{"id":8390,"date":"2016-10-14T05:34:08","date_gmt":"2016-10-14T13:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.corksport.com\/blog\/?p=8390"},"modified":"2016-10-21T16:44:54","modified_gmt":"2016-10-22T00:44:54","slug":"my-corksport-mods-mazda3-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corksport.com\/blog\/my-corksport-mods-mazda3-sport\/","title":{"rendered":"My CorkSport Mods: Keith&#8217;s Mazda 3 Sport"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019ve met a lot of amazing people thanks to my Mazda 3 Sport, but Yolanda Sampson (Instagram: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/bluehalogirl\/\">@bluehalogirl<\/a>) is the one I blame for this addiction we call \u201cmodding.\u201d When we met, I hadn\u2019t done much to my car yet, just a couple minor things like tinted windows and tinted taillights. She had a feeling I\u2019d be into meeting some more like-minded locals and invited me to a meet. We got along like only two Mazda nuts could, and it was game over for me.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8391\" src=\"https:\/\/www.corksport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/20160814_144023-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Mazda 3 Sport \" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/corksport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/20160814_144023-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/corksport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/20160814_144023-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/corksport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/20160814_144023-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><!--more-->Not long after, I started on my Mazda\u2019s cosmetics (since I still had some warranty left). The hood, roof, and hatch were dipped in \u201cBlack Betty Pearl.\u201d The headlights got a retrofit with painted housings and LED halos\/strips. By that point, I was hooked!<\/p>\n<p>Then it happened \u2014 my warranty ran out. I was finally free to have my way with the rest of my car. I took a look at a few options and decided to give Corksport a try. I hit \u201cCheckout\u201d and waited (im)patiently for the delivery truck to arrive. In much less time than I was expecting for a USA-Canada shipment, my new parts arrived and I wasted zero time in getting the <a href=\"https:\/\/corksport.com\/corksport-power-series-short-ram-intake-2010-mazda-3-2.0-en.html\">Power Series SRI<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/corksport.com\/corksport-power-series-exhaust-system-mazda-3.html\">Exhaust<\/a> (with racepipe!) installed.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.corksport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/20160925_162831-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Mazda 3 Sport \" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/corksport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/20160925_162831-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/corksport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/20160925_162831-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/corksport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/20160925_162831-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Afterward, I did what any car guy would do and went for a drive. It all sounded great idling in the parking lot, but that just didn\u2019t do it justice. So I hit the road to make some noise, and damn, did it ever make some noise! The subtle <em>hiss<\/em> of the intake, the aggressive <em>brapp<\/em> of the exhaust, the immense glee as I childishly floored it through every tunnel and underpass in the city. I still go on solo drives just to listen to it; it\u2019s just perfect!<\/p>\n<p>I couldn\u2019t stop there, though. I was addicted. Next up, the Corksport <a href=\"https:\/\/corksport.com\/corksport-adjustable-short-shifter-mazda-3-6-speed-skyactiv.html\">Adjustable Short Shifter<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/corksport.com\/corksport-shifter-bushing-set-2012-2013-skyactiv-manual-transmission.html\">Shifter Bushing Set<\/a>, plus a hand-made 400g-shift knob, were installed. The short, snappy shifting made an incredible difference, and I still recommend this combo in particular to someone looking for a subtle but car-changing mod.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8393\" src=\"https:\/\/www.corksport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/20160710_220833-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Mazda 3 Sport Front\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/corksport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/20160710_220833-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/corksport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/20160710_220833-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/corksport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/20160710_220833-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Next came the Corksport <a href=\"https:\/\/corksport.com\/mazda-3-strut-bar.html\">Front Strut Bar<\/a> to clean up the body roll this car was plagued with. I found myself unable to resist treating every corner like it was part of a track. Most recently I had the car tuned. The intake and exhaust did a great job allowing the car to breathe better, but it needed a little more. I got in touch with Matt at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ovtuned.com\/\">OrangeVirus Tuning<\/a>, and he had his way with my ECU. He\u2019s a magician, and really did an amazing job to help the car use the Corksport goodies to its full potential. We\u2019re squeezing that little 2.0L for every drop of power, and I\u2019m quite impressed with what we got out of it. Now if only Calgary can just get a proper track again \u2026<\/p>\n<p>Through all of this I was repeatedly blown away by the staff at Corksport. I can tell it\u2019s not just a job to them, it\u2019s a passion. They eat, breathe, and bleed Mazda! To this day, they are the only company I ever have or ever will exchange Christmas gifts with. Yolanda and I sent them a calendar featuring our cars, and we got a box of swag and handwritten cards in return. The social media mentions, the random notifications that pop up saying Corksport liked something or had something to say, or just straight up using my car to show off \u2026 it all makes my day!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8397\" src=\"https:\/\/www.corksport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/20160828_151141-1024x1002.jpg\" alt=\"Mazda 3 Sport Hood\" width=\"600\" height=\"587\" srcset=\"https:\/\/corksport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/20160828_151141-1024x1002.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/corksport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/20160828_151141-300x294.jpg 300w, https:\/\/corksport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/20160828_151141-768x751.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I love you guys. Keep doing EXACTLY what you\u2019re doing \u2014 don\u2019t you dare change! And please \u2014 <em>please<\/em> \u2014 make a turbo that won\u2019t kill my little 2.0L. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Keith Coughlin (Instagram: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/keith403\/\">@keith403<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>2012 Mazda 3 Sport<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8398\" src=\"https:\/\/www.corksport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/received_10209814878229385-1024x683.jpeg\" alt=\"Mazda 3 Sport Road\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/corksport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/received_10209814878229385-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/corksport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/received_10209814878229385-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/corksport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/received_10209814878229385-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/corksport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/received_10209814878229385.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Through all of my Mazda mods, I was repeatedly blown away by the staff at Corksport. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[13,10,70,62,124,337],"class_list":["post-8390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mazda3","tag-exhaust","tag-mazda-3","tag-mazda-aftermarket-parts","tag-mazda-performance","tag-short-ram-intake","tag-short-shifter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/corksport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8390"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/corksport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/corksport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corksport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corksport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/corksport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8390\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/corksport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corksport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corksport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}