Product Overview: CorkSport 2010 MZ3/MS3 Motor Mount Inserts

[CorkSport]

We're just getting these 2010 Mazda3 CorkSport Urethane Motor Mount Inserts out the door with new instructions, etc. We also have Motor Mount Inserts for the 2007-2009 Mazdaspeed3 and will be posting up mounts for the 2010 Mazdaspeed3 in the next day or two to ship Tuesday. Figured you guys would want to see what your engine is connected to under there. So Ryan and I shot some videos to show you what the factory motor mounts behave like, what the install entails and what kind of results you can expect. The before and after is pretty astonishing. $35 and ~30 minute installation (~15 with a lift). Videos are all of the MZ3, but the Speed isn't much better. Bracket is a bit different also, but still 3x 19mm Fasteners.

Before:

YouTube - Before - Factory 2010 Mazda3 Rear Motor Mount Deflection

Putting the inserts into the factory mount:

YouTube - Installing the CorkSport Inserts in a Mazda3 Motor Mount

After:

YouTube - CorkSport Mazda3 Motor Mount Insert Rigidity

And some detail on how to remove the mount from under the vehicle:

YouTube - Mazda3 Motor Mount Removal

This is a great upgrade to any Mazda3 or Mazdaspeed3 - and really easy to accomplish.

Jason Griffith
Product Development Engineer
CorkSport Mazda Performance - 360-260-CORK

 

[jeebusm3]

wow, that is amazing. I'd be interested in one for my Speed3.

- Does anyone know why they are designed for so much movement from the factory?
- How much increased NVH is there?
- Does stiffening this mount cause extra stresses somewhere else?

 

[CorkSport]

Almost no increase in NVH on the Speed3 - that's one of the great benefits to doing an insert instead of the dogbone style motor mounts on the market - you get the best of both worlds without the dental bills! (yes) If there's any increased stress, it'll go into the subframe that the mount currently connects to, and in my opinion, the deflected state being loaded is substantially worse structurally on the stamped steel subframe than the non deflected state with the larger area thrust washers transfering the load into the subframe.

Extra movement from the factory is simply an attempt to make the car feel smooth on take-off. Lucky for all of us designing parts, production automobiles are designed for the 60th or so percentile. This modification certainly makes the car plant better and takes out that slop in the drivetrain. That backlash in the drivetrain gives the car that luxury feel instead of more of a sports car connected feel.

Jason
CorkSport

 

[jeebusm3]

Which motor mount commonly failed on last-gen Speed3's? And will this help prevent that same issue from happening?

 

[CorkSport]

Side mount. Not this one. But any isolation in movement of the drivetrain relative to the chassis should avoid stressing the other mounts. But I would really have to evaluate the failure modes of the side mount to qualify that statement.

Jason

 

[Dubcnea]

is this a super pain to install without a lift? i'm a DIY'er but i lack many of the luxuries of the shops and such. also, i assume not, but does this to anything to the warranty? does it cause any other parts to wear out any faster due to the changed stress levels of diff parts?

in case you didn't notice, i'm somewhat of a motor mount noob.

 

[_Jason]

No worries - great questions. Not a pain to install without a lift, but because of the re-torquing of the mounts it is absolutely critical that you safely support the car on jack stands with a backup mechanism like a floor jack with light tension on it in addition to the jackstands - always good to take the belt and suspenders approach when it comes to your own safety. Important to fully read safety precautions that come with your jackstands, their weight ratings as well as to follow Mazda's recommendations when it comes to where to put the jackstands.

That being said, the 'YouTube - Mazda3 Motor Mount Removal' video from the OP shows almost literally everything you need to do to get the mount out - all of that area is fully exposed.

As for the warranty, if you read the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act, the damage you're trying to warranty has to be able to be reasonably traced to the aftermarket part that is installed on your car (whether this is a Fram Oil Filter, a K&N Air Filter or an aftermarket motor mount). As for the potential damage from this addition, out of an extremely high volume of these products sold across multiple models, we have not seen any damage caused by them. What we have seen is additional vibration when the mount was installed on a car that had a side mount that had already failed, which we warn our customers to inspect for prior to installation on the front page of the instructions.

To give you some prior history, we had a customer who had a previously failed side motor mount who had our inserts installed and his dealer still warrantied the side mount without complaining about the inserts being installed.

Like I said in an earlier post, the next time I see a failed side mount on a car I'll take a closer look at how it is constructed, how it flexes relative to the centerline of the crankshaft (center of rotation for the forces we're talking about) and its failure mode which will give me more qualification to speak to the effects of bolstering the rear mount on the side mount longevity. Empirically, however, we have not seen any failures like this from Speed3's, CX-7's, Mazda3's or MSP's.

Jason