New 2013 Mazda 6 Roadshow at Mid-Valley Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur, 27 March 2013 – The all-new Mazda 6, with the revolutionary SKYACTIV technology from Mazda, will be on display at a road show in the Centre Court of the Mid-Valley Mega Mall from today through this weekend.
The Mazda SKYACTIV technologies aims at promoting fuel economy and reducing carbon footprint from automotive vehicles without the use of hybrid engines, which Mazda deems as costly. Although Mazda is also developing hybrid cars, the company believes that the internal combustion engine still has potential for development. Thus it became a challenge for the company to build a car with technologies that equal or better a hybrid.
The SKYACTIV technology is not only confined to the engine – it encompasses the entire design, from the chassis to the transmission, the drive train, electrical and electronics, the engine, and also energy regeneration.
The engine runs a compression ratio of 13:1 (14:1 in some other parts of the world), something that challenges the normal order; to prevent pre-ignition or ‘knocking’, a unique piston design with a ‘bowl’ or depression at the top of the piston crown is utilised, plus injection at TDC (Top Dead Centre). The electronic fuel injection mapping (How much fuel to inject, and when) is also designed to promote the best combination between fuel economy and power delivery.
The SKYACTIV transmission is developed to reduce transmission slip to almost zero – through the use of ‘lock-up’ clutch mechanisms throughout the entire range of gears, and lock-up occurs from as low as 8 kph. The SKYACTIV transmission is an automatic that has all the desired characteristics of a manual.
The SKYACTIV Chassis part of the Mazda 6 development involves the usage of the right materials in the right place: strength where it is needed and lightweight where possible – the idea is to make the car strong, yet lightweight to promote fuel efficiency.
Elsewhere, there are technologies for energy regeneration, and auto-stop when stationary. All in all, the Mazda 6 is worth taking a look at, if you are considering a car in the C/D segment.
