Mazda shows off its new inline-six engine

Wednesday, 11 November 2020

Mazda has shown off its upcoming inline-six engine, a first for the Japanese brand. However, it’s still a while away from being driveable.

The image came in Mazda’s third-quarter financial presentation, where it confirmed the engine will be available sometime around 2022.

Interestingly, it will come in petrol, diesel and SkyActiv-X variants and be mounted in a longitudinal layout with all-wheel drive. There's no mention in the presentation of using this setup with rear-drive, though there’s always the possibility of Mazda developing an AWD system that can route all power rearward, given that sort of thing is in vogue at the moment.

There’s not much to see but the two outer engines are Mazda’s new inline-six. The middle one is a four-cylinder with some degree of electrification.

The powertrain has been tentatively linked with a future Mazda6. Such a system would push Mazda further toward the likes of BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz, which fits in with the brand’s current desire to offer more premium vehicles without the premium price tag.

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In the same presentation, Mazda confirmed its new plug-in hybrid and 48-volt mild hybrid tech will also arrive after 2022, coming in inline-six and four flavours. Rotaries are also back on the menu, albeit as tiny range extenders. Mazda calls this “multi-electric technology.”

With any luck, Mazda will be able to tame the Wankel’s wayward fuel and oil consumption with such electrification and give us a proper sports car again. Previous rumours and patents suggest the ZoomZoom company is indeed working on such a vehicle, which could use three electric motors and a rotary to create a high-performance all-wheel drive hybrid sports car.

It’s pretty interesting – the new system uses a small 3.5kWh battery operating at 48 volts along with a unique capacitor system housed underneath the bonnet. It works by charging the capacitors through regenerative braking and when the voltage between the terminals of the capacitor reaches a certain level the charge goes to the battery.

If the capacitors don't have enough juice when the driver buries the throttle, the battery steps in to assist.

Think of the battery as a back-up to the capacitors. We're not sure exactly how much charge the capacitors can hold but it sounds like enough to produce some extra output when needed as well as helping reduce emissions when coasting. It seems the capacitors only power the front wheels though.

The patent added the in-wheel motors only generate an output 'when a large output is required in the high vehicle speed range.'

While the hybrid rotary sports car may still just be a pipe dream at this stage, it’s comforting to know that Mazda’s first ever inline-six is progressing well. Bring on that Mazda6.