On German TV: trying to re-invent the gasoline engine

This past weekend the German TV DW (Deutsche Welle) had this segment on the Mazda CX-30 (Skyactiv-X engine):

https://www.dw.com/en/test-it-mazda-cx-30/av-50849986

FE is stated around 40 MPG. It is fairly small vehicle (only 15.2 ft3 of cargo space). Overall smaller than something like a Mazda 3 hatchback which, according to Fuelly, averages around 32 MPG.

For its size, the stated 40 MPG is nothing stellar in my view. A 2015 2015 Golf SportWagen TDI would give you a much more optimized FE vs size vs performance in my view.

That's a pretty handsome CUV. Definitely larger than a Mazda 3. With an AWD option, considerably more power than any 4 cylinder tdi ever sold here, and cheaper fuel.... looks quite attractive. I'd like to know if it requires premium fuel or can take 87 octane. With these skyactiv x vehicles just on the horizon, the skyactiv d will be very short lived here, imo. We'll see, the skyactiv d was on our horizon for the better part of a decade. If this tech takes that long to get here, nobody will want one. I have a fondness for Mazdas, but they really need to get with the program and start some EV development.

turbobrick240 said:

I have a fondness for Mazdas, but they really need to get with the program and start some EV development.

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Mazda's working on it.
https://www.motor1.com/news/377900/mazda-mx-30-concept-livestream/

That's great. Better late than never. I hope that guillotine on the front end is fairly pliable- or better yet gets redesigned for production. It would be great if they bring their thinking outside of the box philosophy to EV design/engineering.

Mazda has been struggling to get a foothold on their company's finances ever since they parted ways with Ford. Which is why they got in bed with Toyota in 2015. The only "fruit" of this affair that we've seen here is the Toyota Yaris iA sedan, which is a rebadged Mazda. Mazda's North American market share (their largest customer) was at a 10 year low in 2016. Unless Toyota just "takes over", like they did with Subaru, I do not see much in the way of a bright future for Mazda on their own. They nearly went broke in 2011 trying to get out from under Ford.

They have also sold themselves a bit to FCA, in that the current Fiat Spyder is a reskinned Miata (albeit with a different engine) in an effort to make some capital.

They've struggled with money for so long I am really surprised they are even around. Their product portfolio globally is pretty dismal, too. And if the US is their largest market, that does not bode well for that to change. They have no minivan, no pickup, no [truck-ish] SUV, no hybrids, no "luxury" line (like Toyota has Lexus), no medium/heavy truck line (Toyota has Hino), and the one thing they had that nobody else has: the fantastic MX-5 Miata, they've sold to Fiat.

Granted, VAG has few of those products here either, but VAG isn't dependent on the US market for much of anything anymore (and it shows).

I suspect in the years to come, Toyota will protect their investment by swallowing them up.

turbobrick240 said:

That's a pretty handsome CUV. Definitely larger than a Mazda 3. With an AWD option, considerably more power than any 4 cylinder tdi ever sold here, and cheaper fuel.... looks quite attractive. I'd like to know if it requires premium fuel or can take 87 octane. With these skyactiv x vehicles just on the horizon, the skyactiv d will be very short lived here, imo. We'll see, the skyactiv d was on our horizon for the better part of a decade. If this tech takes that long to get here, nobody will want one. I have a fondness for Mazdas, but they really need to get with the program and start some EV development.

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Well according to my Google search the 2020 Mazda 3 hatchback has a cargo volume of 20.1 ft³. So if cargo volume is important to the buyer then I would say that a Mazda 3 hatchback is more useful than this Mazda CX-30 with a mere 15.2 ft³ of cargo. I also realize that neither of these vehicles are available right now in North America, but my point is not about availability but rather than the Mazda CX-30 overall is smaller than the Mazda 3 hatchback, so FE is not "apples to apples".

It is easier to make smaller vehicles with FE in the upper 30’s or lower 40’s MPG running on gasoline. Now provide a decent passenger volume and cargo space as in the 2015 VW TDI (30.4 ft³ of cargo space) averaging around 40 MPG and then you have a better optimized vehicle overall and better for the environment than a gasoline engine without gas particle filter (GPF).

The CX-30 is dimensionally larger than the Mazda 3, though not by a lot. The CX-30 has more passenger area, while the hatchback 3 has more cargo area. In any case, it's the external dimensions that are most relevant to FE.