Mazda Going (Mostly) Sparkless With Skyactiv-X Gasoline Engines, Starting in 2019

There’ll still be spark ignition available, but Mazda doesn’t expect you’ll get a whole lot of use out of it. With its just-revealed Skyactiv-X engine technology, the gasoline-loving automaker has added a new way of making power to the automotive realm: the compression ignition gas engine.

It’s something we’ve known about for a while, but today saw its confirmation. Mazda’s Skyactiv-X engine, bound for its vehicle lineup in 2019, adopts technology forever associated with diesel engines and combines it with a lighter, much cleaner fuel. Apparently, going green needn’t require batteries and AC motors.

Never mind that partnership with Toyota and talk of shared electric vehicle development. This new engine plays a starring role in the company’s long-term technology plan — a vision Mazda dubs “Sustainable Zoom-Zoom 2030.”

The engine, a world-first, achieves a “super lean burn” through use of sparkless compression ignition, coupled with a supercharger. In certain conditions — like cold-weather startups, for example — the mill employs spark to ignite the compressed fuel-air charge.

According to the automaker, “A proprietary combustion method called Spark Controlled Compression Ignition overcomes two issues that had impeded commercialization of compression ignition gasoline engines: maximizing the zone in which compression ignition is possible and achieving a seamless transition between compression ignition and spark ignition.”

Mazda anticipates the combination of compression ignition and supercharging should boost responsiveness, increasing torque levels by 10 to 30 percent over today’s Skyactiv-G gasoline engines. Generous thrust in every gear seems another high point.

Of course, power isn’t the main goal here. To keep gasoline as a viable fuel (and reduce the need for pricey hybrid and electric vehicle R&D), engineers needed to ensure the company’s future engines used as little of it as possible. And Mazda does plan to continue using gasoline engines — even beyond the year 2050.

We’ll have to wait for real-world confirmation, but Mazda anticipates a fuel economy boost of 20 to 30 percent over the Skyactiv-G. Compared to a Mazda four-cylinder from a decade ago, that’s a 35- to 45-percent increase. The company even claims it “equals or exceeds” its Skyactiv diesel fuel efficiency. Based on estimates of the U.S.-bound diesel, the combined fuel efficiency of sparkless, gas-powered Mazdas could rise to the high 30-mpg range.

If true, who needs a hybrid?

There’s other less tasty tidbits contained in Mazda’s 2030 plan. As part of its effort to lower corporate emissions, the automaker will introduce electric vehicles and other electrified technology in regions with clean energy grids starting in 2019. We’ll also see an evolution of the brand’s Kodo design language, as well as the proliferation of its i-Activsense driver assist technology. By 2025, Mazda wants to see some form of autonomous driving capability in all of its vehicles.

[Image: Mazda]