HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MAZDA’S SKYACTIV-X TECHNOLOGY

Nearly 10 years ago, Mazda revolutionized the automotive industry with SKYACTIV technology, a set of improvements made to a vehicle’s engine that improved efficiency by maintaining performance and reducing fuel consumption.

SKYACTIV includes a variety of improvements including a less restrictive exhaust system and a very high compression ratio that gets the most power out of every drop of fuel. SKYACTIV gearboxes are lighter and more compact while the SKYACTIV chassis is also lighter.

In short, by reducing the friction of the internal components of an engine, improving airflow, increasing the compression ratio and reducing the weight of the vehicle, we achieve exactly what SKYACTIV promises: performance that doesn’t come at the expense of fuel economy.

Now SKYACTIV-X

SKYACTIV-X is sort of the second generation of Mazda’s SKYACTIV system. This all-new technology is as revolutionary as the first SKYACTIV, even more so, and is part of Mazda’s strategy to reduce pollutant emissions by 50% by 2030, and by 90% by 2050.

To do this, Mazda engineers designed SKYACTIV-X. This technology is complex, we will not hide it, and it would be easy to flood the reader with specifications and incomprehensible terms. We prefer to simplify it to explain SKYACTIV-X in terms that are easier to understand.

For starters, note that the compression ratio of a SKYACTIV-X engine is even higher than that of the current SKYACTIV-G engine. Indeed, it is pushed to 16: 1 and can therefore ignite the fuel by  simple compression. This is essentially the same system that we find in a diesel engine that is also able to ignite the air-fuel mixture using only compression.

As for the SKYACTIV-X, it still has a sparkplug in order to avoid engine knock. Nevertheless, the spark is used to ignite the mixture shot in the cylinder by direct injection at the start while the subsequent explosions are made by compression. The air-fuel mixture is also optimized through a valve Miller system, similar to the Atkinson cycle. Thus, it is possible to generate higher torque without affecting fuel consumption. In fact, the latter is reduced as are the polluting emissions.

In short, there are many benefits to Mazda’s new SKYACTIV-X technology. For more information, contact us today at Atlantic Mazda!