Rumors of a rear-wheel-drive platform with inline-six engines from Mazda have been swirling around for years but the official announcement was made only recently. After disclosing plans to launch RWD vehicles with 3.0-liter gasoline and 3.3-liter diesel powertrains, the Zoom-Zoom company is finally ready to talk specs. However, for the time being, we'll have to settle for those of the oil-burner.
Without further ado, the standard SKYACTIV-D 3.3 develops 228 horsepower (170 kilowatts) between 4,000 rpm and 4,200 rpm. The full amount of torque, 500 Newton-meters (369 pound-feet), is attainable from a low 1,500 rpm until 3,000 rpm. Then there's an e-SKYACTIV D variant of the same diesel engine, but with a mild-hybrid setup baked in. It bumps output to 251 hp (187 kW) at 3,750 rpm while torque rises to 550 Nm (406 lb-ft) from 1,500 rpm to 2,400 rpm.
