Matching engines to vehicles

As Asian automakers introduce new vehicles, they are developing new engines and transmissions to optimize their performance.

Executive Vice President Hisakazu Imaki of Mazda, in charge of engineering and manufacturing, is proud that his company has produced four new engines within a very short period of time while launching four new car lines powered by these engines. The cars are the Mazda6 in the C/D-segment (midsize) the Mazda2 in the B-segment (small), the RX-8 sports car and the soon-to-be-announced Mazda3 in the C-segment (compact).

Two of these engines, gasoline units, are new from the sump up, with new manufacturing tooling put in place within Mazda's existing engine plants. One of them, the MZR-series, is Ford's global inline four-cylinder engine. It comes in displacements of 1.8, 2.0, and 2.3 L and is produced at four plants in Japan, the U.S., Mexico, and Spain using a unique Cosworth gravity casting method for the aluminum cylinder block. The DOHC, with 16 valves, powers numerous Ford Group cars and trucks, including the Ranger pickup truck, as well as Mazda's own vehicles.