Mazda to Introduce Next-Generation Engine in 2019

Mazda Motors Corporation has announced that it is developing the world's first commercial gasoline engine to use compression ignition and that it hopes to bring it to the market by 2019. Called the SKYACTIV-X, the system works by having the fuel-air mixture ignite spontaneously when compressed by the piston. Using a proprietary combustion method called Spark Controlled Compression, it maximizes the zone in which compression ignition is possible and achieves a seamless transition between compression ignition and spark ignition. According to Mazda, the benefits of this compression ignition technology are that: it combines the advantages of gasoline and diesel engines to achieve outstanding environmental performance, power, and acceleration performance; together with a supercharger fitted for improved fuel economy, the combination delivers unprecedented engine response and increases torque by 10 to 30 percent over the current SKYACTIV-G gasoline engine; and it can improve engine efficiency by up to 20 to 30 percent over the current SKYACTIV-G engine and even equal or exceed the SKYACTIV-D diesel engine in fuel efficiency.