2016 Diesel Mazdaspeed 3 Rumors

Is the Next Mazdaspeed already under our Noses?

We talk a lot about the next Mazdaspeed, will it be AWD, will it be FWD, will it be a 3? the 6? a 2? Though little is known or confirmed, I want to point out a few things we DO know as a fact.

Mazda has been working on their SkyActiv D engines for a few years. They have already shown their SkyActiv D engines, they even race them. What many people fail to realize it that the SkyActiv D runs in the Mazda 6 with a two-stage turbocharger.

The two-stage turbocharger gives you the best of both worlds, it will run a smaller turbo in the low RPM range in order to give you more power and cut emissions, then at higher RPM ranges it flips a lever and runs the bigger turbo to produce more power with no noticeable lag between the two. According to Mazda’s own website “SKYACTIV-D utilizes a two-stage turbocharger in which one small and one large turbo are selectively operated according to driving conditions.” (Source)

What else do we know? Well, Mazda has been actively racing the SkyActiv D engines in several endurance races. This is a mildly modified version of the SkyActiv D that is known to put down about 400hp.

So why would Mazda try and rework a new regular gas powered engine with a turbocharger for the next speed? Why not take the 400 hp Two-Stage turbo diesel that they already have, and pull a little power from it, and release it as a street legal vehicle?

More questions: Why has the SkyActiv D release been delayed? Is it emissions related? According to Mazda their engines pass with flying colors, no treatment necessary. So it can’t be that. In fact when the SkyActiv D was delayed Mazda spokesman Jeremy Barnes was quoted as saying: Skyactiv technology can meet it [emissions] — and it can — but the challenge is engineering a car that delivers the kind of performance that a Mazda needs to have and we’re unable to do that given where we are right now.”

Wait a minute. So what you are saying is that the 2.2L passes emissions, (source) but doesn’t have enough performance? If Mazda has already passed the emissions testing for the engine then why delay it. We know they have released it in the CX-5 in other markets, they even confirmed they will be releasing it in the Mazda 3 in Australia come September. (Source) Along with this the CX-5 has been selling in Japan at a rate of “four 2.2L SKYACTIV-D purchases for every one 2.0L SKYACTIV-G.” (Source) So why would they work on a turbo gasoline variant when the Diesels (which already have a turbo) are already clearly being sold at such a significantly greater rate? My answer? I don’t think they will.

So what’s the delay. My guess is that they plan on announcing the SkyActiv D release date at the same time as the performance oriented version, the Mazdaspeed SkyActiv D which may be a variant of the engine seen above. Even the SkyActiv D that is currently running in the CX-5 pushes 310 lb ft of torque and 173 hp. Still impressive, especially that torque! Imagine bumping the hp by even 100 and the torque would be incredible!

Last but not least, check out these two videos from Mazda that were released almost 2 years ago. Starting at minute 2 they say some interesting things.

https://youtu.be/cK5SQkEUBdo?t=2m

“An exceptionally high redline or 5200rpm. When we were done we had created a beast … delivers the driving performance of a 4.0L V8.”

A 4.0L V8!! Just do a quick google search for standard HP from common 4.0L V8s and you should be more than impressed with the results. Is this Mazda teasing us and we just failed to notice?

In the long run, whether we get a Mazdaspeed version of the SkyActiv D or not, I can’t wait until it hits our shores for good. Let’s hope it’s soon!

Until next Time,

-Spencer@CorkSport

August 5, 2014February 7, 2019

Why You Need Injector Seals – Part 1

Why You Need Injector Seals Part 1

If you’re a car enthusiast that wants performance, reliability, and of course cost effective upgrades, then injector seals should be on your wish list…wait doesn’t everybody want that for their Mazda? I think so; let me tell you why…

As car enthusiasts we all ultimately seek more power. It starts with an air intake, and then we need more fuel, which leads to the high flow pump internals, but that only scratches the surface. Oh then, Mr. Cobb finds himself plugged into your OBD II port and you’re running 20+ psi grinning ear-to-ear. It’s OK, we are all guilty; some more than others, but something has to give and so it does. What that is that gives, well it’s easy to miss, because your car is smart and compensates for it, but it’s happening. You’ve got bad injector seals! Don’t believe me? I’ll prove it!

You have probably run across injector seals while shopping for various other parts, but didn’t pay attention to them. Essentially, they are fancy little cups that fit over the nozzle of the injector. Now for the real question: have you ever seen an OEM injector seal? Doubtful. They are tiny steel washers designed to crush and seal…the stock ones are pitiful.

What happens when a seal doesn’t seal? All of your hard earned power escapes around it, making a mess of the injector and fuel rail. Look below you’ll see that the injector ports in the cylinder head are filthy.

Starting on the left, the injector port is clean and shiny like freshly machined aluminum. Now look at the port farthest to right; black as night and a bit gritty. That seal gave up before the rest and I have a sneaking suspicion that it has to do with the EGR going through mainly that cylinder, but we will save that for another day. Here is a close up of the dirty injector before and after a scotchbrite rub down.

Now that is a big difference huh! Do you believe me yet? Maybe? Let’s compare the seals…

Look at that picture below and let that sink in…

New Seals:

OEM Seals:

Are you flabbergasted like I am? Huge difference! So, why do the differences matter? First off, it’s no longer just a washer with one sealing surface. It’s a cup, so it seals in the OEM location AND along the side of the cup. That’s not all! The secret is in the design (which is all thanks to @Tokay444; from MazdaSpeedForums.org). Here is how it works. The lip at the bottom of the cup is flared just a bit so that it crushes down tight against the cylinder head, and as it crushes down it also crushes outward, pushing against the wall of the port much like an O-ring.

These four little beryllium copper cups are cheap and reliable, but how do they improve performance? Let’s go back to our power hungry example running 20+ psi; with blow-by around the injector seal. That leak has now disappeared, which means if it’s not escaping there then it must be doing “something”. That “something” is more power to your wheels and a happy MZR. Our previous dyno testing with the OEM seals and 21psi were never consistent, declining with each consecutive run. Our new seals restore that decline, each dyno pull now falls on the previous line perfectly and that was in 90+ degree weather.

Have I convinced you yet? Stay tuned for part 2; we are going to put some hard miles on the MS3 and then inspect the seals.

-Barett

May 22, 2014September 13, 2018

What should Sponsorship look Like?

What should sponsorship look like?

We have hundreds of people contact us every year to be sponsored. Some want free parts, some want discounts, some want to test parts, some want to simply represent a company they love, and others simply want the satisfaction of saying, “I’m sponsored!”. What should sponsorship look like though? We have only a handful of sponsored drivers because we believe that sponsorship should be a relationship, not just money thrown at someone. At the same time we have thousands of customers who want to support us, and hundreds of customers that ask for sponsorship. So the real question is how do we provide a sponsorship program that is best for everyone? A program where we can sponsor more people, the right people, AKA the people YOU want sponsored.

Why do we sponsor people?

We sponsor people for several reasons.

We like you: We have so many amazing people in the Mazda community and we want to support the growth of the Mazda modification scene.
When you get support, you give support: It’s a proven fact that when someone tells their friend about a great part, product, service, or event that it can be better marketing than Google ads, billboards, TV commercials or any other form of typical advertising. The best advertising that we can have is simply by providing the BEST customer service, BEST parts, and a great experience for all Mazda owners. One way to do this is too sponsor drivers who can tell you exactly what our parts are like!
Testing: We are always working on new parts for your car and the best parts are the ones that get tested, revised, tested, revised, and tested again. Though we have plenty of cars at our disposal in our shop or personal garages, often the best testing comes from YOU. Plus when you can say “I beta tested this, and that shit WORKS” it lets others know that we aren’t just making stuff up.

How does it Benefit you?

It depends on what you are looking for. As a sponsored driver you might get discounts on parts, recognition in the community, or you might even get to work personally with some of our engineers to develop and give feedback on our latest parts in development. As CorkSport rolls out a new Sponsorship program we want to be able to invite everyone into being a part of a team that can benefit you and us, equally. This means that the more you invest in your car and the Mazda community, the more we invest in you.

How does it benefit us?

This one is more difficult to measure. Sponsorship can often appear to be a one-sided endeavor. In many sponsorship relationships you might get paid with free product, or even cash, to say something like “After every race, I drink a refreshing bottle of Sporty Sport Drink“. Now the statistics on how many customers choose to purchase Sporty Sport Drink because of your sponsorship is a tough measurement. In the same way it’s hard to measure how often someone sees your sweet looking Mazdaspeed 3 with a CorkSport decal on the side and decides to find out what CorkSport is and then buy something. Nonetheless it does happen (we hope) but, there is more to sponsorship than just advertising to make more money.

Sponsorship benefits us because it allows us to be a part of the Mazda community. We don’t always get to be at every Mazda event, we don’t get to talk personally with every Mazda customer, and we don’t even get to respond to every Mazda thread, question or email in our great big world. When we sponsor someone we get to make a connection with you, and then you get to be our ambassador for all those people we can’t personally interact with. In other words, we get to be part of the Mazda community, due to our CorkSport Sponsored Ambassador Team.

The Best Part about Sponsorship:

The best part about sponsorship is the fact that it is a community benefit. Sponsored drivers get cheaper parts, or new unreleased parts, or recognition. Mazda drivers that aren’t sponsored get the extra knowledge and help from the sponsored drivers, and get feedback about parts they don’t have. Finally Corkspot gets the benefit of creating a better Mazda community which is why we started the company in the first place! Because we love Mazdas!

Sponsorship is about sharing OUR love of Mazda with YOUR love of Mazda, and spreading that love beyond where we can reach individually.

Have some ideas for when we roll out our new program? Have you been impacted by one of our sponsored drivers, or someone you think should be sponsored? Have a brilliant plan to benefit the Mazda community? Email Spencer@CorkSport.com your feedback and ideas!

April 9, 2014October 1, 2020

Why Every Mazdaspeed Owner Needs the Cobb Accessport

What is an accessport?

The Cobb Tuning Accessport is a device that communicates with your ECU (Engine Control Unit). When you own an accessport you will be able to read error codes, modify engine settings, and take informational logs of data to keep your Mazda running reliably, and to give it more power.

The main reason people purchase the accessport is to install maps on their car.

What is a map?

A map is a preconfigured group of settings or parameters for your car. Want your Mazdaspeed to get better gas mileage? Run the “Economy Mode Map.” Want your Mazdaspeed to run faster? Remove the boost limits in 1^st and 2^nd gear, then run a “Stage 1 Map.”

Related: Get a Free Map Sensor with the Mazdaspeed 3 Turbo Upgrade

Maps also allow you to tell your ECU specifically what power modifications you have done and how you want them running. If you have a new downpipe that flows better and Max Flow Fuel Pump Internals, then your ECU will need a new map installed that tells it how to control the boost levels by controlling the waste gate, the spark advance, ideal fuel pressure, fuel trims, and many other things.

So where do I get these maps?

The Cobb Accessport will come pre-installed with a few maps that are known as OTS (Off-The-Shelf) Maps. They are basic maps that should cover a wide variety of parts. Though they are more beneficial than keeping a stock ECU tune, they are nowhere near as beneficial as doing a custom tune. Custom tunes can be done by anyone with Accesstuner Pro who is willing to devote time to learning the ins and outs of engine control management. Most people who don’t want to spend hours tweaking small variables to meet safe and powerful conditions choose to get a tune done by a professional.

For the Mazdaspeed platform there are many tuners to choose from:

PDTuning
FreekTune
Dramatune
Or you could find a local tuner who will do a Dyno Tune

How do I use this thing?

The accessport is really rather simple. If you can use a modern smartphone, you can figure out the accessport.

Step 1: Find the OBD II port on your Mazdaspeed 3 (located on the left side of the dash above the hood lever, below the traction control switches.) and then plug the accessport cable in.
Step 2: Tell it to install. Make sure you follow all directions on the screen and don’t shut your car off halfway through install.

Once installed to your car the accessport will not be able to be installed in any other vehicle unless you uninstall it. This is called by many “marrying “ the accessport. You can only install an “unmarried” accessport to your car. If it’s already “married” it will not work, which is why buying one used can be so sketchy.

Now that it’s installed, you can change maps, do datalogs, and view check engine lights right from inside your car. When it isn’t installed, you can easily connect it to your computer and load the accessport manager to copy new maps to the device, or open datalogs in Excel. You can eve use tools such as Virtual Dyno to monitor performance gains.

The Final Step

Once you have installed the accessport and decided on the map to use there is only one thing left to do: Drive. Get out there and enjoy your car with its new power curve, removed boost limits, and better breathing. If you thought your car was fun before, just wait until you get an OTS map installed with your accessport and put the pedal down for the first time!

Once you’ve done that and realize how amazing it is, I dare you to get a custom tune for your specific car, modifications, gas, elevation, and driving habits. You will be BLOWN away.

Overall, the accessport is an amazing device that every Mazdaspeed owner should have for safety, reliability, power, and to learn more about your car. Let us know if you have any questions about them, or purchase one here.

Get the latest Mazdaspeed 3 Performance Parts from CorkSport

April 4, 2014August 7, 2014

Customer Review – Mazdaspeed Adjustable Short Shifter

As a avid driver, and a person who loves to punish my speed on the street and at the track, I’m always looking for parts that help me in any way possible.

Being able to test the short shifter, got me excited, because anyone who has ever tried to drag race at the track knows, the 1-2 shift is the most crucial shift. Having used several different short shift plates, and driven gen1 and gen2 speeds with full replacements, I always felt there could be room for improvement. The short shift plates I have used in the past, no matter how much I adjusted the cables, would either cause gear grinds, or lock me out at high rpm during a flat foot shift. The full replacements, were set too low and too close, causing me to hit my pinky finger against the ashtray lid.

With this shifter, I can set it where I want it, both with the height, and with the throw. I love how it feels going into every gear, no matter how fast I shift, or just cruising around. The night I installed this, I took it out for a test to see how well it would perform. The first thing I noticed right away was how there was no longer any play, or shifter slop. And then taking it all the way thru 3rd to 7200rpm, I flat footed with zero issues. This thing is a winner. I’m confident that when I track next weekend, it will give me a bit of an advantage over the stock shifter, and those crucial 1-2 shifts will be on point. I’ve let several of my friends drive it with it installed, and everyone loves it. It’s a great product, and in my opinion there is no comparison to the TWM full replacement. At more than half the cost, it’s a no brainer.
Anyways, I will keep you informed on how it performs at the track next weekend, even though I know it will perform flawlessly.

Sincerely,
A CorkSport Custoemr