RE: 180hp and 52mpg from Skyactiv-X Mazda 3

[underphil]

Water Fairy said:

If this is using compression ignition what does it sound like?

It's only compression ignition under certain circumstances, mostly light throttle - where I imagine it will be quiet, when stepping on it it should sound more like a normal petrol engine

[cptsideways]

The 2.0 G engine in these does low to mid 40's mpg easily in normal everyday driving, so I can see this new one being a good improvement. A cracking car too, really refined for the size of car.

This has been the holy grail of ICE, its even referred to in my 1940's Recardo book of engine development! Quite astonishing that one of the minnows of the automotive world has cracked it. Well done Mazda.

[RumbleOfThunder]

Again being the party pooper, but I don't think what Mazda has done is that revolutionary. You'd probably find countless OEM's have had their own running and tested internally, but it just hasn't been cost effective to put into production. From the figures quoted, which will be unobtainable in the real world anyway, I don't see what the fuss is about.

[cptsideways]

RumbleOfThunder said:

Again being the party pooper, but I don't think what Mazda has done is that revolutionary. You'd probably find countless OEM's have had their own running and tested internally, but it just hasn't been cost effective to put into production. From the figures quoted, which will be unobtainable in the real world anyway, I don't see what the fuss is about.

Ask people in the engine development field the same question. When the likes of Gordan Murray express a desire to know how they've managed it, you know they are onto something. Most other OEM's have flatly stopped engine development, just adding (very) mild hybrid tech to an existing lump is about as far as most have gone. With the exception of Nissan's variable compression ratio & some atkinson cycle type re work there is little else being developed from what I understand.

[havoc]

cptsideways said:

RumbleOfThunder said:

Again being the party pooper, but I don't think what Mazda has done is that revolutionary. You'd probably find countless OEM's have had their own running and tested internally, but it just hasn't been cost effective to put into production. From the figures quoted, which will be unobtainable in the real world anyway, I don't see what the fuss is about.

Ask people in the engine development field the same question. When the likes of Gordan Murray express a desire to know how they've managed it, you know they are onto something. Most other OEM's have flatly stopped engine development, just adding (very) mild hybrid tech to an existing lump is about as far as most have gone. With the exception of Nissan's variable compression ratio & some atkinson cycle type re work there is little else being developed from what I understand.

...and the main reason is legislation.

Up until a year ago diesel was the fossil-fuel darling of the political legislator, so there was no corporate 'need' to investigate efficient petrols. Cue a complete volte-face and suddenly everyone is caught on the back-foot trying to improve turbo-petrol efficiency except for little independent Mazda who've just pulled a whopping great rabbit out of their hat...