Next Mazda3 to debut SKYACTIV-X

Next year’s all-new Mazda3 will be the first car to undergo the full new-generation SKYACTIV transformation.

New engine technology, new body-in-white and new styling will all collide in the new car, which is due to debut in 2018.

Before then, however, the car will be previewed as one of two concepts at next month’s Tokyo motor show. The second car is almost certain to be Mazda’s sneak peek at its first battery electric vehicle.

Motoring.com.au has even driven the new Mazda3 – at least in prototype form powered by the new SKYACTIV-X Spark Controlled Compression Ignition (SPCCI) petrol engine. And the while new engine, which promises turbo-diesel torque and economy, ultra-low emissions and the refinement and responsiveness of high-performance petrol four, is impressive, it’s only half the story.

Mazda is being tight-lipped on dimensional changes between generations. The cars we sampled at last week’s Global Tech Forum at Mazda’s European development centre at Oberusel near Frankfurt (Germany) were ‘mules’ mating existing 3 bodywork to the chassis and running gear of the next-generation models.

The good side profile match of the old bodywork on the new ‘frame’, suggests wheelbase and height are largely unchanged. Closer observation suggests there has, however, been a track increase of in the order of 10-15mm.

Underneath the tweaked existing Mazda3 panels of the mules, is a whole new chassis that is claimed to deliver myriad improvements – not the least of which is a substantial improvement in the long-time Mazda bugbear: noise, vibration and harshness.

What has evolved is the way the new chassis distributes forces within its structure and how it copes with noise transmission and attenuation. A new “multi-direction ring structure” is incorporated in the new platform design which makes the chassis stiffer and refines load paths in both normal and crash scenarios.

The focus in normal conditions is to reduce road shock and noise but to also reduce the delay in energy transfer from suspension to the structure. This, Mazda says, along with better suspension component and seat design, improves the connection between driver and car.

Indeed, Mazda says it has embarked on a re-examination of the vehicle and driver interface with the new platform which has prompted seat design and seating position changes aimed at making occupants more comfortable and “engaged” with the vehicle.

To do so Mazda analysed how humans walk and interact with movement to ‘re-calibrate’ the new platform’s seating position. Better positioning of the driver’s pelvis and spine via seat design improves interaction with the driving environment, the company claims.

Also important, it claims, is the manner and rate at which road forces are transferred through the vehicle and their alignment in terms of interaction with the driver and the direction of travel. Mazda proffers that proper attention to these factors make cars easier to control and less tiring to drive.

Changes in suspension design in concert with the company’s G-Vectoring drive system has also yielded dynamic benefits, Mazda claims. One key contribution is allowing the use of tyres with softer sidewalls without dynamic performance losses. The new tyre design delivers both comfort and noise benefits, Mazda claims.

But perhaps the biggest change aimed at targeting noise is the adoption of “vibration energy damping” nodes and adhesive bonding in the new Mazda3/SKYACTIV platform’s construction.

This technique and the structures are claimed to combine to allow the new 3 to be more than 6dB quieter than the current generation. Mazda’s own NVH testing places the new car at between 3-5dB quieter than a trio of European C/D-segment competitors.

While the final figures and verdict will need to wait until we can sample a ‘proper’ production car, a drive of the mule suggests significant progress has been made.

It needs to – for many consumers, this factor remains the current Mazda3’s Achilles heel.