Since so many of you have asked, we are happy to oblige. The MS6 front mount intercooler kit is making a comeback! Before you get too excited though, there’s still a little bit of a wait before it’s actually being released. We wanted to let all of you Mazdaspeed6 owners know that we haven’t forgotten about you and we have taken our time to ensure this kit comes back better than ever before.
MS6 CorkSport FMIC fitment testing
As you can see, the 21”x10”x3” core is staying the same but we are improving the kit everywhere else. This means better fitment, more freedom for SRI selection, and the proven piping design philosophy used in the GEN2 Mazdaspeed 3 FMIC kit. While the MS6 was definitely not designed for an FMIC, the redesigned CorkSport kit makes it easy to say goodbye to the heat soak headache that is the stock TMIC.
MS6 CorkSport FMIC fitment testing
We are still putting the finishing touches on the redesign, and obviously, have a few alignment issues to work out with another round of 3D prints. We can’t say for certain when this will be releasing, but the goal is late spring/early summer 2019. That being said, we will be sure to keep you updated as we inch closer to release.
While we’ve got your attention MS6 owners, are there any features that are a must have for you on this kit? Any other MS6 specific products you’d like to see? Let us know down in the comments (and I’m sorry but orange will not be a piping color option ☺).
Lastly, if you’d like to learn more about what to expect from the intercooler itself, check out the original release blog from way back in 2012 HERE.
Mazdaspeed 6 FMIC Comeback! July 11th, 2019CorkSport
In this blog, we are going to SHOW a demonstration of exhaust gas scavenging. Instead of a lengthy blog full of text, we’ve opted to create a video that demonstrates the effects of exhaust gas scavenging for both good and bad designs.
We will be comparing the prototype CorkSport performance exhaust manifold, developed for the Mazdaspeed 3 and 6, to the OE exhaust manifold.
Exhaust gas scavenging within a manifold is the process of one cylinder runner, pulling (aka scavenging), the exhaust gas from an adjacent cylinder in a continual cycle. Now enough talk, to see an awesome example and an awful example of exhaust gas scavenging check out the video below. BONUS! Not only do you get to see what optimal scavenging looks like, but this is also the first sneak peek of the CorkSport Performance Exhaust Manifold…
We hope you found this as interesting as we did! Stay tuned as we continue developing the CorkSport Performance Exhaust Manifold for the Mazdaspeed platform.
Your Mazda breathes just like you do. Maximizing the intake of air for your Mazdaspeed and freeing up the expulsion of used gases (exhaust) will help your vehicle breathe better and go faster.
Intake to Boost Your Turbo
On the intake side, you can set yourself up with a Stage II Power Series Short Ram Intake, which includes our mandrel-bent turbo inlet pipe, custom-designed MAF housing, and silicone coupler. This will free up the airflow into the stock K04 turbo and allow your Mazdaspeed to breathe deeper. The average gains seen here are 10-15 hp.
Exhaust Parts For Performance
For exhaling, you want your Mazdaspeed3 to expel all those used gasses as quick as possible. With the CorkSport turbo-back exhaust, you are reducing the back-pressure and allowing your Mazdaspeed to utilize the potential of its turbo. The kit comes with CorkSport’s full 80mm catback dual exhaust, racepipe, and downpipe. This setup will give the average Mazdaspeed3 owner 28-31 hp at the wheels.
Power Gains Add 46 WHP!
Shown below is our 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 with the CorkSport Short Ram Intake & Turbo-back exhaust and stock turbo, compared to the same Mazdaspeed3 completely stock. The before number is 226 hp and came out to 272 with the SRI and Turbo-back exhaust. That is a 46 hp increase to the wheels with two products.
For those of you on a budget, may I suggest just the Short Ram Intake and racepipe? For this smaller investment, you can get an increase of wheel hp in upper 20’s to lower 30’s.
2010-2013 Mazdaspeed 3 – Best Way to Get 40+ HP August 12th, 2024CorkSport
Pretty much since I joined this platform, I’ve noticed a pattern of people asking the same questions about tuning their Mazdaspeed. There is a lot of information out there, but it’s not always consolidated or easy to find. So, in an effort to assist newcomers, this will be a write up explaining the ins and outs of tuning; when you need it, OTS vs. Pro Tunes, and how you can proceed.
*There are other options for tuning the vehicle besides the Cobb Accessport, such as Versa Tuner. But, for the ease of explanation throughout this blog, I will be referencing the AP*
What Is Tuning & Why Do You Need It?
Without getting too elaborate for this specific blog, “Tuning” is just the remapping of the tables in the ECU from OE specs to something different. It is a key aspect of your car’s engine health and the easiest way to make more HP. You can even tune a bone stock car and will typically see gains, especially when they are boosted from the factory. Bolt-on parts free up even more headroom in airflow, and when tuned accordingly you make even more power. The relationship between bolt-on parts and a tune is a beautiful thing, and hopefully, by the end of this blog, you will understand how they work together. “So when should I get a tune?”
I’m so very glad you asked that! Well, let’s look at it like this… Mazda spent a long time getting their factory tune for the Speed 3 as good as possible. But they dialed it in around one set up, and one set up ONLY. That’s 100% OEM parts. In this form, the ECU knows what to expect, how everything should respond, and most importantly when something is wrong. It doesn’t have a mind of its own though, it only knows what it’s been told. So, if other parts in the system are replaced, and the ECU isn’t told how to react to that, things start to get a little weird.
The ECU has an ability to adjust itself within reason for variations in fuel, oxygen content, etc. But in a perfect world, it shouldn’t have to adjust itself at all. Tuning for the mods you do will not only let you have more fun, but it will get it as close to this perfect world as possible.
Minor things like an intake upgrade (Retaining stock MAF) BPV, or Catback usually won’t throw off the ECU enough to cause problems or CEL’s but it’s obviously not ideal. That being said, its best to get an Acessport or another means of tuning your Mazdaspeed prior to putting on bolt-on parts.
So here is a basic FAQ
“I want to add a turbo back exhaust, but I don’t want to get an AP and tune the car. Can I do that?” – No, you are not able to do this for two reasons.
Deleting the factory cats opens a huge restriction. Without a tune, the car will risk overboosting.
Without high-pressure fuel pump internals you also risk running lean and blowing the engine. Even if you have the internals with no tune, the drivability of the car can suffer because of how it affects the turbo.
“Can I get an intake with no tune?”
If its factory size, then you can usually get away with it. The turbo isn’t trying to make more boost, and the MAF housing should be accurate to the OE. If it’s a larger one like our 3” or 3.5” then no, you cannot.
However, I always recommend tuning the car.
“Can I get a catback with no tune?”
Yes, you will be OK, the catback is not monitored by any sensors, and you’re not deleting any cats.
“Can I change my intercooler without a tune or fuel pump internals
You should not. Just like the cats on the downpipe, the factory intercooler is a restriction. The ECU currently is tuned to fight this restriction to make a specific boost level at a specific RPM. If you remove this restriction, and you don’t tell the ECU, you risk over boosting. Over boosting mixed with no fuel pump internals can be a risky combo for running lean as well.
Definitely not, any turbo that moves more air than the factory one automatically needs a tune. The ECU is tuned to coincide with the factory compressor map. If you don’t want to tune for a turbo, make sure you get a factory replacement. These are just some of the common questions we get, but if you have more specific scenarios you can always email or call us! On to the next section.
OTS maps vs a Pro-Tune
I remember when I first got my hands on an Accessport. Trying to make sure I selected the right map and learning how to read all the parameters. I know a lot of newbies that are just getting an AP probably are asking themselves which OTS tune is the right one to use, and when should they get a Pro-Tune and how. It’s no news to anyone that’s been in the community for a minute that the Cobb OTS maps are not the best Long-Term Solution. The reason for this is because they are:
(A) Very conservative, and not letting you get the full potential you can. (B) Meant for a large population of cars, and aren’t really dialed in. Essentially, they are just rough around the edges.
However, OTS maps do serve a purpose. For someone who is planning on doing their basic bolt-ons in stages over the course of a few months then it works out well. These maps can be viewed as basic stepping stones “Stage 1, Stage 1+, Stage 2, Stage 3, Etc” that allow you to put on your first bolt-ons and flash the corresponding tune. So, as you are putting on your fuel pump internals, intake, downpipe,Intercooler, you can flash those readily available maps.
In a nutshell, the OTS Maps work great during the transitional phase of your modding Journey. But, once you know you are done with your bolt-ons for a bit, that’s when you want a map that is 100% dialed in, and specific for YOUR car. The difference between a custom tune and the Cobb OTS maps are truly astonishing, and you’ll see once you’re there.
Something to also note….
If your K04 ‘Sploded and you are looking at a larger turbo, an OTS is no longer an option, it’s off the table. Cobb made those OTS maps solely for a factory turbo’d Mazdaspeed. If you buy a bigger turbo like ours, a Pro-Tune is needed (along with fuel pump internals)
“Don’t I have to get the car on a dyno in order to get a Pro-Tune? There’s no Mazdaspeed tuners in my city!!!!”
If you’re not one of the lucky ones that live by a Mazdaspeed tuner, then fear not. The days of having to get it on the dyno to get a tune or over. With the Accessport, Maps are sent/downloaded over email.
To Start the process, you need to:
Buy the tune
Give them your full engine Mod List
The tuner will instruct you on taking your Data Logs
Over the course of a few weeks, you will go back and forth with new tune revisions and the car usually gets smoother and faster with each revision.
By the end of this process, you will have a dialed-in tune and a smooth-running car. But, please note that if you add another part to the car or change parts. You may need to get a revision tune done to account for the new mod. Talk to your tuner about this and get their thoughts.
Recap
I hope that this helped some of you to better understand the processes you should take, and to wrap it up we will hit some of my main points.
The first mods you should get for your Mazdaspeed if you plan to mod it is the upgraded fuel pump internals and an Accessport
If you just want to run an SRI and a catback, you can get away with it, but a tune is Recommended.
You should NOT run a downpipe without HPFPs or a tune.
OTS maps are great during a transitional time with your car while bolting on parts. After this, you should get a Pro-Tune
You shouldn’t run a larger turbo on the stock map or on an OTS map. Communicate with a tuner before the installation and have a new base map ready. We have both a 3.5 Bar MAP Sensor and 4.5 Map Sensor.
Pro-tuners can tune you, even when they aren’t local.
To conclude this blog, it’s important to know how critical the proper tune on the car can be. It can make or break the engine, literally. If any of you still have questions, you can always give us a call, and remember to have fun as you begin your journey down the path to making power, and giving WRX’s the L.
If you haven’t heard already, the CorkSport Dyno Day and Summer Event was a blast with food, friends, raffles, a Show-N-Shine, and the continuous string of dyno runs. The highlight of the dyno runs came when one of the CorkSport Engineers, Barett, put his car on the rollers. With a few minutes of warm up and anticipation building, it was finally time to see what the “CorkSport Speed” could do.
Getting past the ecstatic crowd to see the dyno screen showed an impressive 620whp/530wtq. Now, whether you were at the show or not, you may be wondering what Barett’s setup is to support these numbers. It’s not a short list but is simpler than you would expect.
In this blog, we are going to layout the WHOLE build to show you how your Mazdaspeed can make 600+whp.
The engine was built by CorkSport in preparation for setting up the Dankai Engine Program. It features Manley Connecting Rods and Platinum Pistons, head work very similar to the Dankai 2 Built Longblock, along with the CS BSD (balance shaft delete) and CorkSport Camshafts. Holding the block together are L19 head studs and ARP 2000 main studs.
To get the air in and out of the engine efficiently we have an assortment of bolt-on parts and some prototype parts because what kind of CorkSport R&D car wouldn’t have some prototype performance parts on it? To break this down in the simplest way possible we have laid out a full build list:
Now, this isn’t the complete list, but it does lay out most of the essential parts to get your Mazdaspeed 3 over 600whp. You might have picked out a couple “prototype” mentions in that list above…well we can share a bit on the new CorkSport Mazdaspeed Turbo. You’ve seen the power it can make…and it still has some more left in it up top, now check it out some sexy billet and massive turbine.
Lastly, none of this power would be possible without the fuel to support it. As you may know already, the OE direct injection fuel system taps out around 380whp on an efficient build so how do we make another 240whp? Auxiliary fueling is the key my friends, and we recently posted a blog to help you explore Methanol Auxiliary Fueling that I invite you to read. To stay focused on Barett’s 600+whp build we have made an auxiliary fueling build list below:
ProMeth 220psi Pump (Essential for flowing this volume of methanol)
Snow Performance Solenoid
Devil’s Own 1in/4out distribution block
4x Devil’s Own 90degree nozzle holders
4x ProMeth Compact Check Valves (Essential for proper AFR control between shifts)
4x Devil’s Own D07 Nozzles (One per intake manifold runner; each flowing ~10gph)
Despite that this auxiliary fuel setup is providing the fuel required to support just over 600whp; it is at the ragged edge of what can be supported. Looking at the dyno graph further up you can see torque decline after 6000rpm and horsepower go flat. This is due to the auxiliary fuel system reaching its maximum fueling capacity and thus forcing us to reduce boost pressure as engine RPM goes past 6000rpm.
At this power level, true port injection auxiliary fueling is the correct step to take. Lucky for you guys and gals, we are currently exploring this path with our product R&D. We plan to give you guys and gals a full breakdown of our experience and how we built a full port injection auxiliary fuel system that can support over 600whp.
AND…I forgot to mention one very critical aspect of this entire build. Professional Tuning! This specific build was E-Tuned on the CorkSport in-house dyno by Dale Owen of Gem Tuning. E-Tuning is a great way to set up your car with the tuner that is the best suited for your platform and vehicle build because it doesn’t require the tuner and the vehicle to be in the same place at the same time.
Hang tight for more on the PI Auxiliary Fueling and thanks for tuning in with CorkSport Performance.
