Next-gen Mazda 6 to have straight-six and rear-wheel-drive
Mazda will be drastically changing its top-of-the-line Mazda6 sedan to compete in the upmarket luxury segment, moving to a new rear-wheel-drive platform and finding motivation in a straight-six-cylinder engine when the next gen launches late 2021 or so, Car and Driver reports.
The luxury segment is populated by German sedans with straight-six engines and rear-wheel-drive, so it only makes sense that if movingupmarket Mazda wants to hang with them, it’s going to have to assimilate.
The new powertrain and platform have been rumoured for almost a year, now, but new details and quasi-confirmations are fleshing them out.
It sounds like Mazda won’t just slap a six-cylinder into its sedan and call it done, for example — it’s going to add its own flair to it.
Skyactiv-x technology will most likely work its way into the package, since it offers variable compression for optimum fuel economy and power delivery; the engine will also be paired with a 48-volt electrical system.
Mazda and Toyota have been in cahoots for a while now, with the former offering the latter use of its Skyactiv technology for adoption by its luxury Lexus division. Hopefully. Mazda will also be able to tap into Toyota’s hybrid tech.
As for the looks, the new Mazda6 will apparently borrow styling cues from the Vision Coupe concept that debuted at the 2017 Tokyo auto show.
We don’t expect the vehicle to arrive until close to 2022, but it might not be alone: the sedan might be accompanied by a two-door coupe featuring the same powerplant. Mazda was clearly thinking of this a few years ago when it unveiled the Rx-vision, which had proportions more akin to a Dodge Viper than anything with a tiny rotary engine.
Offering both coupe and sedan versions? Now that would set Mazda apart from its peers.