My commute is getting longer soon and the MINI Cooper S is getting long in the tooth.
I'm thinking of going to the Mazda3 with the Skyactiv setup next time. I'm hoping for near-Cooper S performance with high MPG and auto tranny. Anyone out there got any experience with that configuration? Does it live up to Mazda's hype?
As a marketing term, I have to give them credit. I think the average consumer will think it means something.
SkyActiv is "just" marketing like the LS1 is "just" a pushrod engine. 
The 3 is just the engine and trans. Get the CX-5 for the first full-on effect, including a lighter stiffer body.
It's still just putting a name on stuff they would have done anyway.
Zomby woof wrote: As a marketing term, I have to give them credit. I think the average consumer will think it means something.
Eh, I think it means something. Ultra-high compression, direct injection motor vs. the current low-tech lump. It's not a revolutionary new technology, but its better than what they have been offering.
Javelin wrote: The 3 is just the engine and trans. Get the CX-5 for the first full-on effect, including a lighter stiffer body.
Another crossover, yay...
I think you'll be disappointed. It's not revolutionary or anything really neat, it's just a regular old engine. They don't have any special cars to put it in or special chassis.
Marketing it this way is setting themselves up for a fall. People will be expecting special and they'll be getting everyday ordinary.
Remember, Mazda's Zoom-Zoom campaign actually began as a campaign for the Ford Escape twin the Tribute. It was the popularity there that made it the battle cry for the entire line-up. Marketing.
I am glad that the new CX-5 lacks "the smile"
I will say that I really like the current Mazda commercial that is getting a lot of play.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAwnN8n2_-E
Edmunds runs a blog with small updates about some cars they share between the writers, they really seem to enjoy the sykactive 3 in daily use.
http://blogs.insideline.com/roadtests/Vehicles/2012-mazda-3/
40mpg, 150hp, great chassis, what's not to like? If you want more of anything, get the MS3. For a gas-friendly commuter, it is hard to beat.
I've heard good things about it. Having owned a regular mz3 (which had comparable power to the current Skyactiv) and currently in posession of a Cooper S- I can say it wouldn't be too disappointing to go to an mz3 from a driving dynamic standpoint.
I don't get where people are saying it isn't anything fancy. Where else do you see a production engine running 13:1 compression on 87 octane weasel piss fuel? I read an article posted on here that broke the engine down part by part, and I was blown away with the technology!! Maybe it is because I love Mazda, but it seemed they did something revolutionary with the compression ratio on a street-driven grocery-getter on low grade pump gas. In Europe they are running 14:1 compression which is even crazier in that race car type territory level. It sure looks cooler,and has to be more fun than a Prius!!!
Getting kicked in the hootus repeatedly is more fun than a Prius.
It's not just compression, either. These are the most advanced internal-combustion piston engines in the world right now. Mazda applied for over 170 patents on just the 1.6L one alone. There's over 500 patents in the whole process with all of the engines, transmissions, suspension, and bodies (mostly with manufacturing on the non-drivetrain stuff). SkyActiv is taking current cars and turning them to "11". The jump really is as revolutionary as the LT1 to LS1 was for small block Chebbies.
I really hope the do the next 5 as a SkyActiv full-feature car/van, and offer the diesel with a stick in the US. I would buy one brand new, ASAP.
SkyActiv + Mazdaspeed is going to be epic though...
carguy123 wrote: I think you'll be disappointed. It's not revolutionary or anything really neat, it's just a regular old engine. They don't have any special cars to put it in or special chassis. Marketing it this way is setting themselves up for a fall. People will be expecting special and they'll be getting everyday ordinary.
There really isn't ANYTHING ordinary about the Skyactiv engine. Aside from it has pistons, and they move. it is really different than almost anything I have ever seen in what they do with a simple 4 cylinder DOHC engine. I don't feel they are setting themselves up for failure. Most of the car buying public just wants to put in fuel (and the cheaper the better), get in the car and talk on the phone. In that regard the car is just what they want, but it aslo fun to drive if you are one of those guys. All the while you have a car that gets good mileage on cheap fuel with out the need to plug in, or have a giant pack of lead fuilled batteries that you will have to replace at a heafty cost someday. I applaud Mazda for taking the IC engine to new heights, becasue I think it will be around for a long time still.
carguy123 wrote: They don't have any special cars to put it in or special chassis.
All Mazda are special cars!
Marketing is a powerful tool, if used properly.
I LOL'd when reading about these technologically advanced motors. They made a big deal about the high 14-1 compression, how it was the highest available in a gas engine, how advanced it was, and the merits of being able to use compression ratios so high. Right beside it was the ad for the new Diesel motor. They bragged about the 14-1 compression being the lowest of any diesel available, blah, blah, blah.
In reply to Zomby woof:
You have to understand thermodynamics, but basically ANY combustion engine is going to be "most efficient" at 14:1 compression (naturally-aspirated, naturally). So it's a big deal to get a gas engine that high AND the diesel that low. It puts both in the "sweet spot" of operating efficiency. It's not that higher or lower is better, it's that 14:1 is best, so one had to come up and the other had to come down. 
Any news on the Mazda 6 Sky-D (Diesel)? I was planning on making that my next car but I can't find any information about it anymore.
Read this and tell me if it is ordinary. I think Javelin posted it a while back, and I was impressed by the technology.
http://www.motoiq.com/magazine_articles/id/2105/131-compression-and-40-mpg-on-87-octane-fuel-introducing-mazdas-skyactiv-technology.aspx
Chris
Javelin wrote: In reply to Zomby woof: You have to understand thermodynamics, but basically ANY combustion engine is going to be "most efficient" at 14:1 compression (naturally-aspirated, naturally). So it's a big deal to get a gas engine that high AND the diesel that low. It puts both in the "sweet spot" of operating efficiency. It's not that higher or lower is better, it's that 14:1 is best, so one had to come up and the other had to come down.
That's not actually true. Lowering the compression ratio was to reduce NOx on the Diesel. Higher ratios = higher efficiency with diminishing returns, all else being equal, and wherein knock is under control. "14:1" isn't some magic ratio.
SlickDizzy wrote:Javelin wrote: The 3 is just the engine and trans. Get the CX-5 for the first full-on effect, including a lighter stiffer body.Another crossover, yay...
It must be easy to bend metal into something ugly......I REALLY wanted the CX-5 to be good looking....
Javelin wrote: In reply to Zomby woof: You have to understand thermodynamics, but basically ANY combustion engine is going to be "most efficient" at 14:1 compression (naturally-aspirated, naturally). So it's a big deal to get a gas engine that high AND the diesel that low. It puts both in the "sweet spot" of operating efficiency. It's not that higher or lower is better, it's that 14:1 is best, so one had to come up and the other had to come down.
You're confusing compression ratio with air:fuel ratios.
it is pretty impressive no matter how you look at it.
Zomby woof wrote: Marketing is a powerful tool, if used properly. I LOL'd when reading about these technologically advanced motors. They made a big deal about the high 14-1 compression, how it was the highest available in a gas engine, how advanced it was, and the merits of being able to use compression ratios so high. Right beside it was the ad for the new Diesel motor. They bragged about the 14-1 compression being the lowest of any diesel available, blah, blah, blah.
wonder if they could make a multi-fuel out of it. LIke the military did / does. in other words an engine that runs poorly on all fuels
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