Next-Gen CX-5 Will Have Mazda's Best Combustion Engine Yet

Mar 19, 2025

Mazda's next-generation gasoline engine is called the Skyactiv-Z. The Japanese automaker first announced the new tech last November, promising that it could help give the combustion engine a new lease on life. Or at least a reprieve. Now we know when and where it will first appear.

Mazda is a Japanese automaker founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co and only started producing vehicles in 1931 when it made the Mazda-Go auto rickshaw. The Japanese automaker's first official car arrived in May 1960 when the Mazda R360 launched, starting Mazda as we know it today, although the Mazda name was only adopted in 1984. Mazda has a rich history in motorsport, including the honor of being the only manufacturer to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a car not powered by a reciprocating engine.

In a tech briefing earlier today, Mazda revealed more about its plans for the future of gas engines. It announced that the new engine would arrive in 2027 along with the next-generation Mazda CX-5 crossover. The automaker also announced more about what it expects the engine to deliver.

Those expectations don't include horsepower, at least not yet. They do, though, include emissions performance. The Skyactiv-Z 2.5-liter four-cylinder will be able to meet US LEV4 and Euro 7 emissions standards.

Mazda described the engine tech as "close to the ultimate combustion," implying as little wasted fuel and heat as possible. It said that the engine will deliver "both high fuel economy and driving performance." Mazda may have moved away from "zoom zoom," but driving enjoyment is still a key attribute for the brand.

When the Skyactiv-Z four-cylinder arrives in 2027, Mazda will also introduce new hybrid tech. The in-house hybrid system will be introduced with the next CX-5 that year. The hybrid system will have to be new as the system Mazda uses in the larger CX-70 and -90 models puts a motor between the engine and transmission. That works in those longitudinal-mount platforms but would likely not fit in Mazda's transverse engine smaller models.

Is the internal combustion engine (ICE) done and dusted? Mazda doesn't think so. That's why it is creating next-generation ICE engines.

There will be a Skyactiv-Z inline-six for larger models as well as the four. Mazda said that when the new tech launches, it will cut its total number of engines to less than half of current numbers.

In its presentation, Mazda said that upcoming emissions rules would cut power from conventional engines by up to 30 percent. Not peak power, the advertised figure, but the overall power under the curve. The company's graph suggests the result would be cars with the numbers you expect, but dismal acceleration. Its Skyactiv-Z, though, will be able to keep power levels where you expect across the rev range.

Not only will the new engines have higher thermal efficiency, but they'll also have that efficiency over a wider range. Mazda's chart shows thermal efficiency targets for the Skyactiv-Z as being near the highest possible over nearly the entire operating range of the engine.

Mazda is working on the new engine's lean-burn combustion. It is also working on adding heat-shielding films and even reducing heat transfer through the cylinder walls. Any heat that doesn't go to expanding the air in the cylinder is wasted energy in a combustion engine.

It's all very promising, but it's not the first time Mazda has promised a revolutionary gas engine. Sometimes, like with the ultra-high-compression Skyactiv-G, it has delivered. Other times, like with the rotary engine or the recent Skyactiv-X tech, it hasn't.

The automaker is now on its second phase of developing its rotary engine.

Skyactiv-X was Mazda's tweak that made compression ignition possible in a gas engine for higher efficiency. Combining some of the best parts of diesel and gas engines, it didn't always need the spark plugs. While that system did hit the market in Europe in 2019, it never made it to America. The reasons included low power output and not enough extra real-world efficiency for a high extra cost.

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Yeah yeah we’ll see. Staying far away from first model years after the MY20-22 Mazda 2.5l fiasco.

yawn...

No.

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