If it wasn’t a rotary, the engine was a straight 4 or V6 Mazda
Mazda has never made a straight 6 engine other than diesel for trucks.
In other companies, the role of inline 6 engines was handled by rotary engines and V6 engines, but for Mazda, which can be said to be a creed of making cars that suit connoisseurs, it would be lonely to have only inline 4 engines if rotary engines and V6 engines were no longer produced. is.
A few years after there were rumors that “Mazda is going to release a FR car with a straight 6 engine”, the world was completely skeptical that electric cars would be the future and internal combustion engines would be the past. Although it is a diesel SUV, the CX-60, the first straight-six engine passenger car, was released in 2022.
The reason why it was immediately exhibited at the Mazda Museum is probably because it is recognized as a historically important car for the company.
In the past, Mazda was a luxury car rotary
From the pre-war period to the post-war reconstruction period, Mazda was a prestigious auto 3-wheeler that used its own engine, rather than imitating imported products or engines made by other companies.
Even when it entered the four-wheeled vehicle market, it was characterized by an advanced experiment that used light alloys such as aluminum blocks and a solid structure that did not forget about practicality. This alone is not enough for the conflict and the international competition for exports that lies ahead.
Then I started working on the Wankel rotary engine, which was jointly developed by Wankel and NSU in West Germany (at that time). year) will be released.
After that, we proceeded to install it in practical vehicles such as Familia, Luce, Capella, and Savanna, but what was different from other companies was that we did not commercialize inline 6 or V8 engines for large-displacement luxury vehicles.
The 13B rotary engine was installed not only in the Luce and Cosmo, which were the largest in-house models, but also in the large sedan imported from Australia’s Holden, the flagship sedan with the Mazda badge, and the Road Pacer (1975). Did.
From rotary to V6, and the phantom W12
However, gasoline prices soared after the first oil shock (1973), and the rotary was branded as an uneconomical engine with poor fuel efficiency, instead of being treated as a high-performance environmentally friendly engine that succeeded in reducing exhaust emissions. Mazda, who was too devoted to the rotary, would be in trouble.
Aside from cars equipped with in-line 4-cylinder engines up to 2-liter class, if more engines were required, rotary engines would still have to be used. was put into practical use, and the rotary was made exclusively for pure sports.
Subsequently, the Eunos Presso (1991) was equipped with a 1.8-liter V6 engine, the world’s smallest engine displacement at the time, and 1.8-2 liter class engines were also actively converted to V6 engines for a new generation of high-end models to replace rotary engines. As such, promoting the reciprocating V6.
In addition, there is also a 4-liter W-type 12-cylinder large-displacement engine that is said to have been prepared for the luxury brand “Amati”. If it gets worse, everything will go bankrupt.
Mazda’s V6 engine was allowed to survive only for Ford, which took the initiative in management reconstruction, or its advanced version, and lost the flagship engine again.
In the SKYACTIV era, a straight 4 car was born for a long time, and finally a straight 6 FR car was born
Since the beginning of the 2000s, Mazda has switched to a 2 to 2.3L class straight 4 engine, including the first generation Atenza (2002), and a 2.3 liter direct 4 direct injection turbo based on it, and gradually introduced a V6 engine. abolition.
In the 2010s, the only 1.3 to 2.5 liter class engines developed with the new generation automobile development technology “SKYACTIV TECHNOLOGY” were in-line 4-cylinder engines, regardless of whether they were gasoline or diesel.
However, at the end of 2010, “Mazda is developing an in-line 6-cylinder engine, and is developing a FR car with a longitudinally mounted engine, and the next Atenza (renamed to MAZDA6 in 2019) and the same class SUV will be a FR car. ‘ Rumors circulate.
If it is realized, it will be the first commercially available straight-six engine other than a diesel engine for trucks, which will be the first since Mazda started. With the future uncertain, it was questioned whether a straight 6 would really be released.
In particular, the global demand for 4-door sedans like the Atenza/MAZDA6 is declining, and there were concerns that Mazda alone would not be profitable even if it was released, but the answer will be in 2022. It is a new SUV including the CX-60 that has been released.
In addition to the conventional 2.5-liter inline 4SKYACTV-G gasoline engine, it is an FR/4WD SUV with a 3.3-liter inline 6 and e-SKYACTIV D diesel turbo engine mounted vertically. 48V mild hybrid.
It is a global trend, and you can see the seriousness from the introduction of SUVs, which Mazda is also a pillar of management, but rear-wheel drive SUVs continue with the CX-70/80/90, including overseas exclusives, and the straight 6 engine is also 3 liters. A gasoline mild hybrid and a 3.3-liter gasoline turbo are available.
Whether or not it will succeed depends on the future, but there is no doubt that the CX-60 will at least become “one of the cars that changed the history of Mazda.”
* The author information of the images used in this article is as of the publication date.