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- The Skyactiv-Z will be a four-cylinder engine.
- The novelty will replace both Skyactiv-G and Skyactiv-X.
- The experience will be applied to six-cylinder engines.
Mazda's latest financial reports confirmed that the company is planning to develop a new gasoline engine, about which nothing was known before. The novelty will be called Skyactiv-Z.
The new engine will replace both Skyactiv-G and Skyactiv-X. While the former is common, the latter, with its Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) technology, has never caught on. Mazda intends to eventually phase out both and replace them with the Skyactiv-Z, which will be another four-cylinder engine.
The experience gained from the development should also improve the larger six-cylinder engines, making the inline-six engines cleaner.
Technical details
Since the first cars with this engine will not appear before 2027, Mazda has not yet released the specifications.
Reports say the four-cylinder engine will use lambda-one combustion to "achieve high thermal efficiency by implementing super-lean combustion across a wide range from low to high rpm to deliver excellent environmental performance and driving performance."
Lambda ("λ" in the Greek alphabet) represents the equivalence ratio of air and fuel. When λ = 1,0, the amount of air is perfectly balanced with the fuel during the combustion process. In this scenario, efficiency is optimized, hence emissions are reduced. In short, this means that all the fuel is burned, minimizing harmful pollutants.
Mazda intends to initially use Skyactiv-Z in cars sold in Europe and the United States. Engineers are working hard to make the four-cylinder unit compliant with Euro 7 as well as EPA Tier 4 standards.
In the respective regions, the Japanese brand intends to optimize its engine lineup, focusing on a smaller number of power units. As for the rotary engine, Mazda says it's making "smooth progress" since re-establishing the special team back in February: "Developing emissions compliance for the rotary engine is very challenging, but we're making good progress."
New projects
At the end of May, Mazda together with Toyota and Subaru held a joint conference to announce new internal combustion engines. Toyota has already detailed its new fuel-efficient four-cylinder units, and Subaru recently revealed the Crosstrek's new fuel-efficient hybrid setup.
Also, several years ago, Mazda joined the European eFuel alliance for the research of green and efficient types of fuel.
Since the next MX-5 will still have an internal combustion engine (although the Skyactiv-G is gone), this could mean that the fifth-generation Miata will be equipped with a Skyactiv-Z engine. It remains to learn about the possible form of electrification and the type of fuel.
