CorkSport Gen2 Single-Exit Catback Review

[Crarrs]

Last year, I had a single-exit axle-back built at a muffler shop. I was looking for a little more sound out of the car, but mostly wanted to lose the weight of the stock muffler. The project was a success, and cut 20 lbs out of the car (8.5 lbs vs. 28.0 lbs stock).



Shortly thereafter, CorkSport announced that they had built a prototype catback and requested feedback from the community. I was interested in it, as it was obviously a higher-quality piece than the muffler-shop special I had built, but was hesitant due to the price. I sold off my single-exit part, and started saving before the part was released. Well, a pay period with 34 hours of overtime eased any heartburn over the price, and I bit the bullet on the CorkSport part.





After I pulled the stock parts off the car, I weighed everything from both assemblies to verify the weight reduction claims.

Stock
Midpipe - 14.6 lbs
Axle-Back - 28.0 lbs
Total - 42.6 lbs

CorkSport
Midpipe - 15.4 lbs
Axle-Back - 9.4 lbs
Hardware - 0.2 lbs
Total - 25.0 lbs

Weight Delta - 17.6 lbs

Everything installed easily enough, although there were a few minor issues with the instructions that I noted in the product release thread. They'll be simple enough to correct with a revision. Once I got everything bolted up, I noted minimal clearance between the first bend in the midpipe and the tunnel. I adjusted everything as much as available to me and managed to gain about 1/8" of clearance. I haven't had any issues with interference or rattling yet, but I still have option of urethane hangers if I end up having problems later.

Clearance before adjustment


I pulled a 3rd gear datalog on the car yesterday and compared it against some older runs, and, well it's Virtual Dyno, and there's always question marks about runs not done on the same day. But I can say for sure that I picked up 20 g/s of peak airflow, so there's definitely some improvement from the part, although it's likely not quite as much as this plot is showing.



The exhaust sounds good, and not really much different from their dual-exit version. The huge concern that many others have had about the extra hole in the bumper doesn't bother me at all. I don't look at the back of my car when I'm driving it. At $200 cheaper than the dual exit, I've got to recommend it.

iPhone video of cold start

2010 Mazdaspeed3 Corksport Single-Exit Catback Exhaust - YouTube

2010 Mazdaspeed3 Corksport Single-Exit Catback Exhaust - YouTube

Comparison versus stock

2010 Mazdaspeed3 Corksport Single-Exit Catback Exhaust - YouTube

2010 Mazdaspeed3 Corksport Single-Exit Catback Exhaust - YouTube

Breaking it in the right way

[swsmailman]

Thank you for the numbers on the weight difference and the great review!

[mvp2010ms3]

@Crarrs, Great review!! I cannot wait to order my part. I know I am almost 2 years too late haha but I have been looking this up for months now, and only seen good things about the single exit. CAN'T WAIT!!!

[Brandon@corksport]

Awesome! You'll love it!

[sheston]

I got one for my 2011 about a year ago. I love it as well. The weight loss was just a bonus

[Finchee]

Originally Posted by sheston I got one for my 2011 about a year ago. I love it as well. The weight loss was just a bonus

How loud is it inside the cabin? Does it drone at highway speeds like at 70-80 mph? That's around 2700-3000 rpm in 6th gear I think.

[Crarrs]

No droning at all. It isn't much louder than stock when cruising at light constant throttle. Sound level increases with added throttle inputs.

[sheston]

Mine drones a little, but it's not a good comparison. I don't have any rear seats, carpet, plastic, spare, ....

I think the stock exhaust would probably sound loud in the cabin

[Finchee]

Sounds promising. I can barely hear my exhaust now after swapping from the DM RMM to this almost stock-like CP-E stage1 RMM. I've also always wanted to get a CS CBE, just that the timing and availability of funds never lined up. Someday I'll get one to replace the Magnaflow on my car.