Mazda 2

[092326001]

the 2 will kill the Yaris

[Ferrer]

Mazda 2 #6

[Ferrer]

Mazda 2 #7

[Ferrer]

Mazda 2 #8

[Ferrer]

Mazda 2 #9

[Ferrer]

Facelifted 2. Apparently it will have some engines and gearboxes available.

[Timothy (in VA)]

Rumor has it the 2 will be available here for the 2008 model year.

Okay, it seems rumor was off by three years. The US is finally getting the 2 for 2011.

[Sauc3]

Facelifted 2. Apparently it will have some engines and gearboxes available.

About time, I'm sure people got sick of Flintstoning them around for 3 years.

[Ferrer]

Japan's 2, the Demio now with interesting new petrol engined whcih has an homologated 3,3l/100km official fuel consumption figure #11

[Ferrer]

Japan's 2, the Demio now with interesting new petrol engined whcih has an homologated 3,3l/100km official fuel consumption figure #12

[Ferrer]

Japan's 2, the Demio now with interesting new petrol engined whcih has an homologated 3,3l/100km official fuel consumption figure #13

[Dino Scuderia]

And extra radiation, no charge.

[f6fhellcat13]

70mpg from a gas engine; I am intrigued. Any information on what sort of witchcraft is used to achieve this?

[Ferrer]

Mainly, 14:1 compression ratio. Which is actually the same they are working for their next generation of diesel engines.

Only time will tell if it actually works, but I'm intrigued too.

[pimento]

Here's Autozine's write up of the forthcoming 2.0 version of the engine. Interestingly, the 1.3 is Atkinson cycle - they couldn't fit the fancy exhaust in so they had to retard the ignition to retain the compression. Seems counterintuitive, but I guess there's a reason - either because it looks good on paper, or they'll do a 'proper' version in a later model where the long exhaust headers will fit. It still seems to help the fuel economy anyway.

In Japan, Mazda has unveiled its facelifted Mazda 2 (Demio) together with its new bunch of green technologies called "Skyactiv". The Skyactiv package includes:

- Skyactiv-G high-compression gasoline engine;
- Automatic engine stop-start;
- CVT transmission (with or without 7-speed manual mode);
- Drag-reducing underfloor sealings, and
- i-DM intelligent green driving guide dislay.

The most interesting to us is the Skyactiv-G engine, of course. Mazda has talked a lot about this engine family that runs at unprecedingly high (14.0:1) compression ratio. It is claimed to save 15 percent fuel while lifting low to mid range torque by up to 15 percent. More details of the technology will be given later in Technical School. However, after some researches I found the one used in Mazda 2 is less promising. Read these figures first:

- Capacity: 1298 cc
- Valvetrain: DOHC 16 valves, DVVT
- Fuel system: Direct injection
- Bore x stroke: 71.0 x 82.0 mm
- Compression: 14.0:1
- Max power: 84 ps
- Max torque 82.5 lbft



For such a technology-packed engine, isn't its output too weak? Take Toyota's 1.33-liter Dual-VVT-i engine for comparison, it produces 95 ps and 89 lbft without resorting to direct injection and high compression ratio. In fact, the Skyactiv-G 1.3 engine is not a true high-compression engine. The 14.0:1 compression is somewhat misleading because the engine actually runs on Atkinson cycle (although the press release incorrectly stated Miller cycle, by the way). This mean the actual (effective) compression should be about 12 or so to 1, more or less the same as other direct injection gasoline engines. As a result, the engine's effective displacement should be about 1.1 liters. This explain its low output.

Note that the 2.0-liter version Skyactiv-G engine to be fitted to Mazda 3 will feature a true 14:1 compression. The 1.3-liter version does not have the 2.0-liter's 4-2-1 exhaust manifold, which is a crucial part of the high-compression technology (will be explained in Technical School). I guess its absence might be due to the limited space in the engine compartment of Mazda 2.



Anyway, the Skyactiv package does lift the fuel economy of Mazda 2 a lot. In Japanese JC08 cycle it returns 25 km per liter of fuel. For comparison, the non-Skyactiv version fitted with 1.3-liter engine and CVT returns only 20.2 km/liter. That's a boost of 24 percent.

[Source - scroll down]