Rumor Mill Keeps Turning… Mazda Rotary Sports Car Speculated for 2016

We really don’t know where Autocar is getting its information from, because all the recent reports on Mazda’s future use of rotary engines have been about the brand not going for them anymore, possibly using them only as range extenders.

The British publication, however, insists that while the official version of the story is that a sporty rotary-powered model is off the table, “privately, executives admit that the car and a new rotary engine are under development and that a launch date has been included in Mazda’s long-term product plan.”

They predict that this spiritual successor to the old RX-7 will arrive by the end of the 2016 fiscal year bearing a Wankel, along with four other new models. Regarding its name, it has neither been confirmed nor denied that this new car would be called RX-7.

What the report does point out with a high likelihood of materialization is the styling similarity between this purported new RX-7 and the smaller MX-5. However, the use of a naturally aspirated Wankel instead of a turbocharged one, in two years’ time seems unlikely; power output is estimated at below 300 hp.

Don’t take any of the above for granted, but in case it does hold true, it does sound like a car worth looking forward to.

By Andrei Nedelea

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Mazda Delays the Launch of its Skyactiv-D Clean Diesel Engine in North America Once Again

For the second time in four months, Mazda has announced that it is delaying the launch of its Skyactiv-D clean diesel engine in North America because the unit needs further development.

The Japanese carmaker originally said it would launch the engine before the end of 2013, but announced in September that the launch would be postponed for April 2014.

“While Mazda understands its Skyactiv-D can meet emission regulation requirements without the use of a NOx after-treatment system, it was decided that further development is required to deliver the right balance between fuel economy and Mazda-appropriate driving performance,” the company said in a statement.

What this means is the engine doesn’t quite please Mazda in terms of performance and some more fine-tuning is needed. Mazda said further information, including a timeline of launch for North America, technical specifications and fuel economy will be available “at a later date, closer to launch.” However, it didn’t offer a timeframe for the launch.

U.S. consumers wanting a Mazda6 diesel car must now wait indefinitely – or they can switch to a diesel model from the competition. In the mean time, Mazda’s plan to become the only Japanese automaker to offer a diesel car in the United States takes a new blow.

Mazda is playing the diesel card in order to meet stricter fuel economy standards, while its Japanese competitors have chosen the path of hybrids, plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles.

By Dan Mihalascu

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Mazda Kicks Off Production at New Plant in Mexico with Mazda3 Sedan

Mazda's brand new vehicle and engine assembly facility in Salamanca, Mexico, has started mass production earlier than originally anticipated (March, 2014), as the first car, a Mazda3 sedan destined for the US market, rolled off the factory line on Tuesday.

“We have sent over 150 engineers and supervisors to Mazda’s plants in Hiroshima and Hofu, and made every effort to ensure that we are manufacturing products of the highest quality here at MMVO," commented Mazda Managing Executive Officer Keishi Egawa. "With the start of mass production, we now have a system capable of offering vehicles of the same high quality as those made in Japan, on a global scale, and that is extremely gratifying."

Besides the USA, the Japanese carmaker's Mexican plant will produce the Mazda3 for other countries in the Americas and for Europe.

In the near future, Mazda intends to expand the production model line-up to include the Mazda2 sub-compact as well as approximately 50,000 Toyota-branded vehicles built under contract, beginning in the summer of 2015.

Mazda said it aims to reach an annual capacity of 230,000 units by March of 2016.

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Mazda Says Next-Gen Skyactiv 2 Will Further Improve Efficiency by 30%

Mazda really ought to be appreciated for not mindlessly following the hybridization trend, choosing instead to perfect the art of building a traditional, conventional car via its Skyactiv program.

Now, AutoNews tells us that the Japanese manufacturer will continue to go in the same direction in the future, and that by the year 2020, Skyactiv 2 will have made its debut on the market, with efficiency improvements in the order of thirty percent compared to what we have now.

The way in which they plan to achieve this is via complete and clean burn of the (diesel or gasoline) fuel so that the engine is both more efficient and less polluting.

According to Mitsuo Hitomi, the executive officer in charge of powertrain development at Mazda, "If we want to dramatically improve fuel economy from here, the only route is through lean burning," adding that "the next step is the 2020 European regulations" (95 g/Km CO2).

One specific way through which the automaker aims to achieve its goals for gasoline engines is by raising the compression ratio, something that it has already done with the current crop of Skyactiv motors that run at 14:1 (very high compared to industry average) – they apparently want to raise that to 18:1.

Aside from that, they also want to employ what is called HCCI or homogenous charge compression ignition, which uses pressure to ignite the fuel/air mixture, instead of a traditional spark – it would burn petrol yet function along the same lines as diesel engines, basically.

The current problem with HCCI is that engines running in that way don’t really like to rev, mimicking the behavior of a diesel. This must be overcome, along with higher operating temperatures and pressures that will put extra strain on the entire system, require higher strength parts and ultimately end up being too expensive to be viable en masse.

Following the second gen Skyactiv will be Skyactiv 3, in the year 2025. The goal will be lowering emissions further to 65 g/Km CO2, and bringing a proportional increase in efficiency too.

By Andrei Nedelea

VIDEO

This is How Le Mans Racing Cars Look and Sound when Driven on the Street

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have your own Le Mans racing car and to be able to drive it on the street? Well, the guys from the video you’re about to watch are living this dream – literally.

These three men from Japan each own a Le Mans racing car that has actually participated at least once at the 24 Hours of Le Mans! Furthermore, two of them somehow received approval to drive them occasionally on the street, which means each and every one of their outings is impossible to ignore.

The cars are the Mazda 767B (yes, the one with the four-rotor engine), Jaguar XJ220LM and Porsche 962C, and the video was put together by Motorhead magazine.

There's not much to add that the video itself doesn't explain, so without further ado, turn up the volume in your speakers and enjoy the show.

By Dan Mihalascu

VIDEO

Unbelievable Russian Car Chase Will Leave You Rolling On the Ground Laughing

In all seriousness now, you just can't make all this stuff up! And while the opening snap-shot from the video showing a weapon-wielding man slipping on the roof of a minivan that had just been driven off the road suggests a deadly confrontation, we can assure you that it's more comedy than tragedy…

Filmed in the eastern part of Russia from the dashboard camera of a following vehicle that was not involved in the incident, it begins with a Toyota Camry chasing what looks like a Mazda MPV.

The Camry driver pulls up several times in front of the minivan, and jumps out of his car to attack the Mazda motorist with what you may initially perceive as a gun, but turns out it was a knife of some sort.

What happens towards the end of the footage is simply put; rib-tickling. See for yourself below.

Shout out to Falco for the submission!

VIDEO

Mazda's 2014 Tokyo Auto Salon Lineup Revealed

Mazda will be heading to the 2014 edition of the Tokyo Auto Salon (TAS) in the second week of January with a group of racing, tuned and pre-production concept cars, some of which will be familiar to those of you who followed the brand's presence at this year's SEMA Show in November.

The ones we are referring to are the "Axela Sport Mazda Design Concept 2014" and "Atenza Sedan Mazda Design Concept 2014", which are more or less the same as the SEMA Show Mazda3 and Mazda6 ClubSport studies respectively, with different paint jobs.

Other cars to be found at Mazda's TAS stand will be the North American Mazda6 Skyactiv-D diesel-powered racer from the Grand AM GX series, and three pre-production studies, the Mazda6 estate-based "Atenza Wagon Mazda Design Concept 2014", Mazda3 sedan-based "Axela Sedan Mazda Design Concept 2014", and the "CX-5 Mazda Design Concept 2014", all featuring mild aero modifications and bespoke wheel setups.

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Mazda's New JDM Flair Mini Crossover Looks Mighty Familiar…

We could ask you to find the differences between the Suzuki Hustler Concept from the recent 2013 Tokyo Motor Show and the newly announced production Mazda Flair Crossover, but we'll just save you the trouble and tell you that there are none – unless you place any worth in badges.

Scheduled to go on sale in Japan at the end of January 2014, the pint sized Flair is a tall-riding "Kei car" with five doors, available two-tone paint jobs and plastic moldings on the bumpers and wheel arches to create the allusion of an SUV.

It can be had with a choice of two CVT-paired 660cc (0.66-liters) engines with or without turbocharging in both FWD and AWD layouts, delivering a fuel economy of up to 29.2 km/l (equal to 68.7 mpg US, 82.5 mpg UK and 3.4l/100km).

Mazda said it's targeting monthly sales of 500 units, with prices in Japan ranging from 1,285,200 to 1,607,550 yen (US$12,300 to US$15,400).

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Tommykaira Brewing Tuned Mazda CX-5 for Tokyo Auto Salon

At the 2014 Tokyo Auto Salon, Japan's annual aftermarket tuning show that will run from January 10 to 12 next year, local tuner Tommykaira will present a new styling take on Mazda's well-received CX-5 compact crossover.

Tommykaira didn’t divulge any details on the performance aspect of the tune, but we do get a sneak peak of the work being done on the car as well as a computer render that shows the aggressive-looking aero package, lowered suspension, different grille, bigger wheels and the crossover's hunched down stance.

The tuner added that the fender extensions add 10mm (0.39 inches) on both ends of the car and that the package will be offered for sale later this year (in Japan, at least).

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New Mazda2 Range Extender Prototype Leaves Hope for Rotary Engine

Granted; a very Chevrolet Volt-like in philosophy Mazda Demio (Mazda2 for the rest of the world) prototype fitted with a range extender powertrain comprising an electric motor turning the wheels and a gasoline-fueled 0.33-liter rotary engine in the rear generating electricity for the supermini's lithium ion battery, isn't exactly promising for the future of rotary-powered Mazda sports cars.

But it's better than nothing, especially after new Mazda CEO Masamichi Kogai admitted that there are no current plans to revive a rotary engine for mass production, or in other words, a successor to the RX-7 and RX-8 models. As long as Mazda engineers keep on working on the technology, there's hope…

Back to the Demio Range Extender study, Mazda showed the sub-compact to the press on Thursday in Japan. According to an Autonews report, Mazda said that while meeting stringent emissions regulations is a problem that needs to be solved, the rotary unit has many advantages, including its small size, running quietly with little vibration, and the ability to burn different fuels.

Like the pure-electric Demio EV, the range-extender hybrid uses a 75kW electric motor to turn the front wheels. The rotary engine is believed to almost double the 200km (124 mile) driving range of the electric model with a 10-liter (2.6 gallon) fuel tank.

Kogai told Autonews that while there are no specific production plans, the company is holding on the rotary technology "partially for sentimental reasons".

“We are the first and only manufacturer to commercialize the rotary engine,” he said. “In that respect, we have some responsibility.”

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