Mazda is carrying out a model year update on the 3 in its homeland Japan. The SkyActiv-X is linked to a mild hybrid system.
Just like the MX-30, the Mazda 3 is available in the Netherlands with the special SkyActiv-X power source. This is a 2.0-liter petrol engine with an output of 180 hp and 224 Nm, which is notable for its particularly high compression ratio. In theory, the power source thus functions in a sense as a self-igniter. Something interesting is going on with that machine. In Japan, Mazda now combines the SkyActiv-X in the 3 with mild hybrid technology.
In the Netherlands we already know Mazda’s M-Hybrid, dubbed mild-hybrid technology, from the Mazda 2. In Japan, the 24v system is also available in the MX-30. Now the Mazda 3 with the mild hybrid system is also coming onto the market in Japan. Remarkably, the M-Hybrid technology is combined with the SkyActiv-X power source. Thanks to the M-Hybrid system, the Skyactiv-X becomes slightly more powerful. The power increases from 180 hp and 224 Nm to 190 hp and 240 Nm. Mazda promises, among other things, a more direct throttle response and a smoother powertrain. The SkyActiv-X with hybrid technology, like the mild-hybrid SkyActiv-G engines, is being renamed. The power source is known in Japan as e-Skyactiv-X. The Dutch importer tells Techzle that the e-Skyactiv-X “is not yet coming to Europe”.
Other changes that Mazda makes to the 3 in Japan are a lot less radical. The SkyActiv-D 1.8 diesel engine, which is not available here, will receive additional power and will soon deliver 130 hp and 270 Nm instead of 116 hp and 270 Nm. Until recently, this power source was available in the CX-30. Mazda promises to have made the 3 more comfortable and dynamic, among other things by revising the springs and dampers.