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Watch a Mazda Engineer Explain the 2.5-Liter Turbo on All-New 2016 CX-9

Mazda has been making great vehicles ever since the Mazda6 and CX-9 came out. However, Honda and Toyota have caught up in many ways. If there's one thing that defines the Zoom Zoom cars, that would be the Skyactiv technology, especially in the engine department. The 2016 CX-9 full-size SUV is no exception, especially since it's the first model to get a turbo engine.
Mazda Engineer Explains 2.5-Liter Turbo on All-New 2016 CX-9 1 photo
Photo: Screenshot from YouTube
Up until now, all Mazda gas engines have been naturally aspirated. Their higher compression ratios give them several advantages. But because the CX-9 would have been the only car in the range to require a big V6, Mazda thought it was time to try turbocharging the 2.5-liter.

It's not as easy as strapping a leaf blower to a four-cylinder engine and feeding it off the exhaust. All the major components of the 2.5-liter Skyactiv-G had to be redesigned. The famously high compression ratio had to be lowered to just above 10 to 1. That's still very high, considering the performance 2.0L turbo used by the Golf R has 9.6 to 1.

In this video made by the guys at TFL Car, a Mazda vehicle development engineer by the name of Dave Coleman explains how the 2.5-liter turbo feels more natural and has better response times than the old 3.5-liter. It sounds like an excuse not to use a good automatic, but everything he says is promising. Remember, this is a very rare development and demonstration prototype, so don't get too excited about what you see.

The interior looks like a car guy's dream: cherry brown Nappa leather and aluminum trim, which Dave says is real (not painted plastic). If the production model looks this good, you could buy it and never regret not getting that BMW or Mercedes.

We don't want to spoil the whole video here, so just watch and enjoy a real engineer's explanation about exhaust gas cooling, the clutch in the torque converter and using premium fuel.

Editor's note: Corinthian Leather... remember the Chrysler Cordoba ads featuring Rich Corinthian?

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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