Tag: Tips

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CorkSport Top Mount Intercooler and Beyond

In following one of our ideals that our customers are the best source for new product ideas, we have been developing a Top Mount Intercooler (TMIC) for the 2.3L MZR engine. The original idea came from a thread on Mazdas247 started by azmavhockey3. The thread was started way back in August and was specifically put up to not only show us (CorkSport) that there was interest in this product, but also to get other users to input ideas and characteristics that they would like to see in a TMIC.

After getting feedback from numerous forum users we tested several designs of TMIC’s to see what would fit best with what the customer wants to see in a TMIC. The picture below shows one of our later iterations in the design and testing process.

Prototype TMIC

After testing airflow, temperature, pressure, and heat soak characteristics of the above design as well as the stock design, we modified our design slightly and came up with our final version of the CorkSport TMIC. We will have a full write up on the performance and design characteristics of the TMIC posted before we release the part in late March.

Production TMIC

Getting back to my reason for writing this: the origin of the idea. We recently revised our policies here so that when you submit a product idea through our website, we will periodically update you on the progress of your idea. If your idea is not right for us at the current time, we will inform you that your product idea submission is no longer being considered. If your product idea submission makes it to production, we will offer you the chance to test the beta version of the part (assuming both parties agree to the terms). This gives you the ability to not only say you came up with the idea, but also get the product before anyone else has the chance to buy one.

In the case of the TMIC, azmavhockey3 will be getting the final version of the TMIC a full month before anyone else because of his idea.

If you have an idea on how to improve this process or the product idea submission process, feel free to email me.

– Jake

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Getting What You Want – When there is a Problem

Our friend Kelly is back this week with a little Thanksgiving cheer:

Given the time of year and the frustration many of us have experienced when calling a company for help I thought I would offer up some tips to help you navigate your way through any phone call to any company for any customer service issue.

My background: I’ve spent years of my life in retail for such companies as Eddie Bauer, the Limited Corporation, several upscale small boutiques in various ski resorts, years of call center hell for The Nautilus Group, Client Service for Dunn and Bradstreet, and for the past 5 years CorkSport.

First: Catch your breath and determine what you want to get out of the call before you dial. We would all like everything for free and magically fixed yesterday, but most likely the person you get on the other end of the phone does not have the power to make it so. If you keep your request reasonable you are more likely to be successful and limit your time on the phone.

Golden Rule! I can’t tell you how important this is. If you treat people kindly and respectfully you are far more likely to get what you expected or even more. Trust me, many people don’t remember to be kind and the JERKS of the world may get satisfaction, but they also generally end up as the water cooler gossip, their files get flagged and generally will be treated poorly every time they call. They are also forced to make multiple phone calls, and will get hung-up at least once by someone who has had enough crap from people who are rude and disrespectful. Be polite! Your Mama was right. Manners will take you far, plus its just common courtesy.

Smile and remain calm, if you’re calm and realistic the process will go much easier for both parties. Once again if you’re nasty, you will get treated accordingly.

Use the person’s name. People like to hear their name. It’s one of those things that signify that the other person is listening and willing to have open communication.

Never make the person on the other end of the phone feel like they are personally responsible for screwing you over and wrecking your day. The representative answering the phone most likely had little to do with your purchase. Also, with big multi-national corporations you may encounter a call center representative who’s from another country, so they won’t have a clue about your local Best Buy or who that a-hole sales guy you dealt with is. They are their to help clean-up the mess and try to turn around your experience.

So remember this holiday season and beyond, be nice and good things will come your way.

I’ll try hard to follow my own advice and feel free to contact me if we’ve failed to meet your expectations.

– Kelly

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Anything You Can Do, I Can Do… Also?

Returning to us this week is previous guest blogger Kelly:

I thought I had squelched the discussion but apparently installing the CorkSport front strut bar on my Mazda 3 wasn’t enough to get the boys off my back. My point of view: “Why install a part when I have the boys to do it for me?” has failed. I’ve spent my entire driving career successfully avoiding getting involved. My tried and true method has carried me far, why would I want to rock the boat? I can take the grief; it’s only talk, right? Yeah right. You boys, once you get your meat hooks in, there is no stopping the you. Now it’s personal.

I first thought CorkSport Cooling Panel, easy enough, but I don’t have sedan. (Jake, product engineer god, I need a panel please.)

CorkSport Motor Mount Inserts? No… I have an automatic and a small child, and don’t want the car to vibrate that much.

Install the CorkSport SRI? Fortunately it’s on the car already. Plus, I read the instructions, way out of my league.

I finally settled on the CorkSport LED Kit– now there is something I can get behind and I don’t even have to open the engine bay, hurrah!

Step one: read the instructions. They look pretty straightforward. I briefly thought about taking the part home and giving it a try, but opted to stay here at CS. My reasoning was two fold- one, it’s the rainy season in the great Northwest and two, if I get in to trouble, someone can save my bacon.

The install: Per the instructions it should only take me 20-30 minutes in boy time. In girl time it took 45 minutes and I successfully installed every bulb backwards. Great.

I was totally stressed about pulling the map light out at the start of the project, come to find out that is the easy part. When I had to climb in my trunk for the trunk light and the license plates bulbs it got interesting, but I got it done without help. Then came the glove box light, lets just say things got a little hairy. I got the trim off easy enough and headed back inside to get a Philips screwdriver when Chris, aka Boy Wonder intervened. First just to get the correct screw driver, then he opted to follow me out to the parking lot to see how everything was going, knowing full well what was coming next…pulling the glove box out. I think he decided to help before I was having him order new clips and possibly fix the mess. Thank the manufacturer above, because I had no clue and it was quite a bit harder than I expected. Chris points me in the right direction and gave a helping hand, then took pictures that I’m sure he’ll hold against me in the future.

Overall the majority of the installation was easy. The glove box was a little harder than expected, but I’m glad I did it, the bulb was burnt out anyway. If you’re new to the performance part game this is an easy part to start with and it looks fabulous when you’re done.

– Kelly

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SEMA – Gorgeous Girls, Hot Cars, Celebrities, and …Education?

Being a product development engineer at CorkSport has many perks, but the latest one was a chance to go to SEMA (Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association) in Las Vegas. The weeklong event is the culmination of a year long process that thousands of companies have put into various vehicles and aftermarket parts. There was everything from smaller companies showcasing a new line of off-road vehicles, to Ford’s new police vehicle (long overdue).

The part that the majority of the public does not know is the education side of things. Being a member of SEMA allows us to go to seminars that are specifically geared towards helping smaller businesses (like CorkSport) evolve. These seminars are put on by successful people in the industry (usually a panel of experts in the related field). They had everything from how to make a viral video, to industry trends and what car manufacturers and planning for the future. This helps us get a head start on continuing to make quality products at an affordable price.

The other side of things that you may not realize about SEMA is the networking side of things. I know this is true for me, and most likely for a lot of you as well: the majority of the people I communitate with for various parts, hardware, equipment, etc, I never actually meet in person, rather only via email or phone. SEMA is a great chance to put a face to a name and get to know the person I am doing business with a little better.

I was also able to squeeze in a little non-work related fun such as getting to sit in the actual car Ken Block used in the Gymkhana 3 video and watch some trophy trucks race around the parking lot.

I will end with a couple very helpful hints for any future SEMA goers. Wear comfortable shoes! This is a must. I’m guessing I walked a minimum of a marathon in two and a half days. My second tip is to bring a backpack. You will get lots of little lanyards and posters and a backpack is much easier to walk with a place to store them. Finally, bring lots of water. The heat and walking around will dehydrate you and paying $3 for little 12oz bottles can get expensive.

– Jake

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CorkSport – Not Just for Your Mazda Anymore

Being that I usually post about new parts coming out, I thought I would change it up a little and blog about something different. We are finally rolling out some SWAG with our new logo on it here at CorkSport and one of my favorites is the slap-on can koozie. It features our new logo screen printed on a fabric layered over neoprene. It also utilizes two of the old slap bracelets that some of you may remember, so it will fit various sizes of cans and bottles. However, it does not come with installation instructions or telephone technical support.

Being an engineer, I tried to come up with a way to still get some useful data out of this post. I came up with a comparison of two typical domestic beers straight out of the fridge: one in our new can koozie and one without. The picture below shows my two test victims (opened to simulate someone who is actually drinking a beer).

For four hours, I took temperature readings of each beer every 15 minutes. The ambient temperature in my office was about 73 degrees F and the fridge remains roughly constant at 38 degrees. As you can see, both beers start out at 38 degrees (the temperature of the fridge) and remain fairly similar to one another for the first hour. However, from hours 1-4, the can in the koozie stayed roughly 7-9 degrees cooler. This may not sound like a lot, but you have to take into account that it also keeps your hand from warming up the beer as well (I did not test for that, but it may be a good excuse to retest).

In the end, the CorkSport slap-on can koozie did its job and I had an excuse to drink beer at work, albeit 71.3 & 63.9 degree beer after staring at untouched open beers for four hours.

We also have our new T-shirts available!

– Jake