a big problem. Why would anyone want to upgrade this part for a negligible performance improvement? Sure the option to do methanol injection would be great for some but we didn’t think most people would be interested, even at our target of $125.

We hit the forums, Mazdaspeed Forums to be exact, and asked what they thought of the product and if they would still be interested in the product with the minimal gains seen. The general consensus was that although it was a great idea and seemed to have a lot of development and engineering behind it, they didn’t feel like it would be worth the cost or that we would see enough sales to warrant producing the part.

With this feedback, we decided to abandon the project and cut our losses on the development time and money we put into the product. Unfortunately this happens occasionally. We work on a project only to end up killing it before we reach production. It’s just the way development goes sometimes, but each and every time we can take it as a learning experience to further our knowledge about what projects may or may not be worth pursuing in the future.

We want you to feel confident that our products do what we say they will do and though it’s not an easy decision to scrap a product after investing thousands of dollars on development, when the alternative is to release a product that has no performance benefit when our customers are expecting one, the choice is simple, abondon ship.

Andrew-

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CorkSport Product Development Update

We here at CorkSport have been busy working on some new parts for Mazda owners and I’m excited to be able to share some of the features and benefits that you can expect from some of the newest additions to our catalog that we have been busy developing for our customers.

First up we have the CorkSport Mazda 3 and Mazdaspeed 3 Adjustable End Links. These end links are made from 5/8″ hex stock 2011 Aluminum which is stronger than regular 6061. The ultimate tensile strength is actually 10,000 PSI stronger. Compared to the stock end links the CorkSport Mazda Adjustable End Links are much bulkier and stronger, which keeps the link from deforming when subjected to extreme loads. The ball joints used are also more durable than the rod ends normally used in adjustable end links and come with a shield to help keep out the road debris and grit than can increase the wear and tear on the links.

Using adjustable end links will provide increased strength which is important when running a stiffer front sway bar. To those who are worried about corner weighting, adjustable end links allow you to remove any preload from your front sway bar after adjusting each corner’s ride height. Not to mention they also look great!

Also just released are the CorkSport Mazdaspeed Shifter Base Bushings. The aluminum bushings replace the factory rubber bushings. These bushings give your shifter a more solid and crisp feel by taking out any slop from the stock rubber base bushings.

Along with our Shifter Base Bushings, we have also just released a Mazdaspeed Adjustable Short Shift Plate which reduces the throw of your shifter by 20-40%.

The shift plate works by reducing the distance between where the shifter cable mounts on the shift arm to the pivot point. By reducing this distance, the shifter cable doesn’t have to move as far to produce the same movement at the transmission. In the car this produces a much shorter throw, which will reduce your shift times, and in turn will help you reduce your quarter mile times.

The short shift plate also includes a smaller shift weight to replace the stock weight. The stock weight weighs about 14oz and the CorkSport weight weighs about 5.7oz. The lighter weight will reduce the fort required when shifting, which again can decrease your shift times. If you still want to keep your stock weight, good news, the CorkSport shift plate will be compatible with the stock shifter weight as well.

Now some of you may be wondering about the other new parts we have in development, and while I can’t release any details yet on most of them, I can say we have some very exciting new parts coming down the line. Be expecting to hear more about our Catted Downpipe for the Mazdaspeed 3 and our Underhood Lighting, which should be out in a matter of weeks!

I also want to point out the importance of the product submissions we receive from customers. Development of the short shift plate was actually started from a submission we received from customer, Cale DeLeers. We approved this submission in August of this year and were able to get started on it pretty quickly. We would like to thank Cale for his product submission and note that it is because of his product submission that we were able to develop the product to meet the needs of our customers that were not being met by other similar products on the market.

To those of you out there with ideas for your Mazda, don’t be shy. Let us know what you want and we will definitely look into it.

Andrew-

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Product Release! CorkSport Mazdaspeed Shifter Bushing Kit and Short Shift Plate

CorkSport is pleased to announce a new product line designed at enhancing shifting and providing positive gear changes on Mazdaspeed vehicles. Our new line-up includes the CorkSport Mazdaspeed 3 Shifter Bushing Kit and the CorkSport Mazdaspeed 3 and Mazdaspeed 6 Short Shift Plate.

An easy upgrade that will eliminate side to side compliance and remove the slack on your shifter, the CorkSport Mazdaspeed 3 Shifter Bushing Kit replaces the rubber OEM shifter bushings with aluminum black anodized shifter bushings. By replacing the factory rubber bushings, which have a tendency to deteriorate and fall apart, with CorkSport shifter bushings, customers will see a noticeable difference in the way the car drives and improved shift responsiveness that will last for years to come.

The new CorkSport Mazdaspeed 3 Shifter Bushings are CAD designed and machined for exacting fitment and are made from billet aluminum for a long lasting durable finish. The shifter bushing kit comes with a two year warranty and easy to follow installation instructions for a quick simple upgrade that will dramatically improve you’re vehicles shifting responsiveness.

CorkSport’s Mazdaspeed Adjustable Short Shift Plate will further improve the shifter performance by adding precision and reducing the throw of your shifting while keeping the height of your OEM shifter unchanged.

The CorkSport Mazdaspeed Short Shift Plate is made from ¼” CNC Machined Steel Plate with a powder coated black finish. The adjustable setting allows drivers to customize the throw to their liking by a 20% to 40% reduction. The kit comes with a counterweight included for added responsiveness and self locking bolts for an easy installation that will take a mere 15-20 minutes to complete.

Both parts are priced competitively at $39 for the CorkSport Shifter Bushing Kit and $69 for the CorkSport Mazdaspeed Short Shift Plate and are available for purchase at www.CorkSport.com

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Product Release! – CorkSport Adds Mazdaspeed 6 Rear Sway Bar to Product Line-Up

CorkSport is pleased to announce the addition of the new CorkSport Mazdaspeed 6 Rear Sway Bar to the growing list of product offerings designed to enhance and improve Mazdaspeed 6 performance.

Turning compresses the inside suspension. The CorkSport sway bar attaches both sides of the rear suspension together and resists weight transfer to the opposite side when your Mazdaspeed 6 turns. This anti-sway bar effectively increases the spring rate on the inside suspension and the effective extra spring rate helps to minimize traction robbing body roll.

The CorkSport Rear Sway Bar offers 70% more stiffness than the stock bar and will noticeably improve the cornering and traction of the vehicle without compromising ride quality. The result is an enhanced driving experience with dramatically improved cornering potential.

The CorkSport Mazdaspeed 6 Rear Sway Bar is manufactured from CNC bent 25mm 4130 steel with a black powder coated finish for exceptional strength and longevity. The install kit includes polyurethane mounting bushings to replace the stock rubber bushings and comes with a two year warranty, full color installation instructions and all of the needed installation hardware.

The CorkSport Mazdaspeed 6 Rear Sway Bar is competitively priced at $199 and is available for purchase at www.corksport.com

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Product Sneak Peek – CorkSport Fall Line-Up

I attended my first research and development meeting at CorkSport a couple weeks ago and spent the morning and well into the afternoon reviewing product submissions and discussing the viability and potential demand for each of the ideas that were submitted to us.

We reviewed over forty-five product submissions and ranked them on feasibility, development time, demand, and the value it would provide to our customers. Coming out of that meeting, I think customers will be pleased with some of the fantastic products coming to market over the next six months and though we are keeping our cards close to our chest on some of the exciting products we have in store for all you Mazda performance enthusiasts, I will divulge some the new products you can expect to see released in the coming weeks.

Lug Nuts – As early as next week, you can expect to see new CorkSport Extended Lightweight Lug Nuts added to our list of performance accessories. Thanks to the feedback from our Facebook Fans, we will be offering them in black as the overwhelming color of choice. More to come on this product soon!

Shifter Bushings – Coming up before months end will be the CorkSport Shifter Bushings. Removing unwanted play in your car’s shifter mechanism, our bushing kit will greatly improve the feel of shifting in your vehicle.

Gen 1 Mazdaspeed 3 FMIC kit for SRI – Expanding on the success of our recent Gen 2 Mazdaspeed 3 release of a FMIC kit for SRI, CorkSport will be releasing a version for Gen 1 Mazdaspeed 3 drivers by the end of the month! Like our Gen 2 version, the FMIC kit for SRI will provide solid power gains without the lag commonly seen in larger FMIC kit’s that require removal of the crash bar.

Mazdaspeed 6 Rear Sway Bar – Currently on a fall release schedule, the CorkSport Mazdaspeed 6 Rear Sway Bar will greatly improve handling by tightening up the rear suspension. The Rear Sway bar can be purchased stand alone or can be used to compliment the CorkSport Mazdaspeed 6 Front Strut Bar.

CorkSport LED Under Hood Lights – Also on the fall release schedule is a kit that will illuminate your entire engine compartment. The CorkSport LED Under Hood Lights are a low power draw kit that will attach to your battery, includes an automatic on/off switch and will cast a cool blue/white luminescence on your engine bay.

These represent just some of the products you can expect to see in CorkSport’s fall line-up. More will be introduced as the development and testing process winds-up.

Interested in submitting a product idea? Fill out a product idea form for consideration at our next development meeting, https://www.corksport.com/product-ideas.html

Gwynne-