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• Mazda6 diesels average 221km/h
• 20 records broken on high-speed oval
• No slipstreaming, tribute to pit crews
LEVERKUSEN, Germany - Mazda has claimed 20 speed records on a test oval in Papenburg, Germany, with three of its flagship Mazda6 units, each powered by a 129kW SkyActiv-D 2.2-litre 'clean diesel' engine.
The 24-hour record for diesel-powered production cars (2.0 to 2.5-litre displacement) is 209.82km/h and each of the Mazdas set several other average-speed records over a variety of distances*.
CARE ON THE CURVES
Piloting the cars, which covered more than 5300km during the 24-hour period, were 23 drivers from seven European Union countries, among them professional drivers, journalists and car enthusiasts, who applied to take part as part of a campaign started by Mazda in May 2014.
During their 90-minute stints they were not allowed to slipstream and needed to be exceptionally careful through the steeply banked curves at each end of the oval to avoid losing speed. Nevertheless, only 0.88km/h average separated the three cars after 24 hours – a tribute also to the pit teams made up of employees from various Mazda dealers.
The SkyActiv-D diesels have a 14:1 compression ratio, the world’s lowest in a diesel engine, and are available in the Mazda CX-5, Mazda6, all-new Mazda3. Coming soon will be an all-new Mazda2 with a 1.5 diesel running at 14.8:1.
In mid-2013, a SkyActive-D Mazda6 became the first diesel to win a race at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the US.
* Records to be ratified by the International Automobile Federation.
