2010 Mazda Cx-9 Grand Touring Sport Utility 4-door 3.7l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Mazda Skyactiv-X Review | The revolution begins with a squeeze-bang

The matte black Skyactiv-X prototype looks like a rough Mazda3, perhaps reconstructed after a bad wreck by an over-enthusiastic owner of a spot welder and lots of gaffers' tape. Ribbed ducts poke out of the dash sending two breaths of conditioned air to no one in particular. Even its revolutionary engine, the thing we're here to experience, is entombed in a massive, nondescript cover to mask its unseemly noises. It's a wild, strange way to meet a very unconventional vehicle that promises diesel-like fuel economy, a wide torque band, and an exotic method for burning less gas than ever before. It takes a few hours for Mazda's engineers to explain the fundamental principles of operation. For more detail, read our Skyactiv-X Spark Controlled Compression Ignition explainer, but here's a very brief overview. Skyactiv-X marries some traditional gasoline engine characteristics with a novel form of compression ignition called SPCCI. The key for Skyactiv-X is to use very high compression in the cylinder and an extremely lean fuel-air mixture. Squeezed right to the cusp of getting hot enough to blow up all on its own (which is very hard to predict), a squirt of extra gas and a spark interject to cross that compression-ignition threshold in a controlled and predictable manner. See the animation below: That takes a few essential components to get just right. One is a massive amount of computer processing power and some pressure sensors in the individual cylinders, because the ambient conditions change how and when these things happen. Skyactiv-X uses a clutched supercharger to pump in additional air when needed to nail the mixture precisely, and high-pressure injectors to get the low ratios of fuel to disperse properly in the chamber. And since it operates like a conventional gasoline engine sometimes, it uses valve timing to lower the very high compression ratio so it doesn't reach combustion ignition in that mode. In practice, the Skyactiv-X runs in compression ignition mode most of the time. In practical terms, that means it drives like a torquey gasoline Skyactiv engine. The torque curve is broad and flat — diesel-like in that respect. That also means it can get away with using a six-speed transmission and a lower final drive for better response. There's enough grunt and economy together that Mazda can let the engine spin faster — at 60 mph, it's running at roughly 1,000 more RPM than a similar gas engine, with greater efficiency.

Mazda keeping non-hybrid, non-electric Skyactiv strategy

Mazda still thinks that it can buck the trend of adding those fancy batteries and electric motors to its cars. At least for a little while longer. Hopefully. Speaking to Auto Express recently, Mazda's European boss, Jeff Guyton, said that he expects his company's cars to be able to get a lot more efficient without resorting to any of that fancy electrification stuff. "I think there's at least 20-30 percent better fuel economy by the end of the decade," he said. He said that he expected to get to Europe's low target of 95 grams of CO2 per kilometer, "without any significant deployment of electrical drive." This part is all in line with Mazda's long-term Skyactiv strategy, as laid out back in 2011 and first mentioned publicly in 2010. Remember, this is the company that once proudly proclaimed, "Not Electric. Not Hybrid. Not A Drag To Drive." As explained back in 2011, Mazda hopes to wait until other automakers have done all of the heavy lifting on developing plug-in and hybrid tech so that when Mazda enters the market, things will be cheaper. Of course, Mazda has been quietly testing all-electric vehicles and Guyton said that there may be an Mazda EV at some point. "We are interested in electric technology and it will be in the distant future when it will be quite important," he told AE. "But we think it will take some time to be commercially attractive without tax payer-funded incentives." How much of a delay? Well, there is a gas-electric Mazda 3 hybrid available in Japan that uses some powertrain parts from the Toyota Prius, and we all know that the Prius has been around for ages. Maybe in 2025, Mazda will come out with a Leaf-based Mazda 2. Related Video: Green Mazda Fuel Efficiency Electric Hybrid skyactiv mazda skyactiv

Fiat reconsidering Mazda-based Alfa Romeo roadster? [w/poll]

Alfa giveth and Alfa taketh away. With apologies to Job (he has gone through a lot, after all), that's how things are looking at the Italian automaker - whether it's the promise of new products or its impending return to the North American market. But it's especially true when it comes to new roadsters.
While Alfa Romeo is expected to unveil the 4C Spider at the Geneva Motor Show this week, reports are now suggesting that its other roadster project is being called into question. That project is a joint venture between Fiat and Mazda, which was set to produce a version of its next MX-5 Miata as an Alfa Romeo, and was even changing the design to accommodate Alfa's requirements.
Now it appears, however, that the whole project in doubt. The problem seems to stem from Sergio Marchionne's pronouncements that, as long as he's in charge, there won't be an Alfa Romeo built outside of Italy.