Photo: Florin Profir
Turbocharging is at an all-time high for new cars on sale in the United States, but Mazda doesn't like to run with the pack. In a bid to prove that the ICE is far from dead, the automaker confirmed through its Sustainable Zoom-Zoom 2030 plan the introduction of the world’s first commercial gasoline engine to use compression ignition.
Baptized SkyActiv-X, the successor to the SkyActiv-G family of engines ignites the fuel-air mixture in the cylinder when compressed by the piston, not from the spark produced by the spark plug. The proprietary technology bears the name Spark Controlled Compression Ignition and, according to Mazda, it overcomes “two issues that had impeded commercialization” of HCCI mills.
First and foremost, the combustion method maximizes the zone in which compression ignition is possible. Secondly, it achieves “a seamless transition between compression ignition and spark ignition.” If it’s numbers you’re more interested in, Mazda promises an increase in torque of 10 to 30 percent over the SkyActiv-G engine family. Super lean burning improves efficiency from 35-45 percent compared to the I4 engine of the same displacement from 2008.
Better still, “SkyActiv-X even equals or exceeds the latest SkyActiv-D diesel engine in fuel efficiency.” That’s genuinely impressive, more so if you bear in mind the next-generation powerplant is augmented by a “supercharger fitted to improve fuel economy together deliver unprecedented engine response.” Mazda didn’t confirm which model will welcome the SkyActiv-X, but it did mention the year the new technology will go into production: 2019.
As part of the Sustainable Zoom-Zoom 2030 plan, Mazda confirmed that 2019 will see the introduction of “electric vehicles and other electric drive technologies.” On an ending note, the Hiroshima-based automaker let it be known that it will start testing autonomous driving technologies in 2020, aiming to make the Mazda Co-Pilot tech standard on all models by 2025.
Making the RX-9 happen would be even better, though.
First and foremost, the combustion method maximizes the zone in which compression ignition is possible. Secondly, it achieves “a seamless transition between compression ignition and spark ignition.” If it’s numbers you’re more interested in, Mazda promises an increase in torque of 10 to 30 percent over the SkyActiv-G engine family. Super lean burning improves efficiency from 35-45 percent compared to the I4 engine of the same displacement from 2008.
Better still, “SkyActiv-X even equals or exceeds the latest SkyActiv-D diesel engine in fuel efficiency.” That’s genuinely impressive, more so if you bear in mind the next-generation powerplant is augmented by a “supercharger fitted to improve fuel economy together deliver unprecedented engine response.” Mazda didn’t confirm which model will welcome the SkyActiv-X, but it did mention the year the new technology will go into production: 2019.
As part of the Sustainable Zoom-Zoom 2030 plan, Mazda confirmed that 2019 will see the introduction of “electric vehicles and other electric drive technologies.” On an ending note, the Hiroshima-based automaker let it be known that it will start testing autonomous driving technologies in 2020, aiming to make the Mazda Co-Pilot tech standard on all models by 2025.
Making the RX-9 happen would be even better, though.
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