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Weekly Recap: Diesel scandal continues to fuel VW's woes

Volkswagen's woes continued this week when it was delisted from the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and stripped of awards. Senators are also lining up to advocate for criminal and civil action against the automaker, and its consumer reputation is in tatters. Put simply, it's been another rough period for VW. Despite this, the company eked out a sales gain of less than one percent in September, though that was well behind the overall market's performance. Sister brand Audi, which sells a diesel A3, was less affected, posting a 16-percent gain in September. Revelations that Volkswagen rigged millions of diesel-powered cars around the world didn't surface until September 18, so the full sales impact of the ongoing scandal won't likely be felt until October. Meanwhile, VW's image continues to take a beating, and an AutoPacific survey found only one in 14 vehicle owners have a positive opinion of the company. Before the scandal broke, three-quarters of respondents had a positive view of VW. The survey also found 64 percent don't trust Volkswagen, though the same number believe other companies are or may also be using cheating devices to pass emissions tests. "The reputation of diesels has been severely damaged, at least for the short term," Ed Kim, AutoPacific's vice president of industry analysis, said in a statement. Despite the lingering malaise, experts believe VW will recover, just as Toyota and General Motors eventually emerged from their own high-profile controversies. "Consumers have proven through numerous recalls that they are resilient and quickly return to their buying habits," Kim said. OTHER NEWS & NOTES Mazda to reveal sports car concept in Tokyo Mazda will bring a curvy sports car concept to the Tokyo Motor Show in October. The automaker is being especially coy with the details, only releasing the dark teaser shot that you see to the right and a cryptic statement that suggests the concept "condense[s] Mazda's entire history of sports-car development into a single model." Immediately, speculation abounded this is an RX-7 and RX-8 successor, though Mazda didn't specify what engine the concept will have. Reportedly, the company is still working on rotary engines. Mazda will have a Cosmo Sport 110S on its stand in Tokyo, which pioneered rotary technology in 1967. Read into that what you will. The Rock pitches Ford service Dwayne Johnson, also known as The Rock, is the new frontman for Ford service.

Mazda marks its 100th anniversary with eight retro-styled limited-edition models

Mazda is turning 100 years old in 2020, and it's commemorating the occasion by releasing eight retro-inspired limited-edition models in its home country of Japan. Some of them might be available in the United States. Cars weren't initially on the company's radar. It started life as a cork manufacturer named Toyo Kogyo, and it branched out into the transportation sector when it introduced a three-wheeled, motorcycle-based pickup called Mazda-Go in 1931. Its first car, the R360, was unveiled in 1960 as a two-door four-seater whose tiny dimensions fell in line with Japan's strict kei regulations. It's the model Mazda's celebratory cars are inspired by. The range of special-edition models includes the CX-3, the CX-30, the CX-5, the CX-8, the Mazda2, the Mazda3, the Mazda6, plus hard- and soft-topped variants of the MX-5 Miata. They all feature an edition-specific white exterior and a burgundy interior, though the Miata and the CX-30 also get a red roof. The 100th Anniversary logo, which combines Mazda's current emblem with Toyo Kogyo's, appears on the wheels and on the front headrests, among other places. White and red was one of the combinations available on upmarket versions of the R360. None of the commemorative cars receive mechanical modifications, which is just as well. Paying homage to the humble R360 (shown in our gallery) would require replacing the Miata's 181-horsepower, 2.0-liter four-cylinder with an air-cooled, 356cc v-twin rated at 16 horsepower. It would need to be mounted in the trunk, too. The full 100th Anniversary range is on sale in Japan, and it will be available through March 2021. Mazda announced availability in other markets, like England, but it hasn't revealed if it will offer its commemorative cars in the United States yet due to "the global crisis." The 500 examples of the head-turning Miata 30th Anniversary introduced in 2019 were spoken for so quickly that the company allocated 143 additional units to our market, so we wouldn't be surprised to see the newest special-edition models land in showrooms in the near future. For context, the United Kingdom will receive 100 examples of the Miata, the CX-30, and the Mazda3. The Mazda6 and the CX-5 might join the roster later on. Pricing information will be published later in 2020. Related Video:    

Mazda files patents for a sequential twin-turbo setup

Mazda has a history of interesting engine technologies, from yesterday's rotary engine to tomorrow's compression ignition engine, and new patents show it still may have some internal combustion tricks up its sleeve. The one on display in these patents isn't especially new in concept, though. A sequential twin-turbocharger setup is something Mazda itself used on the third-generation RX-7. But it's something we haven't seen much of lately. It looks like it could have some possible advantages over older sequential systems, and it has some potential advantages for enthusiasts. First a quick and dirty primer for what makes a sequential twin-turbo system distinct from other twin-turbo systems. In many twin-turbo engines, there are simply two turbos that work together as one bigger turbo. They're the same size, and they spool up at the same time. With a sequential setup, at low rpm, a smaller turbocharger is spooled up first at low-rpm for quicker throttle response, and as the rpm and exhaust pressure increases, a valve opens up that allows a larger turbocharger to also spool up and provide high-rpm boost. That's basically how the Mazda design shown above functions. A big flap blocks off the larger turbocharger exhaust inlet, channeling all the exhaust to the smaller turbo. When more exhaust is available at high rpm, it looks like that flap opens up to spool up the big turbo, too. What's interesting here is that the way the turbochargers are packaged takes up less space than past systems. It looks like both turbos are contained in one unit that shares the same exhaust outlet, meaning the exhaust manifold could be kept simple and compact. In fact, the piping for compressed intake air could also be shared, reducing the amount of piping, which would further decrease the amount of materials and possible failure points. There are a number advantages of making this system smaller. The potential applications of the system are much greater, since it could fit in smaller cars with smaller engine bays. Making the system smaller also means that there won't be as much weight, which is important from both fuel economy and performance standpoints. Finally, the smaller setup likely uses fewer materials, which could make the system cheaper and thus easier to offer on a wider range of vehicles, or at least more profitable for Mazda.