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More than six years ago, Mazda debuted a technology that promised to revolutionize internal-combustion. Now, we’re wondering if it was a false dawn. Skyactiv-X, as Mazda calls it, represented the culmination of decades of auto-industry research and development into a compression-ignition gasoline engine. For years, major automakers and research groups worked toward creating a homogeneous-charge compression-ignition (HCCI) engine, which held the promise of diesel-like fuel economy with far fewer emissions. Ford, GM, Nissan, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, and Hyundai all developed prototype HCCI engines, and even the US Department of Energy funded research into the technology. While most efforts seemingly petered out,...

China is losing its influence; it’s in decline. At the same time, however, China, ruled by a despotic regime, is responsible for 28.7 percent of global manufacturing output (more than 10 percentage points ahead of its No. 1 rival, the United States). This utter dependence on China for manufacturing must be stopped. As I write this, three countries are working to siphon customers away from China. Will their efforts prove to be successful?I speak from experience when I say the following: communist China is not a fun place to live in. Moreover, with its frequent power cuts and the Chinese...

I want to keep my '08 Mazda CX-7. But it lacks one feature I would like to have. When I get into my '16 Soul and turn it on the console automatically links with my simple flip phone. Thats flip phone, not a smart phone. Smart phones are way too smart for me and unnecessarily expensive, monthly wise. So is there a tablet I could put into the Mazda and do that same function. Pair with the phone. Then display incoming calls and and answer or deny by touching the screen? And if I answer, talk to the tablet/person?

Want to get an electric car? Well, if you want to drive that upgraded golf cart more than a few miles to work and back, you might need to think again, particularly if you’re thinking you might want to drive it at typical highway speeds. Such is what Car and Driver found in its hilarious review of the new, electric Mazda MX-30. And that’s not some old EV that should be resigned to the scrap heap at this point…it’s the 2022 model of the car. As background, the MX-30 is designed to be an EV for the average American worker...

Some Mazda owners out in Western Washington... are faced with having to listen to nothing but National Public Radio after an errant signal broke their radios. Over the last couple of weeks, a number of owners of 2014 to 2017 Mazdas all tuned their HD Radios to 94.9 KUOW, one of the Puget Sound’s public radio stations. Seattle Times interviewed owners, including Dave Welding, the driver of a 2016 Mazda hatch: Somehow the signal the station sent to the modern HD Radio that’s part of the Mazda infotainment center had, as Welding puts it, “fried” a major component. The component...

Christian Schultze, director at Mazda Europe’s R&D center, pegs the total CO2 emissions of a 35.5-kWh pack for the MX-30 crossover as comparable with a diesel-powered Mazda3 compact. He’s including total CO2 emissions for the vehicle’s use, as well as battery production and disposal. That advantage is still there if you had to replace the pack after 100,000 miles, according to Mazda.

Gov. Kay Ivey joined executives of DaikyoNishikawa US (DNUS) and local leaders at a groundbreaking event to officially launch construction on the auto supplier’s $110 million manufacturing plant in North Alabama. The DNUS facility, which will produce plastic automotive parts for the Mazda Toyota Manufacturing U.S.A. (MTMUS) assembly plant, will employ approximately 380 people at full production. The groundbreaking ceremony was held at the site on the MTMUS campus where construction crews are poised to begin work on DNUS’ first U.S. manufacturing plant. “I’m proud to welcome another great Japanese company, DaikyoNishikawa, to Sweet Home Alabama, and I know that...

The rumor is now a fact: Mazda announced today that it would bring back the legendary rotary engine, though not as the main powerplant of a car. Instead, a version of the rotary will act as a range extender in one of two electric vehicles the brand will debut for 2020. As Popular Mechanics noted in our recent feature about the story and legacy of the Wankel rotary, the engine hasn't been featured in a car since the Mazda RX-8 was canceled in 2018. But there have been rays of hope for the rotary faithful. Specifically, rumors swirled earlier this...

Wankel engine [Wankel Engine in Deutsches Museum, Munich, Germany]The first working prototype of the Wankel rotary engine ran for the first time on February 01, 1957 The Wankel rotary engine is a type of internal combustion engine, invented by German engineer Felix Wankel, which uses a rotor instead of reciprocating pistons. This design delivers smooth high-rpm power from a compact, lightweight engine; however, Wankel engines have been criticized for poor fuel efficiency and exhaust emissions. Since its introduction in the NSU Motorenwerke AG (NSU) and Mazda cars of the 1960s, the engine has been commonly referred to as the...

Good news: Toyota and Mazda announce giant new Huntsville, Alabama, plant which will produce over 300,000 cars and SUV’s a year and employ 4000 people. Companies are coming back to the U.S. in a very big way. Congratulations Alabama! 11:29 PM - 10 Jan 2018

(Reuters) - Alabama will be the site of a new $1.6 billion Toyota Motor Corp and Mazda Motor Corp auto plant, a victory for President Donald Trump who had prodded manufacturers to build new U.S. facilities and threatened tariffs on foreign production, sources said on Tuesday.

A new car engine will eventually come on the scene. This week's car watching sites have reacted to Tuesday's announcement from Mazda with interest. At a time when the total focus appears to be on electric cars as our driving future, Mazda is ushering in a type of car engine that they call Skyactiv-X. The Hiroshima, Japan-datelined Tuesday announcement from Mazda said it is introducing the world's "first commercial gasoline engine to use compression ignition." Reuters quoted what Mazda R&D head Kiyoshi Fujiwara told reporters. "We think it is an imperative and fundamental job for us to pursue the ideal...

Homogeneous charge compression ignition, or HCCI, is the black art of of internal combustion engines that aims to produce diesel-like fuel efficiency for the cost of gasoline. Although some of its competitors have developed and subsequently given up on the tech, Mazda confirmed that the next-generation of SkyActiv engines will employ HCCI technology, improving fuel economy by 30 percent and at the same time reducing exhaust emissions.

oday, Mazda Motor Corporation filed a safety defect report with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to address a concern with 2014-2016 Model Year (MY) CX-5 vehicles. On all 2014-2016 MY CX-5 vehicles, the fuel filler pipe could rupture during a rear collision, and could potentially cause fuel leakage. Approximately 264,463 vehicles are affected in the U.S. There are no reports of accidents or injuries occurring in the subject vehicles as a result of this condition. If a customer has concerns about driving their vehicle before the repair is available, dealers will offer a free loaner, demo, or rental...

Remember this- 'Piston engine goes boing, boing, boing, boing boing, boing... but the Mazda goes hmmmmmmm.' [YouTube] If you've ever driven a car with a rotary engine like a Mazda, it really is a lot of fun, very torquey and revs like crazy, always super smooth (except most from the 70s tend to backfire)- it's a shame the couldn't make them work out in a more substantial way. Besides smoothness of operation, the motor is compact, light, and simple, with only two moving parts. But in an example of epic bad timing, Mazda launched the Wankel-engined RX series just was...

Mazda Motor Corp. is expected to end production of its vehicles in the United States. The automaker is considering selling its 50-percent stake in its U.S. joint venture with Ford Motor Co., AutoAlliance International Inc. in Flat Rock, Michigan, to Ford in two years, sources said June 3. Mazda is expected to shift production to its Hofu plant in Yamaguchi Prefecture and export vehicles to the United States. President Takashi Yamanouchi has said: "I want to fundamentally solve the problems that Mazda is saddled with (such as the U.S. operations)." In fiscal 2010, AutoAlliance International produced only 45,000 Mazda vehicles,...

DETROIT (WWJ) – A big recall at Chrysler and a creepy one at Mazda. Spiders that can spin webs in fuel systems are causing Mazda to recall 52 thousand Mazda 6 sedans from the 2009 and 2010 model years. Those webs can cause damage to the fuel systems, and potentially lead to fuel leaks. Chrysler, meanwhile, is recalling about 250,000 vehicles to fix potential engine stalling. The company says it will recall 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country minivans and 2010 Dodge Journey crossovers in the wake of reports that the ignition key could move while driving...

Next year, Mazda will sell a car in Japan that gets 70.5 miles per gallon (mpg), or 30 kilometers per liter. The fuel economy rating won't be nearly this good in the United States because of differing requirements, but even so, the car will likely use about as little fuel as a hybrid such as the Toyota Prius--without that car's added costs for its electric motor and batteries. The Mazda, a subcompact called the Demio in Japan and the Mazda 2 elsewhere, will include a package of changes that improves fuel economy by about 30 percent over the current model....

Piston engine goes boing, boing, boing, boing. Mazda engine goes Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) today reported its best sales month of the year and best August since 2003. Best August Ever for MAZDA3 AND MAZDA5. See full numbers: http://www.cardealerreviews.org/?p=117183