Report: Mazda Previews New, More Powerful and Fuel Efficient SKY Engines

Ahead of their official debut at the Tokyo Auto Show, Mazda has decided to give us just a small preview of what the company’s vehicles could be powered by in the near future. Both a new gasoline and diesel engine have been announced, as well as a new transmission, all under the catchy SKY brand.

First up is a new SKY-G 2.0-liter motor, that uses direct injection to improve both torque and fuel-economy by roughly 15 percent. Mazda hasn’t officially said anything about producing the motor or what car it will find its way in to, but we’d expect to find it in the Mazda3, replacing the top-level 2.5-liter four-cylinder, making roughly the same horsepower (around 170), while getting fuel-economy closer to the base 2.0-liter’s 24/33 mpg rating.

A new SKY-DRIVE transmission will also be available, which Mazda says will help improve fuel-economy by five percent. Unfortunately, this is not a fancy dual-clutch tranny, but Mazda does say it will be faster with more engaging shifts. Still being rather secretive, Mazda has not said how many gears there will be, but we suspect the improvement in fuel economy is due to the addition of a sixth gear.

Finally, Mazda unveiled a new SKY-D diesel motor, which we can be quite certain won’t make its way to North America. It uses a two-stage turbocharger with piezo injectors and some modifications of the engine structure to deliver a 20 percent improvement in fuel economy over the current 2.2-liter diesel.

We’ll be sure to bring you updates on all of these new drivetrain options when Mazda officially unveils them at the Tokyo Auto Show on October 21st.

[Source: LeftLaneNews]