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  • Report: Next-Gen Mazda MX-5 Will Be Smaller And Lighter

    Report: Next-Gen Mazda MX-5 Will Be Smaller And Lighter November 5th, 2009 By Viknesh Vijayenthiran Viknesh Vijayenthiran, Author, November 5th, 2009 Viknesh Vijayenthiran 5 Comments

    Report: Next-Gen Mazda MX-5 Will Be Smaller And Lighter

    The launch of the next-generation Mazda MX-5 has reportedly been pushed back as far as late 2011 because of a number of major changes in store for the car. Not only is Mazda developing a new lightweight platform and fuel-efficient powertrains, but a new coupe version is also expected to join the ranks.

    The MX-5’s chief developer, Takao Kijima, has previously stated that the new model will be smaller and at least 10% lighter than the current car, which means a kerb weight of less than 2,200 pounds.

    The goal for Mazda will be to make the car’s styling and proportions closer to that of the original 1989 model. However, interior...

    The launch of the next-generation Mazda MX-5 has reportedly been pushed back as far as late 2011 because of a number of major changes in store for the car. Not only is Mazda developing a new lightweight platform and fuel-efficient powertrains, but a new coupe version is also expected to join the ranks. The MX-5’s chief developer, Takao Kijima, has previously stated that the new model will be smaller and at least 10% lighter than the current car, which means a kerb weight of less than 2,200 pounds. The goal for Mazda will be to make the car’s styling and proportions closer to that of the original 1989 model. However, interior space and safety will be better than the current car due to improved engineering and clever packaging. Finally, both a folding hard-top roof and a conventional fabric soft-top are expected, as well as a possible coupe. It appears the MX-5 Superlight concept from the recent 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show was not just a farfetched fantasy but a preview of what a future version of the popular roadster could be like. Thanks to a series of weight saving measures, the concept car checked in at a barely-there 2,190 pounds. In terms of powertrains, an inside source has revealed to Autocar that it would come with a range of light and compact 1.4 and 1.6-liter engines with direct-injection and turbocharging technologies. The source also revealed that the car could pick up an electronic power steering system to help conserve more fuel. Other goodies could include a dual-clutch transmission as well as a revised suspension set-up that does away with the bulky double wishbone front end on today’s car. To save additional weight, Mazda may adopt new steel construction methods that enable less metal to be used in its cars’ bodies. When can we expect to see the new car? Most likely at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show. [Autocar] Read More

  • Mazda’s Next-Gen Rotary Not Up To Scratch

    Mazda’s Next-Gen Rotary Not Up To Scratch October 24th, 2009 By Viknesh Vijayenthiran's avatar Viknesh Vijayenthiran, Author, October 24th, 2009 Viknesh Vijayenthiran 2 Comments

    Mazda’s Next-Gen Rotary Not Up To Scratch

    With the RX-8 being the only car on the market with a rotary engine, fans have been worried that Mazda may dump its fuel hungry rotary and concentrate on traditional engines like its new SKY range. Those worries were put to rest back in 2007 when Mazda previewed a new rotary design dubbed the 16X in its Taiki concept car.

    Unfortunately, the 16X isn’t quite up to scratch in terms of meeting Mazda’s aggressive fuel economy goals. The automaker has set itself the challenge of improving its average fuel economy of vehicles 30% by 2015 compared to 2008 levels.

    This means that it will need some further work before it could be offered...

    With the RX-8 being the only car on the market with a rotary engine, fans have been worried that Mazda may dump its fuel hungry rotary and concentrate on traditional engines like its new SKY range. Those worries were put to rest back in 2007 when Mazda previewed a new rotary design dubbed the 16X in its Taiki concept car. Unfortunately, the 16X isn’t quite up to scratch in terms of meeting Mazda’s aggressive fuel economy goals. The automaker has set itself the challenge of improving its average fuel economy of vehicles 30% by 2015 compared to 2008 levels. This means that it will need some further work before it could be offered in a production model. Speaking with reporters at this past week’s 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, Mazda R&D boss Seita Kanai explained that the 16X demonstrated the possibility, but admitted that performance was not good enough. “The 16X is more a profile of a rotary still in our concept stage,” Kanai said. “It needs more evolution.” The 16X is a 1.6-liter twin rotor unit similar to the current 1.3-liter 13B found in the RX-8. It features a longer stroke and a larger displacement (800cc x 2) design and is said to be more thermal efficient than the 13B engine. The 16X also features direct injection technology and lightweight aluminum side housing to further help reduce fuel consumption. There’s no word on when we’ll see the 16X in production trim but the most likely scenario will see its introduction in the next-generation RX-8 sports car around 2011. [Automotive News, sub req’d] Read More

  • Next-Gen RX-8 Will Be Evolutionary

    Next-Gen RX-8 Will Be Evolutionary October 22nd, 2009 By Viknesh Vijayenthiran Viknesh Vijayenthiran, Author, October 22nd, 2009 Viknesh Vijayenthiran 5 Comments

    Next-Gen RX-8 Will Be Evolutionary

    It's been six years since the Mazda RX-8 came on the scene and brought with it a sublime combo of handling, equipment, features, and pricing. Whether you're a rotary engine fan or not, you have to recognize the job Mazda did tuning the car's chassis. But now first details on the car’s successor are starting to emerge and thankfully they are reporting that Mazda won’t be mucking around with the winning formula.

    The latest information comes from Mazda design boss Ikuo Maeda, who revealed that the next generation RX-8 coupe will be more of an evolution of the current model than a major redesign.

    Speaking at this week’s 2009 ...

    It's been six years since the Mazda RX-8 came on the scene and brought with it a sublime combo of handling, equipment, features, and pricing. Whether you're a rotary engine fan or not, you have to recognize the job Mazda did tuning the car's chassis. But now first details on the car’s successor are starting to emerge and thankfully they are reporting that Mazda won’t be mucking around with the winning formula. The latest information comes from Mazda design boss Ikuo Maeda, who revealed that the next generation RX-8 coupe will be more of an evolution of the current model than a major redesign. Speaking at this week’s 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, Maeda revealed that the new car will arrive around 2011 and feature the company’s latest design language and technology. Certain to remain will be current car’s rear-wheel drive layout and four-door coupe body, as well as its rotary engine. No word on whether or not the suicide-style rear doors will remain, however. As for the powertrain, Mazda insiders have suggested that the rotary engine will increase in displacement to allow more torque. However, emissions and fuel consumption will be curbed with the addition of Mazda’s fuel-saving SKY engine and transmission technologies. What effect a new RX-8 will have on the development of a successor of the RX-7 is still unknown. Maeda has previously stated that he wants to see a new RX-7 built but all will depend on market conditions and chances are Mazda won’t be launching two premium sports cars anytime soon. [Autocar] Read More

  • Mazda Considering SKY Diesels For U.S.

    Mazda Considering SKY Diesels For U.S. October 22nd, 2009 By Nelson Ireson's avatar Nelson Ireson, Author, October 22nd, 2009 Nelson Ireson 8 Comments

    Mazda Considering SKY Diesels For U.S.

    Mazda caught a lot of flak earlier this year for stating outright that it would answer every other brand's hybrids with clean diesels, then promptly flip-flopping and saying it was working on hybrids. Now the pendulum has swung back again, though it's likely to come to rest somewhere in the middle, with the recently unveiled SKY D diesel engine complementing the company's hybrid strategy.

    The latest news comes straight out of Tokyo as the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show continues on, with the company's head of R&D Seita Kanai saying that it makes good engineering sense, though the business case will be the hard part.

    There are applications where...

    Mazda caught a lot of flak earlier this year for stating outright that it would answer every other brand's hybrids with clean diesels, then promptly flip-flopping and saying it was working on hybrids. Now the pendulum has swung back again, though it's likely to come to rest somewhere in the middle, with the recently unveiled SKY D diesel engine complementing the company's hybrid strategy. The latest news comes straight out of Tokyo as the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show continues on, with the company's head of R&D Seita Kanai saying that it makes good engineering sense, though the business case will be the hard part. There are applications where a diesel engine is simply a better choice than a hybrid, particularly on heavy vehicles that require lots of low-end torque for acceleration or towing capacity. Lighter vehicles benefit greatly from hybrid drive because it's easier to store sufficient energy in a reasonably-sized and -priced battery pack. Whether that can readily translate into an affordable option that Americans will buy, especially in preference to a relatively efficient, direct-injection gasoline engine--something Mazda has no shortage of, especially with the gasoline models of the SKY family--is an entirely different question, however. Still, with new CAFE legislation bearing down and more and more manufacturers, including Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and even potentially Nissan, pushing forward with U.S.-market diesels, it could soon become both economically and environmentally feasible for Mazda to bring clean diesels to the U.S. What do you think? Would you rather have a hybrid, a clean diesel, or a high-efficiency gasoline engine? Why? Let us know in the comments below, or if you've got a lot to say about it, write up an article and get it published--right here at High Gear Media. Read below for details on how to get started. [Auto News - sub. req.] -------------------------------- Write your own car blog at High Gear Media! Sign up to write and tell car enthusiasts and shoppers what you think about your vehicle or today's car news and get published to High Gear Media sites like AllSmallCars, LexusReports, FamilyCarGuide and more! Read More

  • More Details On Mazda RX-7 Successor

    More Details On Mazda RX-7 Successor October 20th, 2009 By Nelson Ireson's avatar Nelson Ireson, Author, October 20th, 2009 Nelson Ireson 3 Comments

    More Details On Mazda RX-7 Successor

    We've been bringing you updates on the internal development of Mazda's RX-7 successor for almost two years now, and today on the brink of the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, a new report adds to the story. Mazda's design chief, Ikuo Maeda, has said he wants to see a new RX-7 built.

    The key constraint on Maeda's desire: the market. As always, a new car from Mazda must have a business case behind it, perhaps now more than ever. Speculation on what the RX-7 successor might evenutally look like is just that, but it can almost be guaranteed to feature two seats instead of the Mazda RX-8's four, and a rotary engine.

    The desire for a new RX-7 is not new...

    We've been bringing you updates on the internal development of Mazda's RX-7 successor for almost two years now, and today on the brink of the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, a new report adds to the story. Mazda's design chief, Ikuo Maeda, has said he wants to see a new RX-7 built. The key constraint on Maeda's desire: the market. As always, a new car from Mazda must have a business case behind it, perhaps now more than ever. Speculation on what the RX-7 successor might evenutally look like is just that, but it can almost be guaranteed to feature two seats instead of the Mazda RX-8's four, and a rotary engine. The desire for a new RX-7 is not new within the company, but it's heartening to hear it from the man that currently holds the post. Former Mazda design global design chief Lauren Van den Acker had previously been behind a project expected to be called the RX-9, a sort of spiritual successor to the RX-7 featuring an up-rated 16X Renesis rotary engine and possibly a dual-clutch transmission, pointing at halo-car aspirations. Maeda took over as lead designer at Mazda in April of this year. Looking as far back as 2007, the modern revival of the RX-7 was being foretold in general terms with the Taiki concept, a two-seater which featured the same 1.6-liter, 270-horsepower 16X Renesis rotary expected for the next-gen car. The concept's materials and design also hint at a lightweight goal for the car, possibly as low as 2,600 pounds--a figure almost unheard of in today's age of crash testing, pedestrian safety and full-featured interiors. In February of this year, rumors re-emerged of work for the RX-9, confirming the previous iterations of the rumor in terms of hardware and goals. A patent application from May of this year also revealed Mazda's work on direct injection in the rotary form factor, yet another indication that work behind the scenes is already well underway. It will still likely be several years until any potential production model is revealed, however, as the car must go through prototyping, concept and testing stages first. If Mazda decides the market might bite on a new RX-7, however, expect to begin seeing test mules and prototypes in our spy shots soon. To get a completely unofficial idea of what a successor to the RX-7 might look like, check out Reuben Zammit's X-3 Concept rendering. [Autocar via Autoblog] Read More

  • Mazda Shows Off Updated Kiyora Concept Ahead Of Tokyo Motor Show

    Mazda Shows Off Updated Kiyora Concept Ahead Of Tokyo Motor Show September 29th, 2009 By Nelson Ireson's avatar Nelson Ireson, Author, September 29th, 2009 Nelson Ireson 0 Comments

    Mazda Shows Off Updated Kiyora Concept Ahead Of Tokyo Motor Show

    This year's Tokyo Motor Show is pulling a disappearing act even before it begins, with many major manufacturers already pulling their displays, but Mazda will be there in full effect, armed with high-tech engines and an updated version of the 2008 Kiyora concept.

    The Kiyora Concept is a compact, eco-friendly hatch-type car that Mazda imagines as a fun-to-drive yet responsible runabout powered by the new SKY-G 1.3-liter gasoline engine revealed earlier today. Power is sent to the wheels by the six-speed SKY-Drive automatic transmission.

    Fuel economy is estimated at 75 mpg in Japan's combined 10-15 mode test cycle. It gets there thanks in...

    This year's Tokyo Motor Show is pulling a disappearing act even before it begins, with many major manufacturers already pulling their displays, but Mazda will be there in full effect, armed with high-tech engines and an updated version of the 2008 Kiyora concept. The Kiyora Concept is a compact, eco-friendly hatch-type car that Mazda imagines as a fun-to-drive yet responsible runabout powered by the new SKY-G 1.3-liter gasoline engine revealed earlier today. Power is sent to the wheels by the six-speed SKY-Drive automatic transmission. Fuel economy is estimated at 75 mpg in Japan's combined 10-15 mode test cycle. It gets there thanks in part to Mazda's i-stop system, which shuts the engine off at stops. The Kiyora also uses regenerative braking, presumably to operate the car's electronics, and weight savings and aerodynamics also play a role in the car's efficiency. Mazda says the Kiyora is 220 pounds lighter than its "mass production model in the same segment," which is most likely the Mazda2, itself recently confirmed for U.S. sale. [Mazda] Read More

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