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Marton Pettendy6 Jun 2014
NEWS

SKYACTIV II makes Mazda CX-5 sip less than 5L/100km

Seventh-generation Mazda models to cut fuel use by another 30 per cent
Mazda's second-generation CX-5 will be almost as efficient as Toyota's Prius hybrid if the company meets its target of another 30 per cent reduction in fuel consumption post-2015.
The ambitious Japanese car-maker has already revealed it plans to incorporate more diesel technology for its petrol engines, in the form of homogeneous-charge compression-ignition (HCCI), as part of its rollout of SKYACTIV II technology in its next-generation models.
As we've reported, Mazda says HCCI could see its next-generation petrol engines deliver hybrid-like fuel consumption and incorporate compression ratios of up to 18.0:1 – up from 14.0:1 in the current range of SKYACTIV-G engines, or 13.0:1 in Australia.
Daimler, General Motors and Hyundai/Kia have all tried and so far failed to bring sparkless compression-ignition petrol engines to market, but Mazda says it will resolve issues such as misfiring by the time it rolls out its SKYACTIV II engines in its next-generation models.
Mazda is yet to put a timeframe on when that will happen, but incoming Mazda Motor Corporation Seita Kanai, a 30-year Mazda veteran who became R&D chief and is known internally as the father of SKYACTIV, has now provided the best indication yet.
"SKYACTIV II will come with our seventh-generation models," he confirmed to motoring.com.au in Japan this week. "We hope to achieve another 30 per cent efficiency gain."
Kanai-san said the decision to intensively develop the internal combustion engine (ICE) under the SKYACTIV banner was made in 2006, before Mazda changed its marketing slogan to 'Sustainable Zoom-Zoon' in March 2007.
The first SKYACTIV engine entered production in 2011, before the all-new 2012 CX-5 emerged as the first all-SKYACTIV model, based on a revolutionary new modular platform and chassis, wrapped in a KODO-themed body.
Since then the company has released 100 per cent SKYACTIV versions of the Mazda6 (2013) and Mazda3 (2014), and is about to reveal a similarly redesigned Mazda2.
The SKYACTIV treatment will also apply to a redesigned CX-9 and MX-5 by the end of this year, as well as next year's all-new CX-3 compact SUV, completing the renewal of Mazda's sixth-generation model family by 2015.
Mazda will then repeat the process with its seventh-generation line-up, starting with the MkII CX-5 as early as 2017.
The current CX-5 diesel already consumes just 5.7L/100km, but Mazda's SKYACTIV II petrol engines are expected to bring greater fuel consumption and CO2 emissions reductions by adopting HCCI.
Given the existing CX-5 consumes 6.4L/100km in entry-level 2WD 2.0-litre petrol form, a 30 per cent fuel-efficiency increase would see it sip just 4.3L/100km – less than 0.5L/100km more than the current efficiency benchmark, Toyota's current Prius (3.9L/100km).
Smaller, lighter models such as the Mazda2 and Mazda3, which already uses as little as 5.7L/100km, could slip below the 4.0L/100km mark.
Mazda says it has no choice but to adopt lean-burn HCCI technology in order to meet Europe's strict new CO2 emissions legislation, which mandates a corporate average of 95g/km by 2020 and 65g/km by 2025 – well below all current vehicles, including Australia's most fuel-efficient car, the Toyota Prius hybrid (89g/km).
The US and China are expected to follow and electric vehicles will be mandatory for all brands in California by 2018. Mazda released its first hybrid model – based on the 3 and using Prius technology under license from Toyota – in Japan last year and is expected to follow with a plug-in version of the new 2.
Mazda says it is already investigating the next generation of SKYACTIV technologies to further develop the ICE, which it says will still power 90 per cent of the world's passenger cars in 2020.
The centrepiece of SKYACTIV III will be adiabatic combustion chamber technology, which involves cylinder wall and/or piston coating to improve low-speed engine efficiency by reducing exhaust energy and cooling losses.
However, Kanai said not all models will be given the SKYACTIV treatment, the first application of which is expected to reduce Mazda's fleet-average fuel consumption by 30 per cent between 2008 and 2015.
"There may be some exceptions to the plan. There is no plan right now for SKYACTIV in BT-50," he said.
Kanai said Mazda's plan to fully develop the ICE before applying electrification technologies like idle-stop, regenerative braking, hybrid and plug-in hybrid in a 'building block' strategy  was now paying dividends despite its critics.
"There were many sceptics inside and outside Mazda," he said.
"Unlike other OEMs, we decided not to develop BEV (battery electric vehicles) as a first priority. Toyota has spent lots of time and money to do so, but Mazda is not a big company so we concentrated on the base technology first.
"People said the ICE had a limited life, but Mazda didn't agree. We worked very hard to prove our theory."
In parallel with SKYACTIV, Mazda has also restructured its business operations under the banner of Monotsukuri, which aims to reduce cost by "bundling" a range of functions including R&D, component commonality, production flexibility and planning.
"It's a drastic and aggressive plan with very tough cost improvement targets. To achieve that and maintain affordable pricing, we needed a new approach."
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