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Next-gen Mazda6 reportedly getting RWD, straight-six it shares with Toyota

Last June, Japan's Best Car magazine laid out what we considered a whopper series of rumors about future Mazda developments. The mag said it had been speaking to a Toyota source on an unrelated matter, and found out that Mazda's work on a straight-six Skyactiv engine was predicated on that engine's use in Toyota Group vehicles, including Lexus models. Car and Driver has apparently consulted its own sources, and in a new report utters many of the same pronouncements as Best Car. The next-generation Mazda6, due around 2022, will molt out of its transverse engines on a front-driver platform, and be the first home for the longitudinally-mounted straight-six on the automaker's new rear-wheel drive "Large Architecture."  The gas-powered Skyactiv-X six-cylinder, a shade under 3 liters of displacement, will get help from a 48-volt hybrid system, and top output could hit 350 horsepower. A second straight-six will come in an oil-burning Skyactiv-D flavor, and PHEVs are certain to eventually factor into the equations. The sheetmetal around the bodywork will draw inspiration from the four-door Mazda Vision Coupe concept that debuted at the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show. Describing a scenario we can only cross our fingers for, C/D writes "there's a chance Mazda will mimic Lexus and put inline-six into both four- and two-door bodies," grabbing another unused concept as a design guide for the latter, the two-door RX Vision concept from the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show. C/D suspects the increasing cooperation between Mazda and Toyota will not only pay the bills for Mazda's sports sedan, but compel the Large Architecture to take a couple of side jobs in Toyota City. C/D writes, "Toyota may adopt the six-cylinder Skyactiv-X for the next-generation Lexus IS and RC." According to the recently leaked dealer report, the next-gen IS could be with us in 2021 as a 2022MY offering. Betting money seems to be on the sedan sticking with Toyota's TNGA platform and Lexus engines until a brand new model shows around 2026, though.

Mazda says Skyactiv-X will come to the U.S, but not when

Mazda executives say the new 2.0-liter Skyactiv-X powerplant will still take some time to arrive to the North American market. The Skyactiv-X is a high-compression gasoline engine, and its 16:1 compression ratio is comparable to that of a diesel engine. "We have a lot of technology. And we are introducing each technology in each region when the time is right," said Mazda North America CEO Masahiro Moro at the SAE International WCX Conference, according to Automotive News. Moro stated that while the Skyactiv-X can indeed pass EPA emissions regulations, it's not in the immediate pipeline for U.S-bound Mazdas; the slightly less hardcore Skyactiv-G will be amended first. The launch-spec 2.5-liter Skyactiv-G engine in the new Mazda 3 will reportedly be supplemented by a 2.0-liter Skyactiv-G, which also has a bold compression ratio: according to Mazda, its ratio of 14:1 is the highest of any production gasoline engine. However, Moro didn't state the exact timeline for that Skyactiv-G's arrival, either. The compression ratio of the 2.5-liter "big block" available now is 13:1. In the 2019 model-year Miata roadster, the 2.0-liter Skyactiv-G makes 181 horsepower, and an earlier Slovakian Euro-spec leak mentioned the 2.0-liter 3's power figure at 164hp. The bottom line is thermal efficiency through being able to extract more energy out of gasoline, and moving from G to X would improve fuel economy by 20-30 percent while giving more power. If the Slovakian specifications are to be believed, the Skyactiv-X would make 178h p and 164 lb-ft in the Mazda3.

Mazda creates reproduction parts program for North American MX-5 Miata

In 2017 Mazda announced a restoration program for the MX-5 Miata in Japan. The good news was that owners of Miatas that looked like they'd been thoroughly enjoyed for decades could get their convertibles returned to as-new condition. The bad news is that the program was a trial for "quality verification," and only open to the Japanese market. At the time, Mazda Japan said it was "considering re-supply of parts that became discontinued" for the first-gen NA series produced from 1989 to 1997. In February this year, the carmaker's then-CEO revealed that "Our fans can be reassured that additional parts, identified by owners and specialty shops, will become available by June of this year." The time has come, Mazda North America announcing a reproduction parts program for first-gen Miatas with a catalog of more than 1,100 new and legacy components.  The automaker says it spoke to Miata clubs and shops to determine which parts were needed most. Among this first salvo will be a fabric soft top using the same rear screen material from the NA series, roller mechanism for the side windows, brake calipers, and a set of aluminum Enkei wheels in the original design that are lighter and boast a better finish. Perhaps even better are the arcane OEM parts that can be desperately hard to source for era-appropriate restorations, like grommets, bolts, gas shocks and the "Roadster" badge that's an eBay go-to (called a "Mascot" on the parts list). Each piece has been redeveloped to take advantage of modern materials and build techniques while maintaining the look of the period-correct original.  The parts list PDF runs to 42 pages. Anyone with a TLC-starved Miata in the garage, the love your jinba ittai droptop has been waiting for is here.