Time flies so fast.
At the beginning of 2020, Mazda has said that in order to save money, it will not launch important new cars before March 2022. Although it was a spring, under the shroud of the epidemic, the mood could not help but be pessimistic, and when mazda sent such a message, it was inevitable to sweat for it.
However, in the blink of an eye, this is already March 2022, and Mazda has not reneged on its word, officially releasing a new model CX-60 on March 8, which is a new car with a lot of information. But let's start with a new car called the CX-50.
Is this an "unimportant new car"?
Previously, a friend on Weibo asked me about the CX-50 car, which was released earlier than the CX-60, and was released in November last year, according to Mazda, there will be no important new cars before March 2022, which seems to mean that the CX-50 is not an "important new car".
From the perspective of the underlying technology of the CX-50, it is in line with Mazda's words, because on the CX-50, we do not see any new technology, it is shared with the previous CX-30 is a shared architecture, equipped with two powertrains, namely a 2.5L naturally aspirated engine and a 2.5T turbocharged engine, matching the 6AT transmission. However, it is not excluded that more forms of power will be added in the future, such as hybrid.
Yes, both powertrains are found in the Mazda 3 and CX-30 currently sold in North America. Yes, you guessed it, the CX-50 is primarily aimed at the North American market. From the price range, the CX-50 basically overlaps with the CX-5 in the US market, so it is clear that the CX-50 is a model that succeeds the CX-5, but the two will be sold simultaneously for a period of time.
Of course, although there is nothing substantial new in the technical level, the design style incorporates new elements, and the CX-50 has a lot of tough elements than the previous Mazda products, which is a bit of an appreciation for me, the former Atez owner, but Mazda is constantly improving the texture in the interior.
Another key point about the CX-50 is that the CX-50 sold in North America will be produced at the Mazda Toyota Manufacture (MTM) in Alabama, USA, which is also the first Model produced by Mazda. Then this "unimportant new car" is simply here.
What is the important law of "important new cars"?
According to Mazda, the CX-60 was the first major new car, and it really was important.
First, this is the first model under Mazda's new rear-drive architecture, which is evident in the CX-60's body proportions – the front suspension is short, but the distance between the front axle and the firewall (which can also be understood by the position of the front door slit) is very long. Usually, "there" very long cars, are more ambitious cars, I looked at other similar size of the rear-drive base SUVs, such as BMW X3, Alfa Romeo Stelvio, etc., visually, the CX-60 "there" seems to be longer than them.
A big reason is that Mazda has no less than one in-line six-cylinder engine for a range of models with rear-drive platforms. Speaking of which, you'd probably say, "Doesn't the BMW X3 have to make room for the Straight Six?" "Hmmm... Yes, yes, but different models also have different pursuits for engine position, from the known information, Mazda is to put the engine in a very backward position, indeed, this is not conducive to the longitudinal space in the car, but the body has an innate advantage in the balance of the front and rear counterweights. It's very mazda.
As can be seen in the information that has been released, Mazda has prepared three powertrains for the CX-60.
The first is the 2.5-liter e-SKYACTIV PHEV, consisting of a 2.5-liter four-cylinder naturally aspirated engine optimized for PHEV and an electric motor with a maximum power of 100 kW, with a maximum power of 327 horsepower, a maximum torque of 500 Nm, and an acceleration time of 0-100 km/h of 5.8 seconds, making it the most powerful production car Mazda has ever built.
The 17.8-degree battery can support the vehicle to travel 63km at a speed of less than 100km/h, and it should be noted that this is not measured by some working condition method, but with speed, so it is a good pure electric endurance.
As Mazda fans, seeing the PHEV always tickles the boots, and although it's fast, what we're looking forward to is obviously the news of the six-cylinder engine.
The other two engines of the CX-60 are six-cylinder, and the gasoline version is 3.0L e-SKYACTIV X, see "X", which is compression combustion is not wrong. However, at this stage, Mazda has not yet announced the specific parameters of this engine, but lightly lost a sentence "its fuel economy can be comparable to the four-cylinder compression engine", although the previous four-cylinder compression combustion in the actual measurement of fuel consumption performance is a bit disappointing, but if the refined six-cylinder compression engine can achieve the same fuel consumption level as the four-cylinder compression combustion, it is still very powerful.
Another six-cylinder engine is the diesel engine, the 3.3L e-SKYACTIV D, and its biggest highlight is that although the displacement is 50% more than the previous 2.2L diesel engine, the weight is similar to before. We had a topic for a diesel engine a long time ago, which said that the internal parts of the diesel engine need higher strength, so the weight is greater than that of gasoline. Since diesel power and we will not have much fate after all, so I will not go into details.
However, this can bring another advantage for models with longitudinal rear-drive platforms, that is, they do not have to be bound by the size of the torque converter, and the entire gearbox can be made thinner. Most longitudinal rear-drive vehicles have a feature where the leg extension in the front row is eroded by the central aisle, which is because the gearbox under the central aisle occupies a certain amount of space, and Mazda has improved this problem.
Of course, without the torque converter, you may have questions about the smoothness of this 8AT. As a former Mazda owner, I am subjectively confident in the gearbox calibration.
In addition, in addition to the PHEV version, Mazda has prepared a 48V Hybrid Boost system for both six-cylinder engines. Mentioning light mixing is nothing new this year, but everyone often finds that this commonly known as "advanced start and stop" function does not bring a good experience. However, when I experienced the press-fired version of the CX-30 equipped with 24V mixing, I found that this was the most insensible mix I had ever used, the action was very fast and light, so I was also looking forward to the performance of Mazda 48V mix.
In terms of chassis, the CX-60 based on the new architecture uses double wishbone front suspension and five-link rear suspension, although it does not reach the ceiling level, but it is also righteous enough, unfortunately the front cantilever arm does not look like it is made of aluminum alloy.
The body dimensions are 4745mm long, 1890mm wide, 1680mm high and 2870mm wheelbase. Thanks to the longitudinal rear-drive layout, the CX-60, which is 170mm longer than the current CX-5 body and wheelbase, saves 0.1 m and 5.4 m less than the CX-5 in the minimum turning radius. The CX-5's proudest 210mm minimum ground clearance in its class was reduced to 170mm.
What is Mazda's next game?
In the world's automakers are exhausting the method to control research and development, production costs, and the time node of the transition to electrification, Mazda is doing something that no one else understands, spending the funds saved by the previous generation of Chuangchi Blue Sky models, as well as the time cost of "no new models in two years", finally getting the rear-drive platform and the pressure burning straight six out.
In fact, although Mazda has not brought new cars in the past two years, but the "small action" is not much, a variety of registered patents, in addition to the CX-60 has a rear-drive chassis, 8AT without hydraulic torque converter, as well as including rotor-based hybrid technology, two-stroke supercharged pressure-fired engine and other mysterious operations, almost every patent information has shocked the technical leaders.
Therefore, the appearance of the new car is bound to attract a lot of applause, but it also makes people ask: what is Mazda thinking?
Especially when you know that the CX-60 starts at 47,390 euros in the European market, your confusion may be even more.
For reference, the CX-5 starts at 28,290 euros in the European market, the BMW X3 for 51,400 euros, and the Audi Q5 for 48,850 euros, that is, the CX-60 is already positioned very close to the mid-size SUVs of luxury brands.
Mazda's desire to be a luxury brand is no longer news, and most people may feel that this small brand headquartered in Hiroshima is not measuring itself. Indeed, Mazda's brand image in China is somewhat unpopular, as a former Mazda owner, I also deeply understand that Mazda in all aspects in addition to products, there is no sense of superiority that luxury brands should bring to people.
But precisely in the depths of the product, Mazda has a high pursuit, whether at the design level or the technical level, they have always insisted on moving closer to what they think is the perfect form of the car, and in the process, they have indeed compromised some other things, such as space practicality.
Many people will also compare Mazda and Honda, these two Japanese brands have the blood of sports, but have a completely different orientation.
On paper, mazda tends to be the one that loses perfectly, and I must admit that many of Honda's models are really easy to drive, have greater modification potential, have higher playability, and better space utility performance is more friendly to the average consumer. But I just love Mazda more, and if you were to ask me which One civic and Unxella would buy, I'd say: You buy Civic, I buy Axela.
Yes, Mazda's car has more emotional attractions, and sensuality is something that you can say is worthless, but it can also be priceless. Sensuality is actually the romance that luxury brands have. Think about it, is the things that luxury brands bring you, are they the things you want to have, but not necessarily what life just needs?
Isn't that what Mazda has been doing?
In order to satisfy the pile of sensory cells in his heart that have nowhere to rest, Mazda expanded upwards to achieve their progress towards the perfect car form with a higher specification of the technical route, and they are indeed a bunch of very pure people.
But this will inevitably be higher R & D and production costs, it is true, CX-60 is much more expensive than the previous Mazda, just look at this price, may make many people unacceptable, especially in the Chinese market, in the consumer psychology is still not reaching a high level of maturity, everyone will only say: "Who wants to spend Q5 money to buy a Mazda?" "No matter how eye-catching your exterior design is, no matter how advanced the interior is.
So Mazda's step is very dangerous.
The CX-60 is just the beginning
Mazda brought such a brand new model at the agreed time, and this is just the beginning, in their product planning, there will be CX-70, CX-80, CX-90. This table can basically summarize the general situation of these products.
The table does not reflect Mazda's product planning in the Chinese market, which is indeed a question mark at present. In theory, the introduction of CX-50 is the lowest difficulty, after all, it shares the architecture with CX-30, but if it is domestic, it may not have the power of 2.5T.
Several models with large vertical platforms, if you want to introduce domestic production, you need Changan Mazda to spend more effort. More importantly, how should it be positioned after introduction? After all, CX-60 as the entry model of the vertical platform, overseas pricing has touched the level of Audi Q5, placed in the country, is destined to be unconvincing, but this car, the specifications of this platform are so high, the price may be difficult to explore down, the difficulty is not small.
Not to mention that there are higher-positioned models on top of the CX-60, and the price is even higher.
In other words, the recent news about Mazda is more focused on the field of SUV products, and they seem to have not mentioned cars much recently. Although SUVs are a big trend on a global scale, I guess that for Mazda's wayward people, the smaller audience of cars and even coupes is probably more in line with their idea of the perfect car form, and since the back-drive platform has it, it should not be too difficult to build a straight-six back-drive car smoothly.
The most critical question is, will you accept this more sensual, luxurious Mazda?
Issue 1834
Author: Chen Houze