Keeping you up to date with the latest CorkSport Mazdaspeed news!
Tag: Mazdaspeed6
Mazdaspeed6 is another terr variant for the Mazdaspeed 6 and MS6 which was released in 2006. It is easy to modify the speed 6 and they are more than capable in the 1/4 mile.
Whether you want the better handling that comes with the lowered center of gravity, or you want to rid yourself of the wheel gap eyesore. Lowering springs will give you want you’re looking for.
For running the track, or a spirited drive through the countryside, CorkSport lowering springs are the upgrade you’ve been looking for. By adding lowering springs and lowering the center of gravity of your Mazda allows the car to stay more planted to the road.
One of the biggest things to note on stock suspension is how far upward the suspension travels when hitting a bump. It can make the car feel like it wants to lift off of the road; depending on how fast you’re taking corners. Lowering springs help to correct the car’s suspension travel when you hit a bump in a turn.
Lowering springs also have about 25% increased stiffness. For the Mazdaspeed platform, increased stiffness in the rear is a must. Mazdaspeeds like to squat pretty hard when hitting full boost, so any way you can manage to stiffen up the rear is a great modification for your car.
Adding lowering springs also gives your baby amazing eye appeal and a much more aggressive look. Whether you drive a Mazdaspeed3, Mazdaspeed6, Mazda 3, Mazda 6,CX-5, CX-3 or MX-5, lowering springs will get rid of that ugly wheel well gap. The result is a Mazda that carries a much cleaner and more aggressive look and gives you the ability to take it to the track if you want to.
Some people want to drop their Mazda as much as possible, and some don’t. CorkSport lowering springs don’t deliver a super aggressive drop. If you’re not interested in scraping your front bumper on every road bump, the CorkSport lowering springs have the right drop for you, and provide the increased handling capabilities you’re looking for.
If you’re curious about other suspension pieces for your Mazdaspeed, check out our Struts and Shocks combo kits, that give you just what you need for suspension.
Why Lowering Springs? November 20th, 2019CorkSport
The Mazdaspeed 3 and Mazdaspeed 6 are some of the most unique, exhilarating, and frustrating sport-compacts out on the market today. If you’re reading this, then it’s because you are in the market for a Mazdaspeed or you have one already and are looking for a good laugh. For you are newbies to the Mazdaspeed game…listen up; we’ve got some words of advice and things to check as you are shopping around.
First, let’s start with the top two must do inspections when shopping around.
One:Has the car been modified?
If so, then what parts are on the car, and has it been properly tuned for the parts? This also means the car should have some type of tuning tools such as the Cobb Accessport or Versatune Tuning Solution.
Two:You MUST check the engine compression!
This is the easiest way to get the overall health of the engine and know if you are getting a solid Mazdaspeed to start your journey with or a Speed on its last leg. Most auto parts stores can loan an engine compression tool for a small deposit then only basic hand tools are needed to do the test.
Now let’s get the top five things you should know before buying a Mazdaspeed.
Maintenance is KEY, but that’s really not special to just the Mazdaspeed, all performance engines/vehicles, especially turbocharged and directly injected ones, will require a higher level of care and cost when it comes to routine maintenance. This means better quality oils, oil filters, premium grade fuel, and an acute awareness of the vehicle itself; if you’re ready for that than let’s move on.
Four, Five, and Six: The Three — “When It Happens” Moments, there is no “If”.
The variable valve timing (aka VVT) system is prone to failure from the factory so this should be on your radar for an upcoming replacement. It’s a medium-difficulty project that can be done over a weekend. If you are not mechanically inclined, it is going to be expensive to have a shop perform the work.
The Mazdaspeed K04 Turbo
The poor little OEM K04 turbocharger just never had a chance on the 2.3L DISI MZR engine! Sadly, the OEM turbocharger is an honest to gosh a ticking time bomb. The OE turbo will fail at some point and need to be replaced. Fortunately, there are a lot of exciting options on the market to take you and your Speed to the next level. For example, check out the CorkSport Drop-In Turbocharger. It bolt’s in like OE, but packs a punch in the performance department, supporting up to 450 horsepower. Note: Updating your turbo requires tuning.
Mazdaspeed High Pressure Fuel Pump Internals
Lastly, for the Mazdaspeed quirks, the high-pressure fuel pump internals (HPFP). Like the name states, these parts provide an upgrade for the camshaft-driven high-pressure fuel pump so your engine does not experience fuel starvation during wide-open throttle (WOT). These are absolutely required if you plan to make in modifications to the engine that would increase power and for any performance tuning. Honestly, we recommend the HPFP internals for 100% stock Mazdaspeed as well because the drop in fuel pressure is even an issue for stock cars.
So you read all that and you’re probably thinking “damn I’m not buying a Speed, sounds like a total PITA”. Well hold on, I didn’t mean to shine a poor light on the Mazdaspeed platform, but it does have its quirks to overcome. After those few concerns are taken care of the platform is A LOT of fun and probably one of the best bang-for-the-buck sport compacts available. Just a few thousand dollars can net you a Mazdaspeed around 350whp and more smiles than you’ll know what to do with.
Mazdaspeed Regrets?
The last thing you need to know before you buy a Mazdaspeed…jump straight in and don’t look back because you won’t regret it. From the late nights in the garage installing the latest performance parts to the early mornings at the car show and then the midnight highway pulls making V8s owners second guess their purchase. The community, the journey of building YOUR car, and of course the car itself is so awesome.
-Barett
The Top Five Things You Ought to Know Before You Buy a Mazdaspeed April 10th, 2024CorkSport
The GEN2 Mazdaspeed 3 has a lot in common with the Mazdaspeed 6 and the GEN1 Mazdaspeed 3 when referencing the engine and transmission. However, there were a few things that Mazda did change and improve when they gave the Mazdaspeed 3 a facelift in 2010.
Some of these changes include the valve cover, the gear ratios in the transmission, the power steering system, and the oil filter assembly. This last one is the one I want to talk about today.
Perhaps you just ran across this blog while googling how to change the oil in your Mazdaspeed for the first time or maybe you’ve already done a handful of oil changes. Either way, you can benefit from this info, unless you already have a 2010-2013 Mazdaspeed 3 you lucky bas****. All you Mazdaspeed6 and GEN1 Mazdaspeed3 owners listen up.
This is what you’ll find on your pre-2010 Mazdaspeed 3 and all Mazdaspeed 6; it sucks. This design uses an internal filter element only which is fine, but the OE housing cap is a real PITA to remove from the car which makes a simple oil change a much more frustrating process than it should be.
Along with the difficult disassembly, there is a limited number of filter options compared to the modern canister design. Luckily, the oil filter housing found on the 2010-2013 Mazdaspeed 3 utilizes a modern canister oil filter and is a simple bolt-on affair.
Mazda part # L311-14-311A is the part you’re looking for and can be found online or at your local Mazda dealership. It’s also wise to get a new gasket for the installation; nobody wants to do a job twice. This is Mazda part # LF02-14-342.
Once you get your parts and all your oil and a new modern oil filter, you’re ready for the big install. It’s actually really simple, only adding about 30 minutes to your oil filter change. Remove the fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger (the black thing on top with the coolant ports), then pull the housing off the engine and swap over the sensor. Back on the car with the new gasket and you’re good to go.
Another great benefit of the modern oil filter canister is the ability to use an oil filter plate to provide sensor ports for gauges such as oil pressure and oil temperature.
This sums up the oil filter housing swap; it’s really just that simple. So if you have an oil change coming up and aren’t one of the lucky ones with the GEN2 Mazdaspeed 3, then consider this before you get started. I promise you won’t regret it.
-Barett @ CorkSport
Oil Filter Changes Made easy for your 2007-2009 Mazdaspeed 3 and 2006-2007 Mazdaspeed 6 August 3rd, 2023CorkSport
CorkSport was just hit with snow again today…boy are we ready for winter to be OVER!
Are you ready? What do you have left to get ready before the weather breaks, and racing starts?
Winter months exist so us Mazda people can spend all of our hard earned money to make our Mazdaspeed’s faster. It all starts with an AccessPort, and CorkSport Fuel Pump Internals. Before you know it, your Mazdaspeed is now fully bolted with an upgraded CorkSport Turbo.
People sometimes seem to forget that quality of your tune is just as important as the quality of your parts. So how do you get a solid tune on your car?
CorkSport wanted to make sure to lay out exactly how to prepare your Mazdaspeed for tuning services. This helps streamline getting your Mazdaspeed ready, and it also helps your potential tuner so they don’t have to worry about tuning with a potential mechanical problem.
The very first step in getting your Mazdaspeed tuned would be to get the Cobb AccessPort tuning device. This is the gateway to access your ECU and to make adjustments to your tune. You will use your AccessPort to record logs and send those logs to your tuner. Not only can you make adjustments to your ECU, but you can also read/clear CEL’s ( check engine lights), and you can also monitor up to six different parameters in real time.
When you do apply for a tune, your tuner will tell you which parameters to monitor so they can have the correct information to get you a reliable tune.
The stock high-pressure fuel pump internals has proven to randomly lose pressure during a fourth gear wide open throttle pull. What we have seen is the pump spike pressure up in the 1800’s, and by redline, the fuel pressure has dropped below 1600psi. This creates lean situations which have lead to engines grenading themselves. Before a tuner will touch your car, you will have to make sure to have these upgraded. These will increase flow and allow your fuel pressure to stay above 1600psi keeping you in the safe zone.
Double check what your tuner will want you to use, but in general, people will use one step colder plugs gapped down to a .026. The trusted spark plug in this platform would be the NGK Iridium IX plugs (part # 6510). The idea behind using a more quality plug with a smaller gap is to keep the spark from blowing out when you increase boost pressure. If you do have too large of a gap, then you will start to misfire, and you should get a code on your AccessPort for either random misfire, or cylinder specific. Keeping that spark in check will prevent delays in the tuning process.
Compression Test
Making sure to double check the engine health is probably one of the most important things to do before modding and tuning your Mazdaspeed. Doing a quick compression test to make sure your cylinder rings can still hold pressure will tell you if the engine is healthy or not. Ideally, you want to see all of your cylinders read approximately the same numbers.
You also do not want to see your compression go below 140 across the board. Mazda says that anything 140 or below is poor compression. If you end up having an unhealthy engine, then the car will not make the desired power, and you could potentially ruin your engine even further. Make sure to check out our misfire blog where we show you how to properly boost leak test your car!
Every tuner is going to be targeting a certain boost pressure based upon current modifications. A lot of times the turbo has to work harder because of a few boost leaks that are not closed off before tuning. This can affect your fuel trims, and it will also affect how much wastegate duty cycle is needed in order to reach desired boost targets. Having zero boost leaks is important so your tuner does not have to work around those leaks.
Ghost Knock
A big question we always see in the forums, and on Facebook would be people wondering why their AccessPort shows knock values. The most important thing to remember is part throttle knock is nothing to worry about. My own Mazdaspeed see’s values of 8.0 all the time on part throttle. The only time to worry about knock values is when you are at wide-open throttle. As long as your knock values stay below 2.0 then that is nothing to worry about.
Doing these few simple things for your tuner will not only save time for both of you, but your tuner will love you because they don’t have to try and diagnose an issue from thousands of miles away. CorkSport hopes this really helps the community as a whole, and we also hope that people can use this as a tool to get their car dialed in much faster.
Stay happy, and stay fast CorkSport family!
-Luke
Preparing your Mazdaspeed for Tuning September 13th, 2018CorkSport
CorkSport Built Long Blocks for the 2006-2013 DISI MZR
You’ve probably seen the stellar videos posted on our news feed or heard the rumors about CorkSport building stout long blocks for our employee’s Mazdaspeeds and the company R&D Mazdapeed. Today, we are ready to let the “cat out of the bag.”
CorkSport is building long blocks for your Mazdaspeed and here’s why it will interest you:
We have complete long-blocks ready for installation with blueprint certificates. These long-blocks are in-stock and are ready to ship. If you’d rather send us your motor, we guarantee one month or less turnaround.
Let’s check it out:
Every engine is meticulously inspected and measured to extremely precise tolerances per our ASE certified master technicians. Critical surfaces are measured to the 0.0005” for the pistons, bearings, and camshafts to create a tight, powerful, and reliable engine setup that you can depend on. To support this, every engine comes with a blueprint certificate to confirm all critical tolerances in your engine.
Better yet, this precision doesn’t come with at the cost of a 3-6 month wait. We intend to have these motors in stock. Even if you send us yours for a rebuild, we guarantee we will have your engine ready to ship faster than the industry standard!
No bull pricing means you get exactly what we list out here.
At no point will you get a call from CorkSport stating extra work or cost is needed to get your engine complete and ready for you. We’ve all been through this; starting a build with one budget and ending with a different, much larger, budget. We hate it and we won’t let it happen to you.
Other than the block and cylinder head themselves; all the parts going into your build are brand new, not reconditioned or re-used. This includes genuine OEM Mazda components; Manley connecting rods and Mahle pistons, ARP fasteners (specifications depend on Dankai Build), along with CorkSport Camshafts, Injector Seals, and other supporting parts.
Finally, what good is all this if your engine can’t get back to you safe and secure?
We want your new built block to arrive for delivery without issue, that’s why we use heavy duty sealed plastic crates that are designed to ship engines. This provides ample mounting and restraining of the engine block in the upright position for easy access for you. Along with that your engine ships free of charge within the lower 48 states. Just return your good engine core in the provided crate and get the core charges refunded.
This sounds pretty great, right? If you’re thinking about a built engine for your Mazdaspeed, then I invite you to check on the CorkSport Dankai Engine Builds to see which version fits your goals and desires.
-Barett @ CS
CorkSport Built Engine December 11th, 2018CorkSport
