Hit Or Miss? Mazda Considers Diesel Performance For Next Mazdaspeed3

A pretty big-deal little tidbit slipped out during the recent Mazda technology forum we attended: the company is tinkering with the idea of a diesel powertrain for the next-gen Mazdaspeed 3. And this came straight from Robert Davis, Mazda USA senior VP of product development, who is one of the key guys making these decisions for the U.S. market.

He alleviated some of our skepticism with a few details. First, he says that the younger crowd that is buying the Speed 3 doesn’t have a negative perception of diesels. They likely weren’t around, or were too young to remember the dark days in the 1970s and ‘80s, when diesels got their bad reputation for stinking and smoking. When someone says “diesel” to these people, they instead think of modern and very clean Audi/VWs, BMWs, and Mercedes.


 
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dlin - 8/30/2010 3:16:47 PM

0 Boost

Leave diesel to those econo-consicous please. How sporty is a slow-revving engine?

Joe_Limon - 8/30/2010 9:32:37 PM

0 Boost

how sporty is an engine with no torque?

dlin - 8/30/2010 10:51:45 PM

+1 Boost

Isn't it obvious that there's "0" diesel engine in M, RS, or AMG?

Willis - 8/30/2010 4:46:51 PM

+2 Boost

One of my sisters lives France as she is married to a Frenchman. They have a VW Golf GTD (diesel version of the GTI) - trust me, it's not slow or slow-reving. It's the perfect blend between sport and fuel economy.

If VW sold it here in the US I would seriously consider one.

thstone - 8/30/2010 4:54:54 PM

+2 Boost

Mr. Davis has a long, painful road ahead if he thinks that selling diesels in the US will be sucessful.

Why would Mazda, known for rotary and turbo engine technology not diesel, succeed where VW, Audi, BMW, and MB have all failed despite spending millions in education and advertising for their "clean" diesels?

chewy - 8/30/2010 6:54:23 PM

+1 Boost

I would say that the Germans are doing decently well with their diesels. Mazda promised a regular diesel a while ago, then backed out, so I would take this Mazdaspeed3 diesel stuff with a fat grain of salt.

rxh8me9000 - 8/30/2010 7:12:30 PM

+1 Boost

I have to disagree with the second paragraph. Very few 16 year olds get this car. Its more of a early to late 20's group. Either way,if someone is looking at buying a speed 3,they most likely are a car enthusiast and any enthusiast,even if have not lived through it,will at least know from reading about the diesels of the past. Either way,if it can be modded,it will be bought.The thing with diesels is they usually come with a shit load of torque and the speed 3 really doesnt need any more torque unless they fix that crazy torque steer issue.

MorePower - 8/31/2010 4:16:34 AM

0 Boost

A Diesel is a great idea. If they could get keep or improve the hp & torque figures from the current engine and get the HWY miles up to or over 30mpg = win!

The only things Mazada would need to do would be to work on the styling and the torque steer.

Whelan - 8/31/2010 11:25:06 AM

0 Boost

Either way it desperately needs an AWD platform to be competitive. The kind of power it is putting down is borderline for a FWD only car. Make it RWD or AWD at least in the next gen.

lewishamiltonpimp - 8/31/2010 4:00:24 PM

+1 Boost

The 'speed 3 is bought by enthusiasts. They will not care what type of fuel it uses so long as the HP and Torque numbers are good, the 1/4 mile trap speed and time are good and the engine can be easily modified.

holmstar - 9/14/2010 6:14:44 PM

+1 Boost

More info on Mazda engine development here:
http://www.motortrend.com/future/concept_vehicles/1008_mazda_shinari_concept_sky_engines/sky_engines.html