While Mazda waits on the cost of batteries to decrease before entering the hybrid/electric-vehicle market, the company is focusing on increasing the fuel economy of their standard internal combustion powered vehicles. The Kiyora concept, set to be officially revealed at the 2008 Paris Motor Show, is a lightweight, urban compact concept car that showcases Mazda's developments in the area of efficiency.… Read more
Chevrolet's Volt hasn't even been released yet and other automakers are already hard at work developing their Volt killers. Sources at Autocar say that Mazda engineers have developed a working Mazda5-based electric vehicle prototype. The prototype is said to use a rotary engine to charge a battery pack that powers an electric motor driving the wheels.
Essentially, the only thing that's keeping Mazda from putting the system into production is the high cost of batteries. Meanwhile, Mazda is said to be concentrating on more conventional green tech, such as engine start-stop technology.
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After spending time with the top-of-the-line 2008 Mazda CX-9 Grand Touring, we found much that we liked; however, we also found almost every positive thing we had to say about the SUV came with a caveat.
Inside, the CX-9's leather seats and ambient lighting give the appearance of luxury, but the materials feel cheap compared with a true luxury vehicle. The spec sheet touts an impressive amount of cabin tech, but the components don't work well together, creating a confusing experience. Overall, we formed a positive impression of the CX-9, but the vehicle lacks the final bit of … Read more
For its upcoming cycle of vehicles, Mazda wants to replace its entire powertrain lineup.
By 2015, Mazda will have given its gasoline engine lineup direct-injection spark ignition and idle-stop technology to improve fuel economy.
But it's more than just engines that Mazda is improving. Each new platform has a weight-reduction target of at least 220 pounds less than the previous vehicle platform. Although Mazda and Ford have worked together on platforms and component sets, Mazda is expected to show more independence from its controlling shareholder in terms of product offerings.
YOKOHAMA, Japan--Mazda Motor Corp. aims to boost average fuel efficiency 30 percent in the next seven years with new and reworked engines.
The company will upgrade almost all its gasoline engines by 2015 and roll out a stop-start idle system, a gasoline rotary engine, and new diesel engines. Plans to trim 220 pounds from all new vehicles starting in 2011 will help Mazda achieve the goal.
Seita Kanai, Mazda's research and development chief, outlined the strategy here June 23.
He did not give an average fuel efficiency figure for Mazda's fleet, but the automaker already has improved fuel … Read more
Over the last auto show season, Mazda demonstrated its new Nagare design direction with a whole series of concept cars, named Nagare, Ryuga, Hakaze, Taiki, and Furai. Now the company is seeing how one of these low-slung cars would look at SUV height. The new concept SUV will be shown off at the Moscow Auto Salon from August 29 to September 7. Mazda chose a compact SUV concept for this show because SUVs are popular in Russia's growing car market. Mazda only released sketches of its concept. These sketches indicate a design close to the original Nagare concept, with … Read more
In news releases for Japan and the U.S., Mazda announced that the 2009 RX-8 is currently being shipped to dealers. The Japanese version can be had as a Type RS, with a better sport suspension, while the U.S. equivalent is the R3 sport package. In each case, the RX-8 gets fitted with Bilstein shocks, while Mazda fills the front crossmembers with urethane foam, which should give the RX-8 a smoother ride and better handling. The Type RS and R3 cars also get Recaro seats and 19-inch wheels. Mazda also redesigned the gear ratios on the RX-8's six-speed … Read more
There was no shortage of sexy, sporty cars at this year's North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Here are my favorites (in somewhat of a particular order):
5. Mazda Furai conceptThe race-bred concept, which means "wind" in Japanese, is based on the Courage C65 chassis, which Mazda used in the American Le Mans Series two seasons previously. It has a three-rotor rotary engine that's capable of churning out 450 horsepower. And while it looks awesome, I'd say the chance that it goes into production is pretty slim.
4. 2009 Cadillac CTS-VThe uber-performance … Read more
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