R&D | CorkSport Mazda Performance Blog

April 23, 2013

Help CorkSport help you!!!

Here at CorkSport we know you, the customer, are what really drives our business. We don’t just build parts we think you need, we build parts YOU ask for. We understand Mazdas and we love to innovate, but some of the best product ideas we’ve ever had, have come from our customers. We’ve gone to great lengths to make sure we stay involved with you and have a genuine interest in the parts that you want. We’ve set up a link on our website to help make it easier to get your great ideas to our great engineers. If you go to our site and scroll down to where it says “Collaboration” underneath it is a link that says “Request a Product”

We’ve worked hard to make sure we provide exciting products that live up to your expectations and who better to tell us what’s needed then the very people who get excited about it? In the past we’ve worked with our customers to decide everything from the colors we offer for our upcoming brake caliper kits to sending out test parts to customers with high horsepower to try and see if they can expose any weaknesses that we may not have seen.

As we ramp up for the race season we want to make sure your voice is heard and you get the best from us. Please feel free to add your suggestions online, email us or even pick up the phone and let us know what you think. We can’t wait to see what amazing things we can do together with you this year!

April 18, 2013December 17, 2018

Product Release! Mazda 3 Short Shift Plate

Having a Mazda 3 with a 6 speed is amazing. Having a Mazda 3 with an amazing 6 speed is AMAZING-er?? Whatever you want to call it, with the new CorkSport short shift plate, your Mazda 3 will shift with much shorter throws and with more precision that it ever did when it rolled off the factory floor.

Reduce the throw of your shifter and improve precision and performance with the CorkSport Mazda 3 Short Shift Plate. Providing a 33% throw reduction, the CorkSport Mazda 3 Short Shift Plate is designed for spirited driving and will reduce throw while keeping the height of the OEM shifter unchanged. The installation takes a mere 20-30 minutes with some simple hand tools and will provide a serious improvement to the quality of your shifting experience.

The CorkSport Advantage:

Made from CNC Machined Steel Plate with powder coated finish for a long lasting durability
Adjustable: Reduce the throw by 33% to customize your shifting experience
Self Locking Nuts: Pre-applied locking patch nuts included with shifter plate
CorkSport Support and Service: Receive a full 2 year warranty, all of the needed installation hardware, and knowledgeable telephone support. Takes 20-30 minutes to install

The CorkSport Mazda 3 Short Shift Kit is available at our online catalog and is in stock today. For more information please visit our product listing at: https://www.corksport.com/corksport-mazda-3-short-shift-plate-kit.html

April 16, 2013February 28, 2018

Fuel Pump Comparison Part 1

Adding power to your Mazdaspeed 3 and Mazdaspeed can be amazing and very rewarding. One of the most important decisions you can make when tuning these cars is which fuel pump to use. Since we have never seen a proper comparison of the currently available models we decided to test them for the Mazda community. In this multi-part series, we will talk about the basics, the differences and the advantages with all of the available options.

Most aftermarket fuel pump upgrades consist of changing the internal parts of the factory pump with an enlarged piston and sleeve. By enlarging the piston, you increase the volume of the pump; thus creating more flow and the ability to maintain pressure at higher power levels.

When you first start taking the fuel pump apart, the first thing you are met with is the sight of a strange black deposit in the cap of the pump. Shown above are the deposits common to most caps. The bottom is a machined surface that should be clear of debris. In order for us to more clearly understand the situation we sent the cap out to undergo chemical analysis.

The spectrum analysis shows that the buildup is made of motor oil and defoaming agents that are added to motor oil. The oil in the cap is from the camshaft case that drives the pump, a slight amount leaks by the seal and into the pump. When installing new internals it would be a very good time to clean that area as best as you can and possibly replace the O-ring that seals the area inside the cap.

Once we understood what the substance was we then set out to see the options available. We purchased a CP-E pump (APR), Autotech internals and KMD internals to compare and test. Next time we will be measuring all the internals and comparing expected increases while determining what the real differences were. If you already have a pump, are thinking about getting one or are still scared, you’re going to want to see the next blog in this series.

Cheers,

Joel

March 26, 2013December 17, 2018

Product Release! CorkSport High Flow Panel Filter

Want to help your Mazda breathe a bit easier and free up a few horsepower while maintaining factory appearance and factory warranty? CorkSport is here with our new high flow drop-in replacement panel filter!

The CorkSport Panel filter flows much higher than traditional paper filters and can add proven horsepower and torque increases with very little effort and money.

The CorkSport Advantage:

Superior Construction: Made from three-dimensional filter medium with depth loading and structural screen wire.
No Oil Design: Our filters use patented Dryflow technology that requires no oil, no measuring, no MAF issues.
Durable: Our Filters can go up to 100,000 miles before needing cleaning and are a breeze to clean.
CorkSport Service and Support: Receive a two-year limited warranty, full-color installation instructions, all of the needed installation hardware, and knowledgeable telephone support.

As with all CorkSport products the CorkSport High Flow panel filter is backed by a two-year warranty and comes complete with full-color instructions and CorkSport service and support. The CorkSport High Flow filter fits all MazdaSpeed 3 models and all Mazda 3 models (Non-Skyactiv). These filters are in stock and available at our online catalog here:

CorkSport High Flow Panel Filter

November 16, 2012November 15, 2012

Project Mazdaspeed6

Project MS6 was purchased used off of Craigslist with almost 90k miles on it in early 2012. It is an ’07 Mazdaspeed 6 GT and was completely stock when it was picked up. Since this is not a new car and has been available for many years you’re likely already familiar with what the car was from the factory. It has the same turbo charged power train as the MS3 but is an AWD sedan and is larger and heavier than the MS3.

The first thing we did to it was what anyone modifying a car should start with, the CorkSport Stage II Intake with Turbo Inlet Pipe. Within a week we had also added an HKS BOV and well as one of our Top Mount Intercoolers.

Our engineering department jumped straight into development mode and within the first couple of weeks we had a prototype CorkSport Short Shifter and Catted Downpipe on the car. Today, we are running a CorkSport Catted Downpipe with the factory cat back to keep it in sleeper status. It has a much better exhaust flow with close to factory noise levels.

With the intake and exhaust systems both already upgraded we started testing some other products on the car. We fitted it with a CorkSport Oil Catch Can which proved incredibly valuable at getting 90k miles worth of condensation and such out of the crank case. We also began prototyping a Rear Motor Mount (just released this week) for the Mazdaspeed 6 and have been running it on this car for quite some time now. The Rear Motor Mount made a noticable improvement in throttle response. Changes in the throttle are felt instantly now instead of a second later after the mounts have absorbed some of the torque.

With the speed6 now able to breathe in all of the cold air it wants combined with the free flowing exhaust we have seen some serious power improvements so we thought we’d move on to making some handling improvements to complement it. We added the ever so important CorkSport Front and Rear Sway Bars which improved the handling of the car exponentially. Next, we wanted to get the center of gravity down a bit which we accomplished with a set of H&R lowering springs. Now that the Mazdaspeed 6 had a proper stance we thought it looked a bit odd with the factory wheels so we threw on a set of factory RX8 wheels.

With future plans for this car in mind, we recently decided to upgrade from the CorkSport Top Mount Intercooler to the CorkSport Front Mount Intercooler for Short Ram Intake. Oh, and I can’t forget the ever important CorkSport license plate frames and the vinyl across the windshield (I’m pretty sure the vinyl added +5 HP).

There is a lot more to come with this car as we’re currently working on more prototypes for her that I can’t talk about yet, but all of you CorkSport fans with MS6’s, we haven’t forgotten about you and there are great new products on the way!

Until next time,

Dustin