Recently I took a several hundred mile road trip in the 2. With a full load of people I was able to test out the car under a maximum capacity scenario. The car had 4 passengers and several bags in the trunk. Initially I wasn’t sure how well everything would fit into such a small car. After loading up the hatch, everything ended up fitting in just fine. If it were an overnight trip it would have been a bit cramped with the extra baggage we would have had in the hatch.

The trip we took was down the beautiful Columbia gorge to Parkdale Oregon. The trip had plenty of hills, twisty roads, and elevation to really put the Mazda 2 to the test. The twisty roads and the hills were great fun even with the loaded up car. The 2 handled great even through the large sweepers with the extra weight. The car has plenty of power still to overtake cars in the passing lanes with a down shift to 4th gear. The only time I had any moments were I wished for more power was climbing the hill outside of Hood River to Parkdale. When the altitude starts really climbing the fully loaded car could use about 10-20 more horsepower.

The 2 averaged 33 miles per gallon on the drive. This was mostly at highway speeds of 55-60 mph with the hill climbs. I consider this really good mileage considering the driving conditions. The drive from Hood River to Parkdale was in 4th gear climbing the elevation for about 20-25 minutes. I also had plenty of spots where I was gunning it coming out of corners too. I had thought the drive would have made a bigger dent in the fuel economy.

The 6 speaker stereo in the 2 sounds great and is easy to use. The Aux input jack for the factory stereo made it handy to hook up an MP3 player and keep the driving tunes going without having to load CDs. I found myself adjusting the volume knob on the stereo and not the steering wheel though. I think it is just from habit from my old car and once I get used to using it more it will be natural.

After we returned I asked the other passengers their thoughts about our 3 hour adventure in the Mazda 2. There were no complaints and there were plenty of praises for how comfortable the seats are. One other complement for the 2 was about the drink holders. Counting the spaces in the front doors you have spots for 5 bottles of water. As the driver I did not have any problems finding a comfortable driving position.

Having driven the new Mazda 2 for a month and putting 1000 miles on it I can say that the fun driving factor has not worn off. I look forward to driving the car each chance I get. I give the Mazda 2 an A+ for a road trip vehicle.

- Derrick

People have been hitting us up via every contact point possible: phone calls, emailing, Facebook posting, Forum chatting, and contacting us via our webpage to find out when the CorkSport Cold Air Box for the 2010 MazdaSpeed 3 Short Ram Intake will be available. I am proud to say that it is finally here.

Way back all the way to the beginning of February, we had a blog post outlining the details of the depth we go into when designing a Cold Air Box. After finalizing the design and getting a production part installed in our project car, I went out and did some extensive testing. Using a laptop, data-logging software, and lots of thermocouples, I was able to log temperature changes over time.

The delta temperature in the graph below is the temperature difference inside the CAB (right at the filter) versus the temperature directly outside the box (inside the engine bay). The red line shows the difference over time using the box right off the shelf. The blue line shows the CAB with fully taped and insulated connections (the SRI to CAB mating area) attempting to reduce heat soak even further. The green line shows the difference over time with the CAB fully insulated and a direct pipe running from the fog light opening to the CAB (simulating a CAI).

Each reading was taking in the same atmospheric temperature (+/- 2 degrees) driving the same route at the same time each day. The route consisted of highway driving (both at highway speeds, and stop and go traffic) as well as city driving.

As you can see from the graph, all 3 designs yielded roughly the same result of about a 35-40 degree decrease in intake temperature once the vehicle has reached operating temperature.

As a conclusion to this experiment, I can confidently say that our CAB for the 2010 MazdaSpeed 3 paired with our SRI can bring your intake temperatures down to the same temperature as you would see with a cold air intake, without the drop in pressure or any worry about driving in the rain.

As always, if you have any questions about the product, or if you want to know more about how the data was obtained or evaluated, shoot me an email.

- Jake

The consensus around these parts is that our logo needs a refresher. We’ve used the logo below for around 10 years.

We’ve labored over the past few weeks on a bunch of different concepts. We selected what we think are the best three we’ve seen so far. We’d love to hear your feedback on these ideas.

Version #1:

Version #2

Version #3

We’ve not decided on a color scheme yet. We’re not even sure the winning logo is shown here. That depends on the feedback we get from you.

Let us know what you think. Heck! If you hate these and have your own concept, send that our way too. If we use your concept we’ll try to make it worth your while.

- Rich

“I’ll probably go with them because of free shipping.” – R.S.

I heard this one recently from a customer. A fair enough statement, and as a consumer I could see myself saying the exact same thing.

So why would I write a blog post about it?

You’ve all heard sayings like:
• The best things in life are free.
• Anything worth having is worth paying for.
• Ain’t nothing free.

Now, the ‘best things’ in life probably aren’t being delivered via UPS. In that mindset shipping isn’t really something you ‘have’ so it might not feel worth paying for. However, the ‘ain’t nothing free’ statement, that’s one I can speak to.

CorkSport has been around for well over a decade now, and we have learned a few things about selling and shipping parts. The first thing everyone should know about online part sales is this: There really isn’t such a thing as free shipping. The concept itself doesn’t make any sense really.

To really understand where I’m coming from you need to think about a few things. Why would a company offer free shipping? I think there are several possible answers to this question. First, they want new customers and they are willing to take a loss with the idea that market share and the total lifetime value of a consumer will justify the short term loss. Generally, this is only sustainable for very large companies (like www.amazon.com) who constantly bring in new customers by the thousands.

Second, they don’t quite lose money on the sale, but the shipping charge eats into their margin. If you have low overhead (like selling parts out of your garage) or amazingly high volume then you can run off lower margins and continue to offer ‘free shipping’. How can you hope to sustain a business in the long run when the shipping carrier makes more off your business than you do? To be nice, this is difficult, but not impossible in some industries.

Third, and lastly, you can raise your prices to include shipping then give the customer “free shipping”. This really amounts to nothing more than a marketing gimmick. The one benefit I see to this scenario is that it simplifies the ‘cost’ calculation for the consumer by having a nice round number for them to use.

Let’s go back to R.S. for a moment. A while back he tasked us with giving him free shipping on something he wanted to order from us or he would buy from another company. Ordinarily this wouldn’t be surprising, but the one caveat here is that our price + shipping was equal to or less than their price with ‘free’ shipping. This put us in a very strange place, because to us it was obvious that the customer was being fleeced by the other company and their ‘free’ shipping. We tried to make sense of this, but all I can figure is that maybe he just hates math.

Where I am going with all of this is that I am asking you, our customers, this question: Should we raise our prices and provide free shipping or stick to our current strategy of letting you know how much of the ‘cost’ of your part is transportation of the part from us to you?

Maybe someday when we’re a billion dollar company, we just might offer ‘free shipping’ as a means to maintain our monopolistic rule of the market. Muuhhhaahahaha.

Until then, the only valid reason we’ll have to offer ‘free’ shipping (see raising our prices) is if you tell us it makes it easier for you to compare our products to the competition. See scenario #3.

I don’t want to offend anyone or start trouble, but I’m just being honest with you. I feel that transparency of process is important in this situation, and I welcome your feedback, either via email or blog comments.

We continue to appreciate your business and invest our profits back into Mazda performance.

- Rich

Our 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 project car is always a work in progress. It rarely gets put all the way back together, and when it finally does, another project gets set to take it apart again. This time, it was to get some cooler air flowing to the lungs of the MS3.

We recently installed our prototype front mount intercooler kit on our 2010 Mazdaspeed 3. After dealing with a new bumper, hood scoop, and other changes from the 1st gen MS3 to the current body style, we finally have a working kit. As it is currently installed, this is a bolt-on kit with no drilling or cutting required. The factory undertray and bumper also mount back on with room to spare.

We are currently in the testing phase and hope to have a final design set soon. If you have any input on what you would like to see (ie, silicone colors, piping powdercoat colors, etc) send me an email.

- Jake

Its Here!

On Wednesday around noon I picked up my liquid silver Mazda 2 at the port in Tacoma, Washington. 10 miles is what the Mazda 2 had on it from the trip out of the factory, on to a ship, off the same ship, and around a really big parking lot. After an inspection of the 2 and peeling off a bunch of white protective stickers I was on my way to the gas station. Mazda doesn’t put much fuel in the cars at the factory.

The first things that jumped out at me: I love the clutch and the shifter. The clutch engagement is precise and you know when it is engaging. The shifter really reminds me of a Miata. It is precise in motion and the feedback from gear engagement is very clear.

After filling up with fuel I headed to I-5 and spent the next two hours driving south to CorkSport. With the light curb weight of the Mazda 2 the 100hp engine makes getting on the freeway was really effortless. I shifted at 4000 rpm going through the gears to get to 5th gear @ 60 MPH. The 1.5 liter engine has some pretty decent torque making freeway driving a breeze. I did not have to downshift at any point on the 136 mile drive back.

The Mazda 2 is really quiet in the cab on the freeway. Road noise is minimal and I have a feeling that most of the noise was from the tires. We will test out the noise down the road later when we upgrade the Mazda 2 with different wheels and tires.

The Mazda 2 really feels like a small Mazda 3. All of the interior, switch gear, gauges, everything feels really solid. The radio sounds good and is easy to use. The preset buttons are a little weird being on the right side of the face but it is easy enough to work around once your presets are in.

My verdict on the Mazda 2 is that this car is well worth the wait. When I arrived at CorkSport after the two hour drive I had a big smile on my face. This is a great car which has tons of potential.

Check out the Mazda 2 Project on our CorkSport webpage for updates on the car. We already have started development on parts and we will be updating the progress of the Mazda 2 as often as we can.

- Derrick

After over-sleeping for the second event I decided to make a run to Packwood, WA for event #3. Chris had out of town plans so I convinced a friend/local Mazda geek to come with me the night before. Thanks Kyle. The drive was relaxing at about 2 hours and I could scarcely have gotten lost if I tried, take I-5 north to Highway 12 East and continue on to Packwood. I forget the name of the place we ate breakfast at (1 of 2 places in town I believe) but the portions where huge nap inducing offerings and the view was magnificent.

Weather was perfect on that Sunday and the course size was significantly larger than PIR events allow for. Indoor parking was a huge plus but the birds coming through caused me some concern. Sure enough a bird marked the top of my car during its wait for what I hoped would not be a laughable assault on innocent cones. Kyle and I walked the course several times but there was no map available so I kept a good eye out trying to keep the course in my head. Also, I got a ride-a-long in an FC with a V8 swap during the morning session to help get a feel for things, fun!

The 3 is equipped with MS coil-overs set on full dampening and rebound in front with full dampening and 2 clicks short of full rebound in the rear. I set tire pressure, marked the side walls, applied numbers and class magnets, loaded my lower boost MAP into the ECU then proceeded to my work assignment. After working first group my farmers tan was complete and it was time to run. I used an instructor, the same guy that set the course, to help me get through the problem areas I was fighting with. Smooth runs, looking ahead and course knowledge paid off……….. after the first three “official” runs, which sucked as I managed a 55 second run to demolish my previous 1 minute plus runs while coming out of 2nd gear twice. The car comes out of 2nd gear in the same areas on every run I made, which is the same thing that happened at PIR during the first event. I am looking at competition style engine mounts for the weekends to see if they will help. Most of the guys out there use R compound or competition tires and wheels, me, I am sticking with the street tires. After comparing my last lap time to others I found the MS3 to be more than capable of competing in this venue despite my lack of traction and experience. At the end of the day I was glad I came out and I am anxiously looking forward to the next Packwood event. I’ll be working on a little more throttle control and left foot braking in the mean time.

Somewhat surprising to me is the number of families that come out to these events, some times as support for a driver yet often enough couples or parents and kids (18+) are driving the car. Two drivers per car is a regular thing.

Here’s a quick video of part of one of my runs:

- Travis

I recently received an email asking which CS part combinations would be the best way to achieve a 40+ horsepower gain in the 2010+ MazdaSpeed 3 without breaking the bank, or having your significant other make you call and cancel your order.

Your new MS3 breathes just like you do. Maximizing the intake of air and freeing up the expulsion of used gasses (exhaust) will help your vehicle breath better, and go faster.

On the intake side of things, for $239 you can get our Short Ram Intake which includes our mandrel bent turbo inlet pipe and custom designed MAF housing and silicone coupler. This will free-up flow into the turbo and allow your MS3 to breath deeper. The average gains seen here are 10-15 hp.

For exhaling, you want to expel all those used gasses as quick as possible. With the CS turbo-back exhaust, you are reducing the back-pressure and allowing your MS3 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 MS3 owner 28-31 hp at the wheels for just over $1,000 for all 3 parts.

Shown below is our 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 with the CorkSport Short Ram Intake & Turbo-back exhaust compared to our car 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.

This is my suggestion on the easiest and cheapest way to gain 40 hp at the wheels. If you have a different/better way to do this using CS products, I would love to hear your comments.

For those of you on more of a budget, may I suggest just the Short Ram Intake ($239) and racepipe ($149)? For a total price or $388 you can get an increase in wheel hp of upper 20’s to lower 30’s.

Any more questions feel free to shoot me an email.

- Jake

One question I get a lot is “Can I install this part?” My answer: “Do you have the right tools to do the job?” Depending on the part you are installing just about anyone can get the job done with the directions we supply, a basic idea of how the job works and the right set of tools. Looking back at a previous blog we did about tools, I thought I would add on a bit and tell you about what tools I would start with.

At my previous job, my tools paid the bills so it was a must to have the right tools for the job. There is a big difference between quality tools and the cheap set of ratchets and wrenches you find in the plastic cases at most auto parts stores. I have broken the gears in a number of cheap ratchets and rounded off bolts because the wrench is just not quite the size it says it is. I have always been a fan of Craftsman tools for a few reasons, but mainly because you can just take it back to the store when you break one and get it replaced with no issues. Snap-On has the same policies, but unless you can get the guy in the truck to come by your house you’re going to have to hunt one down to exchange the tools you need.

A basic set of tools is always a good thing to have around the garage. Tools will save you time and save you money. If you don’t have the right tools for the job it’s going to make the job very frustrating and hard to complete. Buying a good quality tool set to start with is a good idea if you want to start working on your car yourself. With a vast majority of cars, even domestics, using metric bolts you can save some money buying an all metric tool kit. I am not saying you need to spend thousands of dollars on a Snap-On kit or Craftsman Pro kit, but they do make good starter sets that will come with just about everything you will need to do normal jobs on your car.

- Chris

I recently received an email from a customer who asked me “I have heard the intake you sell is illegal, is this true?” That is a valid question to ask of any part manufacturer who offers aftermarket performance products.

On a federal level the EPA regulates the auto manufacturers which sell new vehicles in the United States. The EPA doesn’t look at which intake you have installed into your vehicle and thus there really isn’t any guideline to look at or follow.

On a local level, states, counties, or cities can regulate automobiles their own way, and their rules can vary. At a state level it can really vary. In the state of Washington our vehicle inspections for emissions consist of plugging in the vehicle for 1996-newer models to see if there are any check engine light present or pending. If the cars ECU gives a green light to no problems and the system readiness check has been passed you are given a pass. With our intakes being engineered and tested to meet the requirements of the factory ECU they will pass a plug in emissions test.

Some states do a visual check of emissions components and a tailpipe check in addition to checking the factory ECU to see if the computer has any check engine codes. With visual inspections it really comes down to the rules set by your state. Some states are fine with bolt on modifications like intakes and cat back exhausts. Some are not which means you need to check with your local emissions testing facility.

The tailpipe test consists of an exhaust gas analyzer checking the exhaust output of your vehicle and making sure the hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides are within EPA specifications. There is a small range of particles which are allowed. If the numbers are higher that what is allowed you will not pass the test. Intakes can also affect the tailpipe emissions if they are engineered improperly, and can cause the engine to run outside is original parameters. CorkSport intakes, because of all the testing we have put into them should cause no problems with the tailpipe test.

Now for the tough guys: California. California has its own emissions guidelines which is called CARB or California Air Resources Board. CARB has guidelines which are very strict for any modifications which can affect engine performance. To be a legal product for California the part must have an executive order number. Currently CorkSport intakes do not have an EO number. We are working on CARB certification for our intakes, so don’t worry California customers, we’re thinking of you!

If you have any questions about whether or not your intake is legal check with your local state emissions station to see what they have to say.

- Derrick