Usually, “running on all cylinders†is considered a good thing but not all the time. Sometimes, that means burning fuel when you don’t need to, which is why Mazda’s engineers went back to the drawing board to introduce a new cylinder-deactivation technology for 2018 that can cut down on fuel-consumption in certain operating conditions. The new cylinder-deactivation system can be found in the latest SKYACTIV-G 2.5-liter engine that delivers 187 horsepower and 186 lb-ft of torque.
Available on the 2018 Mazda CX-5 and 2018 Mazda6, Mazda is the only automaker to offer cylinder-deactivation technology on a four-cylinder engine in North America.
The challenge with four-cylinder deactivation is that an engine running on two cylinders is more likely to cause vibration. Mazda’s breakthrough solution to compensate for this is to use a fulcrum inside the six-speed SKYACTIV-DRIVE automatic transmission, helping ensure seamless transition between two- and four-cylinder operation.
Watch the video below to see how Mazda’s cylinder-deactivation technology works, improving real-world fuel efficiency without sacrificing driving performance.
