The Mazda Sky D diesel and Sky G gasoline engines are meant to bring "everlasting blue sky" to oversee "sustainable Zoom-Zoom." Both utilize low-friction engine blocks, direct injection and piezo-electric injectors. The Sky G is fitted with a "highly functional variable valve timing mechanism," and the Sky D gets a 2-stage turbocharger besides.
Together with technologies such as the Sky Drive 6-speed transmission, i-stop, regenerative braking and lighter vehicles, these lumps will form the core of Mazda's goal of a 30% increase in fuel economy in the coming years.
Though the rotary engine certainly has its fair share of detractors, many who find themselves behind the wheel of a Wankel-powered machine from Mazda fall in love with the engine's zippy and rev-happy characteristics... including this particular blogger, who purchased a new RX-8 back in 2004. Regardless, nobody can deny that the rotary has always been a thirsty little bugger, especially when compared to powerplants with similarly rated displacements.
We've been hearing for the last few years – and seemingly every other time a new rendition of the Wankel engine came to market – that the next version of Mazda's rotary would address complaints about its high fuel consumption and emissions. Perhaps the early projections about the so-called 16X engine were a wee bit premature. According to Seita Kanai, head of R&D at Mazda:
The 16X demonstrated the possibility, but that performance is not good enough. We are doing R&D which will incorporate more new technology... The 16X is more a profile of a rotary still in our concept stage. It needs more evolution.That really doesn't sound all that confidence inspiring to us. At this point, only time will tell if the 16X will actually be ready for prime time when the long-rumored next-gen rotary-powered car from Mazda hits the scene in 2012 or so.
One of the coolest concept cars here at the Tokyo Motor Show isn't even new. In fact, it's almost forty years old. Originally displayed at the Tokyo show in 1970, this Mazda RX-500 Concept features styling similar to the legendary Ferrari 250 GTO Breadvan, gullwing doors that swing forward, and a 491cc rotary engine just behind the seats. Weighing in at just 1873 pounds, the 247-horsepower concept was said to have reached nearly 150 mph on Mazda's test track.
The car was recently restored in partnership with the Hiroshima City Transportation Museum where it has apparently been on display for the last year. Lucky for us, they decided to bring it to the show for us to enjoy as well.
We've been hearing rumblings about a Mazda RX-7 revival for so long, we've almost gotten numb to the idea of a next-generation, rotary-powered coupe. But Mazda's new design chief, Ikua Maeda, has given us a desperately needed hope injection when he told Autocar that initial sketches have been completed and he's campaigning Mazda execs to bring the new sports car to market.
The reborn RX-7 will likely be powered by Mazda's next generation Renesis 16X rotary engine, most recently seen in the Mazda Taiki concept, displacing 1.6-liters and making use of a longer stroke, direct injection and aluminum side housings. Outputs haven't been disclosed, but it's safe to assume the new mill will put out around 250 to 300 horsepower and a sizeable increase in torque, while boosting fuel economy and reducing emissions (and hopefully burning less oil in the process).
Maeda says the new RX-7 will move further upmarket than its predecessors, with a focus on higher interior quality going forward. Fine by us, but we hope a hardcore, track-focused version is in the cards as well. And if Maeda is to be believed, we could see the fruits of his labors in concept form as early as next year.
The 2010 Mazda3 made its motorsports debut this past weekend on its home track, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca at the final race of the 2009 SPEED World Challenge season. The car was developed and built by Tri-Point Motorsports, which has been running Mazdas in the series since 2001. The team has raced a trio of Mazda6s for the past few season, even capturing the Touring Car title in 2007 with Jeff Altenburg behind the wheel.
Mazda hasn't released any official details on the car quite yet, but a company representative told us that the race was less about going fast and was more of a "public test" to give the car some much needed track time. In fact, the car was completed just before the race and didn't even get its sponsor decals until the second practice day. Even so, rookie driver Eric Foss managed to qualify in 12th and zoom-zoomed his way to a respectable 11th place in Sunday's race.
With various racing series coming to a close this month, the Mustang has proven its worth on track by bringing home two major road racing championships. This past weekend Brandon Davis secured the 2009 SCCA SPEED World Challenge GT title in only his second season with a fourth place finish at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Davis, who was racing in the new 2010 ACS Mustang that debuted a few weeks earlier at Road Atlanta, only needed to finish in eighth place to guarantee the championship and beat out Porsche driver James Sofronas.
In the Grand-Am Koni Challenge series, the Mustang FR500C also captured not only the driver title, but also the team and manufacturers' championships for the second straight year. Rehagen Racing sat atop the driver and team points lead with a sixth place finish at Virginia International Raceway, and the win by JBS Motorsports helped put Ford just one point ahead of BMW in the manufacturers' standings. Mustangs won five races during the 2009 season and finished on the podium eight out of eleven races.
We didn't make it out to VIR for the Koni Challenge race, but we were on hand at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca to watch the SPEED World Challenge race with cameras at the ready. Check out the high-res gallery below, or tune into SPEED TV on November 3 at 2:00 pm EST to watch the race yourself. If you're down with spoilers.
The 2009 ALMS season came to a close last night with a four-hour race into the sunset at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. While several championships still needed to be decided going into the race, much of the attention during the weekend was given to Gil de Ferran, who was competing in the last race of his career. His uniquely-liveried Acura ARX-02a not only looked fantastic, but it was quickest by a slim margin in qualifying. It seemed everyone hoped de Ferran would go out on top, but the sister Acuras in P1 and P2 were determined to make it difficult. In GT2, it was anyone's guess who would come out on top. A Corvette put down the quickest qualifying lap, but both the Flying Lizard Porsche team and the Risi Competizione Ferrari would be fighting hard to secure the championship. Would Gil de Ferran win his last race as a driver? Would the Corvette manage to hold off the Porsches and Ferrari? If you don't plan on watching the tape-delayed race on SPEED TV this afternoon at 2:30 pm EST, then read on to find out.
The ALMS race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca this weekend is Gil de Ferran's final race of his career, and he plans to go out on top. The Brazilian captured pole position yesterday in his Acura ARX-02a, which features a unique livery to honor Jim Hall, the man who de Ferran first raced for. The milk white paint and number 66 roundels mimic Hall's legendary Chaparral race cars, two of which were on hand at the track. Gil de Ferran's qualifying time of 1:11.206 was less than a tenth of a second off the class record, which was followed closely by fellow Acura driver David Brabham. Brabham and the rest of the Patron Highcroft Racing team need only to complete seventy percent of the race to wrap up the LMP1 championship.
The Lowe's Fernandez Racing LMP2 Acura team continued its season-long dominance by capturing its fourth pole of the season and hopes to record its eighth victory this year. Although the team secured the class championship at Petit Le Mans two weeks ago, it hasn't secured sponsorship for the 2010 season and hopes to make a good final impression.
In the hotly-contested GT2 category, Corvette Racing continued to prove that it will be a top contender no matter what class it competes in. Jan Magunessen edged out the Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 in qualifying for Corvette's first ever GT2 pole position. The main battle will be between the Ferrari and the Flying Lizard Porsche GT3 RSR, both of which are still in contention for the championship.
Mazda has just announced that it has commenced production of the Mazda2 subcompact in Thailand. No big deal, right? Well, not in and of itself, but the Japanese automaker also released three images of the car, and its sporting a revised front fascia that mimics that of its big brother, the Mazda3.
Mazda doesn't specifically indicate that all new 2s worldwide will get the smiley face treatment, but it seems likely that the automaker would want to keep all of its products in line with one another. Presumably, that would include the United States, which is slated to get the subcompact near the end of 2010.
In any case, we're expecting to see the car make its debut in North American-spec later this year at the LA Auto Show, so we'll know for sure if it will sport the new look soon enough.
According to The New York Times' Wheels blog, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is currently in the early stages of investigating issues involving the 2005 Ford F-150 and 2004-2008 Mazda RX-8 models equipped with manual transmissions.
In the case of the Blue Oval, NHTSA has received eight complaints of F-150 airbags that have either deployed during ignition or in the seconds directly after ignition. The issue has reportedly resulted in some bumps and bruises, but if NHTSA finds the issue to be a big problem, up to 530,000 vehicles stand to be effected by what could be a very expensive safety recall for the Blue Oval.
At the other end of the automotive spectrum, Mazda's RX-8 sportscar is under the watchful eye of NHTSA for a problem that could effect far fewer vehicles but the problem is equally serious. The safety administration has reportedly received 40 complaints of 2004-2008 models that have experienced clutch pedal bracket failure, and in 15 cases, the rotary-powered Mazda was moving and the drivers couldn't change gears normally as a result. Two of those drivers could have found themselves in a more dangerous situation, as the clutch pedal was reported to have become wedged under the brake pedal.
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