[atceeze]

Hey guys! So, as I hunt for information for this platform and it's options for modifications. Is it safe to assume that the brand that goes by "CorkSport" is a popular and reputable brand to purchase all aftermarket components from? Their prices seem to be pretty up there. For example, the tow hook license plate adapter is ~$100.00 USD. As steep as it is, if it's worth it, I'll buy it. So far I've bought Amazon's option for ~$20.00 in the meantime.

Anyone have other brands that are recommended for our 6's? or do we just full-send it and CorkSport everything?

Thanks!

-2017 Mazda 6 Touring

 

[Byakuya]

Hey guys! So, as I hunt for information for this platform and it's options for modifications. Is it safe to assume that the brand that goes by "CorkSport" is a popular and reputable brand to purchase all aftermarket components from? Their prices seem to be pretty up there. For example, the tow hook license plate adapter is ~$100.00 USD. As steep as it is, if it's worth it, I'll buy it. So far I've bought Amazon's option for ~$20.00 in the meantime.

Anyone have other brands that are recommended for our 6's? or do we just full-send it and CorkSport everything?

Thanks!

-2017 Mazda 6 Touring

In before the TalonTSI Corksport rant.


Corksport is (basically) just a reseller of goods with "Mazda" slapped on them - you can get the same (or better) parts elsewhere if you look around. Unfortunately for the toe-hook license plate, I haven't found too many besides CS that sells them (which is why I ended up with one), but that was years ago.

 

[TalonTsi90]

or do we just full-send it and CorkSport everything?

Unfortunately for the toe-hook license plate,

tow hook license plate for sale | eBay

If you want to make it look really good, you can do this

I got my tow hook from Amazon (and i hate shopping there, but it was half price) and a tap and die from eBay to clean the threads on the car using WD-40 as a "lubricant" and my Ryobi impact and socket to finish the job. I then used calipers and carefully measured the placement of the rod to place a hole into the cover and then used a step drill to open it up.

 

[Cdn17Sport6MT]

View attachment 248072


tow hook license plate for sale | eBay

If you want to make it look really good, you can do this
View attachment 248071

I got my tow hook from Amazon (and i hate shopping there, but it was half price) and a tap and die from eBay to clean the threads on the car using WD-40 as a "lubricant" and my Ryobi impact and socket to finish the job. I then used calipers and carefully measured the placement of the rod to place a hole into the cover and then used a step drill to open it up.

@TalonTsi90 did an expert job fitting the tow hook based lic. pl. relocate kit... witness the minimal annular gap around the shank... and his step drill use was brilliant to make a clean cut edge (in fact I asked him a bunch of questions about how he did this) ✔✔.

Visually, the relocate kit is an improvement... and it either obviates the need to drill holes in the bumper cover, or allows existing holes to be neatly hidden with suitable small plugs.

Having said all of the above, I personally would not do a plate relocate that uses the tow hook port because in the event of a front end accident you will not benefit from a more distributed degree of collision force loadings being introduced onto the unibody chassis that the stock arrangement affords you... {i.e. allowing the whole width of the bumper cover and the whole width of the bumper reinforcement bar (immediately behind the front bumper cover) to absorb said force}. That is, as opposed to a more point loading, highly biased to one side of the car.

One comment though: at the back bumper area of the Mazda6, the bosses for the tow hooks are located on the actual bumper reinforcing bar... which is good... because said bumper reinf bar has engineered-to-crush columns. Likely this is the same in front. Trouble is that with the plate relocate arrangement, the collision load is introduced almost exclusively on one side of the car. Inevitably more damage to the car ensues... and it might be sufficient to result in a "total loss" versus a repairable accident. Actually, some folks might prefer a "Total Loss"...

 

[atceeze]

In before the TalonTSI Corksport rant.


Corksport is (basically) just a reseller of goods with "Mazda" slapped on them - you can get the same (or better) parts elsewhere if you look around. Unfortunately for the toe-hook license plate, I haven't found too many besides CS that sells them (which is why I ended up with one), but that was years ago.

Thank you for the feedback! I felt lost for a moment when you referred to "TalonTSI". I understand the reference now

.

Since I have you here, I'd like to give a big thanks for the abundant information you have set up on your links I took a peek of just moments ago. Such great information I'll be brushing up on for a decent while. Hopefully I can find you on Instagram if you have one available.

As for the license plate brace, I did notice that the long piece of metal has a peculiar angled shape to it where the license plate would mount I believe. I'm curious what that looks like mounted in comparison to a universal one such as the one I purchased.

 

[Byakuya]

Thank you for the feedback! I felt lost for a moment when you referred to "TalonTSI". I understand the reference now

.

Since I have you here, I'd like to give a big thanks for the abundant information you have set up on your links I took a peek of just moments ago. Such great information I'll be brushing up on for a decent while. Hopefully I can find you on Instagram if you have one available.

As for the license plate brace, I did notice that the long piece of metal has a peculiar angled shape to it where the license plate would mount I believe. I'm curious what that looks like mounted in comparison to a universal one such as the one I purchased.

You're quite welcome! We're all here on this forum as a sort of labor-of-love. I started out not knowing much about cars at all, and I learned so much here I thought the least I can do is give back.

To answer your question about the angled brace, it's to do 1 of 2 things based on how you orient it when installing.

1. Make the plate fit more flush with the car's angles (it follows the bumper more) and screws on better.
2. Make the plate go straight out because your state police are annoying and don't like option 1.

When installing the frame, you must fully assemble the thing (except maybe the plate) before putting it on the car - which means you have to spin the entire unit around multiple times as you tighten it into the toe hook. If you want/need the thing facing straight ahead, it's going to be difficult to get the last few spins on it because the plate frame itself starts to hit your bumper while you're spinning it.

I originally went with it straight ahead because (some) MA cops can be obnoxious, but didn't like the risk of scraping my bumper if/when I had to pull it off to work on things. Now that I'm not in MA anymore, I put it on "correctly" so it follows the bumper and doesn't risk scraping.

Here's what option 2 looks like

^^^ You can see how close the frame mount is to my bumper and the chrome.

And I'm pretty sure this was option 1

 

[atceeze]

View attachment 248072


tow hook license plate for sale | eBay

If you want to make it look really good, you can do this
View attachment 248071

I got my tow hook from Amazon (and i hate shopping there, but it was half price) and a tap and die from eBay to clean the threads on the car using WD-40 as a "lubricant" and my Ryobi impact and socket to finish the job. I then used calipers and carefully measured the placement of the rod to place a hole into the cover and then used a step drill to open it up.

Wow that's really clean work you did there! Thank you for sharing and providing visual aid. i'm terrible with measurements so I'm sure to mess up a project like that somehow. If anything, I'd buy a replacement cover and try my luck with an unpainted one so I don't ruin the one from the car. As of right now, I have a universal plate holder tow hook adapter from Amazon. Only reason I took it off already is because the plate frame and the screw that holds the plate is touching the paint and the chrome trim on the grille. Last thing I want to do is have it cause cosmetic damage so I'm trying to figure out how to extend the rod a little further out so these things don't make contact.

So it is safe to assume that you do not recommend any CorkSport product then right? Lol.

 

[atceeze]

@TalonTsi90 did an expert job fitting the tow hook based lic. pl. relocate kit... witness the minimal annular gap around the shank... and his step drill use was brilliant to make a clean cut edge (in fact I asked him a bunch of questions about how he did this) ✔✔.

Visually, the relocate kit is an improvement... and it either obviates the need to drill holes in the bumper cover, or allows existing holes to be neatly hidden with suitable small plugs.

Having said all of the above, I personally would not do a plate relocate that uses the tow hook port because in the event of a front end accident you will not benefit from a more distributed degree of collision force loadings being introduced onto the unibody chassis that the stock arrangement affords you... {i.e. allowing the whole width of the bumper cover and the whole width of the bumper reinforcement bar (immediately behind the front bumper cover) to absorb said force}. That is, as opposed to a more point loading, highly biased to one side of the car.

One comment though: at the back bumper area of the Mazda6, the bosses for the tow hooks are located on the actual bumper reinforcing bar... which is good... because said bumper reinf bar has engineered-to-crush columns. Likely this is the same in front. Trouble is that with the plate relocate arrangement, the collision load is introduced almost exclusively on one side of the car. Inevitably more damage to the car ensues... and it might be sufficient to result in a "total loss" versus a repairable accident. Actually, some folks might prefer a "Total Loss"...

I agree on your comment from TalonTSI90. The work was beautifully executed.

When i was in the process of purchasing the vehicle, a young guy approached us and asked if I wanted him to mount the front plate on. Looks like the previous owner opted not to have a front license plate. This kid was about to drill straight into the bumper with the power drill in his hand. I kindly opted to not have him do that lol.

Ah. Thank you for adding that in. I never thought about that. I appreciate you for being insightful on the matter.

 

[atceeze]

You're quite welcome! We're all here on this forum as a sort of labor-of-love. I started out not knowing much about cars at all, and I learned so much here I thought the least I can do is give back.

To answer your question about the angled brace, it's to do 1 of 2 things based on how you orient it when installing.

1. Make the plate fit more flush with the car's angles (it follows the bumper more) and screws on better.
2. Make the plate go straight out because your state police are annoying and don't like option 1.

When installing the frame, you must fully assemble the thing (except maybe the plate) before putting it on the car - which means you have to spin the entire unit around multiple times as you tighten it into the toe hook. If you want/need the thing facing straight ahead, it's going to be difficult to get the last few spins on it because the plate frame itself starts to hit your bumper while you're spinning it.

I originally went with it straight ahead because (some) MA cops can be obnoxious, but didn't like the risk of scraping my bumper if/when I had to pull it off to work on things. Now that I'm not in MA anymore, I put it on "correctly" so it follows the bumper and doesn't risk scraping.

Here's what option 2 looks like
View attachment 248074

^^^ You can see how close the frame mount is to my bumper and the chrome.

And I'm pretty sure this was option 1
View attachment 248075

Shucks. You remind me of me. My previous "Stancy" car was a 2012 Honda Accord Coupe. I was less than avid when it came to modifying or tuning anything in vehicles. I noticed that the platform lacked support so i had created a Instagram page called @under8tedgens. A page solely dedicated to 8th gen Honda Accord Coupes. By doing so, I gathered about 1000+ people worldwide and absorbed so much information about the platform. I have sold that vehicle and gave the page over to someone else to take over since last year. Hats off to you because I know how much time consumption it takes to gather everything and compile the information to one spot. Granted, it was just an instagram page. As a matter of fact, I was about to start a new page called "Sick6Clique" for the Mazda 6 but decided to close it soon after due to realizing how little time I have available during the day. Plus, you've done a splendid job with the information you have supplied this far. Granted I just bought my vehicle on the 28th of last month so i'm sure I have not seen everything this forum has to offer.

Ah. I see. Right on. Thank you for chiming in on that. I'm in California and currently driving with dealer plates and no front plate so trust me when I say I feel like Ralph Wiggums from The Simpsons. Welp! That helps me decide what to do with the plate. Now to research on the rest of the vehicle lol!

 

[Cdn17Sport6MT]

I agree on your comment from TalonTSI90. The work was beautifully executed.

When i was in the process of purchasing the vehicle, a young guy approached us and asked if I wanted him to mount the front plate on. Looks like the previous owner opted not to have a front license plate. This kid was about to drill straight into the bumper with the power drill in his hand. I kindly opted to not have him do that lol.

Ah. Thank you for adding that in. I never thought about that. I appreciate you for being insightful on the matter.

The lic pl relocate is NOTHING compared to what I discovered regarding the Mazda Australia commissioned (official) trailer hitch (tow bar)... For it, they call for removing the rear bumper cover (to gain access) then to remove and DISCARD the rear bumper reinforcement bar!!! Said bar has the engineered collapse columns! You replace it with the hitch assembly, which is good and stout, but said hitch assembly introduces the collision forces onto the rear unibody "frame"... and notably NOT where the stock bumper reinforcement bar mounts. And additionally, no engineered-collapse columns. Elegant, hidden from sight looks; but absolutely bad engineering and apt to cause substantially more damage to the car in a rear "shunt" (i.e. with no hitch connected of course!).

The bumper reinforcement bar IS, of course, the BUMPER!

I came within a whisker of ordering that hitch before I realized what the deficits were.

 

[TalonTsi90]

So it is safe to assume that you do not recommend any CorkSport product then right? Lol.

Pretty much. Im sure the eBay link is thin enough to manually bend with your hands to get that angled look, but honestly i wouldnt bother.

What @Byakuya meant in his first post is, i usually go on a rant cause i dislike the way they lie about their business and have people snowed. They act like they are this huge manufacturing company with actual engineers and such and make everything in house which simply isnt true. Im hard pressed to find anything they do make solely on their premises. Just my .02.

 

[atceeze]

The lic pl relocate is NOTHING compared to what I discovered regarding the Mazda Australia commissioned (official) trailer hitch (tow bar)... For it, they call for removing the rear bumper cover (to gain access) then to remove and DISCARD the rear bumper reinforcement bar!!! Said bar has the engineered collapse columns! You replace it with the hitch assembly, which is good and stout, but said hitch assembly introduces the collision forces onto the rear unibody "frame"... and notably NOT where the stock bumper reinforcement bar mounts. And additionally, no engineered-collapse columns. Elegant, hidden from sight looks; but absolutely bad engineering and apt to cause substantially more damage to the car in a rear "shunt" (i.e. with no hitch connected of course!).

The bumper reinforcement bar IS, of course, the BUMPER!

I came within a whisker of ordering that hitch before I realized what the deficits were.

Oh dang! And i thought California was pretty much the only State up there with terrible vehicle laws. I'm really sorry to hear how much hassle you guys go through with the modification aspect of your vehicles. (Btw big fan and envious of the HSV Maloo. Wish we had them here)

What do you plan on towing with the vehicle?

 

[Cdn17Sport6MT]

Oh dang! And i thought California was pretty much the only State up there with terrible vehicle laws. I'm really sorry to hear how much hassle you guys go through with the modification aspect of your vehicles. (Btw big fan and envious of the HSV Maloo. Wish we had them here)

What do you plan on towing with the vehicle?

i) hitch mounted bicycle rack, using rear tow-hooks as additional aids/anchoring points in stabilizing said rack; and
ii) 500# (unloaded) 4'-6"x8' load-bed utility trailer, say, with a max payload of 500# (of a total payload capability of 1500#).