The Mazda brand has long prided itself on pushing the envelope when it comes to performance-focused automotive technology. And the best part about the Mazda brand is that they bring those performance-focused advancements to everyday consumer cars. That’s why we love meeting first-time Mazda drivers here at Hall Mazda Virginia Beach. The way their face lights up on that first test drive as they realize what a Mazda car can do is always a thrill.
And things are about to get even more thrilling. Right now, the engineers at Mazda are hard at work on the next generation of engine technology: SKYACTIV®-X. As tech website The Verge puts it in their article, Mazda engineers have set their sights on an ambitious goal: “get the internal combustion engine as perfected as possible in terms of efficiency and operation.”
The key to this ambitious effort is Spark-Controlled Compression Ignition, an all-new combustion method. You read that right. The Mazda brand is looking to do more than perfect the engine, they’re looking to reinvent combustion itself. For those of us who aren’t engineers, the concept of this new contraption can best be summed up as follows.
Traditional gasoline engines uses spark plugs to ignite the air and fuel in your gas tank, causing it to combust and power the engine. Diesel engines use compression ignition, which causes this same combustion, but without a spark. That leads to greater efficiency, but at the cost of higher emissions and less refinement. The Mazda brand’s new technology looks to take a little from Column A and a little from Column B to create an ignition method that has the best of both previously used methods. The secret to their success comes down to the three different modes of operation that the engine cycles through and the seamless transition between them.
While it will be a while before we can put this tech to the test here at your local Mazda dealership, we’ve got the latest and greatest SKYACTIV® TECHNOLOGY ready and waiting in our selection of 2018 Mazda sedans and 2018 Mazda SUVs.
