We’ve heard you asking, we’ve even seen you trying to fit our strut tower brace for the 2014-2018 Mazda 3 onto your 6. We are proud to announce the challenge is over. We’ve created a new design specifically for the 4th generation Mazda 6 and its available now!
You may have a goal of improved
driving experience or you just want a visual improvement to the engine
bay. We are offering both to you.
The polished aluminum strut bar and powder coated steel brackets look great under the hood of the Mazda 6 and the added chassis stiffness provides improved handling and driver feedback.
Install is a breeze with color step-by-step instructions and included hardware. If you’re looking to get even more out of your Mazda 6 in those curvy back roads then we suggest a rear swaybar and sport springs to go along with the CorkSport Front Strut Tower Bar.
This package will really wake up the chassis of the Mazda 6 providing you with a sports car feel from your big sedan.
We get quite a few comments (okay, a ton) on our reviews and FAQs page asking questions like: will these wheels fit, will my car scrape, what do I do after I instal, etc. With so many questions coming in recently, I wanted to address this topic.
Will my car scrape speed bumps?
With any of our CorkSport springs sets, you shouldn’t have any problems with normal traffic control devices if taken at the posted speeds with stock Mazda body work. If you try to be Ken Block in your Mazdaspeed 3 and launch the car at 75mph you will scrape on the launch and landing.
Will my wheels rub?
With the OEM wheels, you won’t have any rubbing problems with our springs. We engineer our springs to be comfortable and most have an increased spring rate of 5-15% over OEM. With the car sitting lower, it’s possible to hit bumps with a heavy load but you shouldn’t rub unless you have a suspension alignment problem. On the second gen Mazda 3/Mazdaspeed 3s, the rear acceptable suspension range is already wide and if you plus size the diameter and wheel width you can run into some clearance problems. We found after an installation of the springs, the rear camber was -2.2 degrees on one side with no rubbing and -1.0 degrees on the other side with rubbing. To fix this, a set of adjustable rear camber arms is required to set the suspension even between both sides to give the wheel clearance and keep the alignment within specs.
Will these wheels fit my car?
Let’s make this easy. Go to Willtheyfit.com and punch in the numbers. Google is your friend. Use a tape measure to see how much clearance you have on the inside against the suspension and the outside against the body work.
Will I need aftermarket wheels to run your springs?
You will not. We test our springs on the OEM wheels for all Mazda models we offer springs for.
Will I need to align my car after installing the springs?
Yes, you will. The toe settings on the suspension will be affected which will cause excessive tire wear if not corrected after installing any lowering springs.
Will I need to roll my fenders/guards/wheel wells?
If you want to run a different offset wheel, and the clearance is going to be tight, it’s a good idea to roll them. You won’t have to roll your fenders with the OEM wheels.
Have a question we didn’t answer here? Feel free to post a question in the comments or in the FAQs page of our website.
Your Suspension Questions, Answered September 13th, 2018CorkSport
CorkSport is pleased to announce the addition of the Mazda 3 and Mazdaspeed 3 Adjustable Front End Links to our growing list of suspension upgrades developed to enhance your Mazda’s performance.
Made to fit OEM and aftermarket front sway bars, the CorkSport Mazda 3 Mazdaspeed 3 Front Adjustable End Links allows customers to tune any sway bar and remove the preload commonly associated with the suspension.
“Adjustable end links will allow you to properly balance and tune your suspension to give you the best setup possible” Said CorkSport Engineer, Andrew Gilbert, “Our end links will reduce link flex and fatigue, increase sway bar effectiveness and allow for corner balancing suspension.”
The CorkSport adjustable front end links come in a black anodized finish and include an etched CorkSport logo for a custom and long lasting finish.
The CorkSport Mazda 3/Mazdaspeed 3 Front End Links can be purchased for the competitive price of $109.00 making this an easy to install and affordable upgrade for your vehicle.
In my last year of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Utah, I was able to participate in the Formula SAE program. The concept behind Formula SAE is that a fictional manufacturing company has contracted a student design team to develop a small Formula-style race car. Then the prototype race car is to be evaluated for its potential as a production item. When deciding what team I wanted to be on I chose suspension because I knew the real trick in making a fast car is designing a great performing suspension and tuning it to perfection.
In the formula SAE program, the suspension is unrestricted except for safety regulations. Most teams opt for four-wheel independent suspension and almost universally a double-wishbone. Active suspension is legal. Unfortunately, most of us can’t design a one-off suspension for our everyday cars, but we have the ability to upgrade and tune our suspensions to achieve handling nirvana.
The Mazdaspeed3 is a great platform to tune on for power and handling, however, it is a heavier front-wheel drive (FWD) vehicle and some measures need to be taken to minimize understeering. If you are not familiar with understeering, it is when the car doesn’t want to turn as much as you are telling it too. Many of you may have experienced this in other FWD vehicles over the years and know that this tends to be a universal problem. Actually, most production cars are designed to understeer from the factory for safety reasons, but it is especially prevalent in FWD cars. With a few tricks, you can make your car handle much better and minimize unwanted understeer.
The first step to achieving a great performing suspension is upgrading the rear sway bar. The CorkSport Rear Sway Bar is adjustable to help you tune your car to your driving style. By installing a stiffer rear sway bar, the car will want to lose traction in the rear first instead of the front, reducing understeer. If you go stiff enough, the car will begin to oversteer in hard corners, so we recommend starting in the outer-most position with our Rear Sway Bar. If the car feels like it’s still understeering, move the end link to a stiffer setting. If you feel like the car is oversteering too easily, move the end link to a softer position.
For the next step, the CorkSport Front Sway Bar would be a good path. Anti-Sway Bars do more than just keep the car from rolling side-to-side when cornering; they help with the weight transfer of the vehicle during a turn. Normally most of the vehicle weight wants to transfer to the outside tires, but a stiffer sway bar helps weight transfer more evenly, which means the outside tires won’t lose traction as easily. The reduced roll of the vehicle can also help increase driver confidence by improving the cornering potential of the vehicle.
With stiffer sway bars, more of the suspension load is transferred into the chassis. To combat this, extra bracing is helpful to keep the chassis rigid. CorkSport produces a great 1-Piece Front Strut Tower Bar that helps transfer the loads from the struts onto the car more evenly between the strut towers.
The CorkSport Rear Chassis Brace Set also reduces rear chassis flex by 15% which can help the stiffer sway bar in the rear by putting more force on the chassis. If you don’t want the full set you can also just get the Rear Chassis Brace that ties together the rear shock towers which will still help out greatly or you can get a CorkSport Chassis Brace to replace the stock chassis brace underneath the car which will increase the stiffness of the chassis between the Mazdaspeed 3 front and rear suspensions.
Once you have gotten to this point your chassis is well braced and your sway bars have reduced the weight transfer during cornering, but there are still a couple more things you can do. CorkSport’s newly released Lowering Springs will lower your car’s center of gravity and increase the spring rate over your stock springs. This provides a stiffer ride that will increase the handling performance of your car while still being great for the street. Not only do they add to the handling of the car, but they will also improve the look by giving your car a more aggressive stance and decreasing the gap between your wheels and fenders. Be careful not to over-lower your vehicle. While it looks good, it can negatively affect the suspension geometry by throwing off the roll center of the vehicle. The CorkSport Lowering Springs decreases the ride of your vehicle to achieve a great look while maintaining the geometry of the suspension.
After springs, upgrading the dampers would be the next suspension improvement I would recommend. CorkSport sells Coilovers for the Mazdaspeed3. These will replace your factory front struts and rear shocks and give you an adjustable rebound to help dial in your Mazda’s ride.
In this post, I have laid out a great path to making your Speed3 handle even more brilliantly than it already does, but remember, for those of you who autocross, check your rule book to see if any of these upgrades will force you to change to a faster class.
If you have any questions about these products please feel free to gives us a call or shoot us an email, we are more than happy to talk to you. Thank you for supporting CorkSport.
Be careful not to over-lower your vehicle. While it looks good, it can negatively affect the suspension geometry by throwing off the roll center of the vehicle. The