TOKYO — Although no official announcement has come yet from Mazda Motor Corporation, Inside Line has learned that big changes are in the works for the next-generation Mazda MX-5 Miata.

Expected to debut in 2011, the future MX-5 roadster is likely to be smaller than the current model, and should tip the scales at a lean 2,200 pounds.

Under the hood will be a SKY-G engine, the all-new power plant Mazda quietly introduced at the 2009 Tokyo Auto Show. This naturally-aspirated 1.3-liter gasoline-powered inline-4 is expected to deliver more than 50 mpg, with some saying it can get up to 70 mpg. And it isn't a hybrid setup or a diesel, but a gasoline-burning engine. This figure was calculated with the engine powering a compact car about the size of the Kiyora showcar (shown in Geneva and Tokyo).

A new SKY-G engine is being produced for the MX-5. It's not known whether the new roadster's power plant will use 1.3 or 1.5 liters of displacement. Expected to have a rating near 150 horsepower, the new engine would maintain the Miata's current power-to-weight ratio.

The secret to this astronomical fuel mileage hasn't yet been released, but IL has heard that Toyota has already inquired about the SKY-G.

http://www.insideline.com/mazda/mx-5...-g-engine.html

There was a previous discussion about this engine, but there wasn't an announcement of a platform for it to be installed in.
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...ighlight=SKY-G

 

 

I bet! Getting hybrid mileage without the hybrid weight or hybrid premium.

Though I guess it goes against the theory to drop a renesis into one.... (would be equivalent to ~245whp on the 8, plus better braking and cornering), though with that weight, it's 6th gear could be dropped quite a bit, and I bet it could see 30mpg highway.

 

I am a little skeptical about the engine being able to achieve such high MPG numbers. 50MPG is very high, and 70MPG is impossible.
________
LadyM

 

there are a lot of patents placed by Mazda Motor around the world regarding electric supercharging W/turbo in the pasts 4 or 5 years...

this is only for your useful information


let's explain my equation:


Miller Cycle+ DI + electroassisted turbo= A LOT of MPG

this could be explain the supposed interest of Toyota for Mazda SKY...Miller/Atkinson cycle is the basis for thermal engine into Hybrid Synergy Drive

 

I'd forgotten about the work on the Miller cycle engine that Mazda did...could explain alot if they took today's technology and improved it even further.

Either way, I think it's safe to say that Mazda will much more willing to depart from traditional and 'known' engine designs in the search for 'better' compared to other companies who just keep changing the dimensions and tuning but rarely the design.

 

so they expect to get at least Mazda2 type mpg numbers out of a car the size of Mazda3 and with the Sky-D(iesel)
they expect to get Mazda 2 mpg numbers(65!) out of a car the size of Mazda 6

it looks like the 75mpg figure for the Kiyora was with testing that includes the start/stop system. Current epa testing doesn't allow for that so that's why they mention the lower 50mpg figure. previous article talking about the start/stop and epa http://www.greencarreports.com/blog/...eles-auto-show

 

[QUOTE=alnielsen;3348095]
Expected to debut in 2011, .....

QUOTE]

So, that will still be the 2012 Miata. This is old news -- they said the Miata would be the first to get the Sky-G when the engine was shown in Tokyo. Also, I think low-40's Hwy is a much more likely scenario: They don't say the Miata will get 50 mpg, they just say the engine can get that in some cars.

I hope I fit - I'd miss the whine of the rotary, but I'd love to double my gas mileage.

 

One thing that occurred to me about the iStop. If the car dosen't know where it is, it just knows that it has come to a complete stop, then wouldn't that mean that starting up in the morning would be accomplished the same way? The starter would almost immediately become a backup device, only needed occasionally, or even rarely. This lets batteries last longer, be smaller, etc... the starter would probably be even smaller.

Just musing...


And 2,200 pounds on just the Miata, but the 2 as well. Light weight really is a target for them, and it's awesome.

 

Starting a warm engine is a lot easier than starting a cold engine.

 

the pcm can tell whether you are making a cold start or have just come to a stop sign or light. and as mentioned by rxlogic you'll still need a starter for those cold starts