Will Mazda HCCI tech be the end of car diesels?

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Mazda is an engineering giant, IMO....I was disappointed that Ford sold their share back to Mazda because I liked Ford having access to their engineering.
 
Hard to say at this time. If the engine does get that extra fuel economy they predict plus being reliable, then chances are very good. A 30% gain in fuel economy is nothing to sneeze at.
 
Originally Posted By: HondaRULZ
I still do not hear anyone asking "What do you drive"..guess that's coming up?



Does it matter? The Mazda SkyActiv HCCI is a pretty good advance for the internal combustion engine. If they can take a 30mpg engine and get almost 40mpg with this technology, then why not? Mazda SkyActiv engines have very good reliability compared to some other manufacturers that have had issues. There is an active thread on BITOG on the Ford EcoBoost 2.7's that are having problems. The new Honda 1.5 TGDI engine has fuel dilution issues.

This new engine of Mazda will also be going into some Toyota cars in the upcoming future now that Mazda and Toyota are linked together.
 
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4437582/Re:_42___efficient_IC_engine_o
 
I'm going to guess these engines will NOT have the lifespan of traditional spark ignited gas engines and wont tolerate
much leakdown loss before needing overhauled. This will truly be an engine will the oil used will matter for long term longevity.
 
Think mean time between rebuilds was a downside of some company's rotary engines ...
 
I am a Mazda fan and presently drive a SkyActiv CX5, However; I remember the Mazda Diesel and the teething issues it has and, maybe till has had for years. I do hope Mazda doesn't push this HCCI out to the public too quick and loose their fan base. Ed
 
HCCI/electric hybrids could attain some serious fuel economy while putting out decent power levels, not to mention ultra low emissions. 75 mpg?
 
I'd be surprised if it lives up to the hype. I can see even the loss of a few percentage points of compression being a real problem on this engine.
Wouldn't the pistons / ring lands have to be at least as tough as a true Diesel to survive in what is essentially a compression ignition gasoline engine? We're talking some heavy internal parts for a "gas" engine.

Mazda has gotten better since they've started to build "normal" piston engine cars in recent decades, but they've had some real engineering flops.
If you like rotary engines, then fine. Hardly anyone else does like them though and they were real POS's in the 70's.
 
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Switzerland just announced it will no longer register any more Porsche Cayennes with the diesel motor. This is a direct result of the diesel emissions scandal.

Germany has said that the diesel motor's days are numbered.

France and the UK have said that the internal combustion motor's days are numbered, and you can bet the first type to die will be diesel passenger car motors.

Diesel passenger cars have barely began to get traction in North America before being eyed suspiciously by regulators.

The Mazda motor won't help matters, but it's just another nail in the coffin.
 
Originally Posted By: Scdevon
I'd be surprised if it lives up to the hype. I can see even the loss of a few percentage points of compression being a real problem on this engine.
Wouldn't the pistons / ring lands have to be at least as tough as a true Diesel to survive in what is essentially a compression ignition gasoline engine? We're talking some heavy internal parts for a "gas" engine.

Mazda has gotten better since they've started to build "normal" piston engine cars in recent decades, but they've had some real engineering flops.
If you like rotary engines, then fine. Hardly anyone else does like them though and they were real POS's in the 70's.


Tell that to my High School buddy, who made thousands of dollars ... we are talking the 1970's here ... street racing his bone stock rotary-equipped mom's 4-door Mazda. His famous words ... "NO REDLINE!"

An ex-girlfriend to this day longs for the RX-7 she owned twenty years ago.

No-one who actually owned a rotary-equipped car that knew what the go pedal was for think they were POS's.
 
Very interesting, thanks for posting.

Supposedly part of Mazda and Ford parting ways was Ford's obsession with turbos while Mazda was all in on the Skyactiv stuff. Some of the Ecoboost engines have turned out to be pretty decent but mpg gains didn't really seem to materialize to anywhere near what Ford seemed to think they would.
 
Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
Scdevon said:
No-one who actually owned a rotary-equipped car that knew what the go pedal was for think they were POS's.


The sales numbers didn't back that up. Mazda would have gone bust if Ford hadn't bought a 30+% stake of them in 1979. The EPA hated rotary engines, so there's that too. The limited fan base of rotary engines seems to revolve around "Look !!! the engine can do 20,000 RPMs on a drag strip"!!! and people forget how bad the driveability was on these cars sometimes and how quickly they wore out in real life by people driving them in normal everyday driving. I hear Mazda is re-introducing the Rotary in 2019 for hybrids, so maybe they have things figured out now.

"It's the good cars that sell". (Old auto industry saying, but it's true).
 
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Originally Posted By: LoneRanger
HCCI/electric hybrids could attain some serious fuel economy while putting out decent power levels, not to mention ultra low emissions. 75 mpg?




That would be a interesting combo. For now though, Mazda is developing or has developed a turbo SkyActiv 1.5 liter that is supposedly going to be mated with Toyota's Prius technology for hybrids. By 2019 or 20, they should have hybrids for sale including a new crossover that will be built in the US. Big plans ahead for Mazda.

I believe I also read that Toyota will shift Corolla production to this new plant instead of Mexico. Mexico will in turn build the Tacoma.

Edit correction: the Corolla will still be made in Mexico for that market and Latin America. The above statement is wrong. My goof
 
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Rotaries.
Miller cycle V6 in the Millenia.
Skyactiv diesel.
All decent ideas that Mazda developed to a level good enough to appeal to a small niche of the motoring public, but failed to catch on in the long term.
Skyactiv HCCI I place in the same category.

HCCI is an idea that has been out there for at least 20 years. I know that GM worked on it in Europe for a few years, testing engines for a couple of thousand hours. Control is the basic problem with HCCI combustion. For it to work properly, intake manifold temperature and intake valve closing have to be controlled so that combustion starts at the right crank angle. This cannot be done on a cycle-to-cycle basis. So HCCI is limited to being a mode that is only occasionally available, then the engine would run in spark ignition the rest of the time.
 
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