Monday, July 18, 2011

The Rebirth Of The Internal Combustion Engine








Scuderi Group
Courtesy Mazda
Just because the aforementioned innovations mostly emerged from small shops doesn’t mean the Big Three have fallen woefully behind, or that Asian and European mass market automakers are being left in the dust. Ford’s direct-injected EcoBoostis slashing fuel consumption across its fleet, Chevrolet and Hyundai have released super-efficient sedans--just about every carmaker is working to stretch the capabilities of its internal combustion gasoline engines.
Setting the bar high is Mazda, which has built a reputation for packing a lot of power into smaller, more efficient packages like the pistonless rotary engine design that powers some of its models. The company’s fuel efficiency initiative, Skyactiv, has produced the new Skyactiv-G engine, the first of several new engines, transmissions, and other components that will be integrated into Mazda’s production vehicles in coming years. By trimming a little fuel use here and optimizing energy conversion there, the Skyactiv series is expected to seriously boost fuel efficiency across Mazda’s entire portfolio of consumer autos.
By how much? Later this year, Mazda is expected to unveil a new version of its subcompact Mazda2 sporting a 1.3-liter Skyactiv-G engine coupled with a continuously variable transmission. According to Mazda it will boast the highest compression ratio of any mass production gasoline engine, boosting fuel efficiency by fifteen percent. All said, the Mazda2 should log about 70 miles per gallon, twice the efficiency that will be required by American fuel economy standards--in 2015.

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