SkyActive Love?

[WillD]

couldn't convince the wife to switch over to 87, she thinks she will blow the engine that way.
ohh well...
**** it.

The car was designed to run on 87 octane, no reason to spend the extra money on 93 octane fuel.

Exactly! Refer her to this page if she still has doubts: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating#Effects_of_octane_rating

I did read somewhere that they originally planned on making the SkyActiv engine to run on premium fuel, but due to it's limited availability in some areas they dialed the compression back so it will work with a lower grade fuel.

 

[Rockin03mp5]

The car was designed to run on 87 octane, no reason to spend the extra money on 93 octane fuel.

exactly. dont waste your money.

also... anyone else notice the new ford focus 2.0L has the same compression as the skyactive? I'm sure there are some differences, but they probably share quite a bit.

 

[Alejo_NIN]

ok, so i will attempt to have her fill it up with 87 next time.

 

[RenesisKing]

I was thinking about buying one but you can't get a manual in the i grand touring hatchback which kind of sucks. I hear the manual transmission is the way to go with the SkyActiv engines.

 

[SkyActiv]

Just filled her up for the first time with 87 and nothing is going wrong.
I think the reason it feels sluggish it's just a different style of driving. I'm getting a better feel of how to work the car but it is still a bit weird.

In regards to the auto trans, yes, it isn't as fun as a manual trans but the shifting speed is impressive. I punched it for the first time today and it shifted smoothly and very quick.

 

[M3SGT]

I was thinking about buying one but you can't get a manual in the i grand touring hatchback which kind of sucks. I hear the manual transmission is the way to go with the SkyActiv engines.

Not sure where this is coming from as very few have hit ground that are gear jammers (manual). The automatic transmission is a great piece of engineering to be sure, and definitely not something to not consider. With a shift speed of 150 milliseconds, it is a very nice vehicle to drive, and it responds beautifully.

Just filled her up for the first time with 87 and nothing is going wrong.
I think the reason it feels sluggish it's just a different style of driving. I'm getting a better feel of how to work the car but it is still a bit weird.

In regards to the auto trans, yes, it isn't as fun as a manual trans but the shifting speed is impressive. I punched it for the first time today and it shifted smoothly and very quick.

Why would anything go wrong...it was designed for 87 octane. The skyactiv transmission like I mentioned above is designed to at rest be in neutral. Mazda StopStart technology was not used in the current generation or any American bound product for initial product rollout, and they found it didn't substantially increase fuel economy.

 

[SkyActiv]

Why would anything go wrong...it was designed for 87 octane. The skyactiv transmission like I mentioned above is designed to at rest be in neutral. Mazda StopStart technology was not used in the current generation or any American bound product for initial product rollout, and they found it didn't substantially increase fuel economy.

Not saying anything is suppose to go wrong, juts putting it out there.
Yes, I am aware of i-stop technology.

 

[ES Designs]

Mazda StopStart technology was not used in the current generation or any American bound product for initial product rollout, and they found it didn't substantially increase fuel economy.

That's not entirely correct. It's not that it didn't increase fuel economy, it's that it didn't significantly improve the EPA numbers because of the type of tests the EPA uses. The EPA needs to update the style of tests in order to take technology like this into account. I-Stop would have increased the price for the US models by $600-800 and Mazda would have no way of showing any fuel efficiency improvement within the rules of the EPA, making it a really hard sell in the US at this point. The i-stop has shown to improve fuel economy by 5-8% in Japanese and European tests.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_162-43141295/mazdas-i-stop-offers-big-fuel-savings--but-us-testing-may-keep-it-off-the-market/

 

[Jaleik]

You just bought a mazda3 skyactiv and a ms3 in the same month?? Of course its gonna feel slow when you daily drive a ms3... especially considering the way you drive.

 

[Alejo_NIN]

so, i filled her up today with 87. let's see how it goes.

 

[Antonio DiMarco]

It won't necessarily hurt the engine, just burn money. These engines are designed to run on 87. BTW, I heard that Mazda released a ECU flash that tweaks the low rpm sluggishness that some people have noted on the first skyactiv equipped 3's.

So next time you bring it in for service ask about the reflash

 

[Alejo_NIN]

dang, little skeptic about reflashes being how many people got ****** with the MSP's.

 

[Antonio DiMarco]

Reflashes are pretty normal. No different than a software update to your pc. Msp was a while ago. Reflashing is arguably perfect since then. Imo

 

[RenesisKing]

I'm not too fond of reflashing either but I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt seeing as how technology has progressed. Then again, some things don't change.

 

[sunkAlias]

Stick with 87 with SkyActiv. Some cars react differently adding 91 when all they need is 87. 91 octane burns slower and could decrease performance/mpg. I haven't gotten to much exposure with SkyActiv but I would take caution with placing different octanes due to it's high compression ratio.

Higher Octane burns slower in ambient air, but burns better under higher compressions.

 

[SkyActiv]

It won't necessarily hurt the engine, just burn money. These engines are designed to run on 87. BTW, I heard that Mazda released a ECU flash that tweaks the low rpm sluggishness that some people have noted on the first skyactiv equipped 3's.

So next time you bring it in for service ask about the reflash

Any more details on this reflash??

 

[Protege03ak46]

High compression needs high octane. Put a low octane fuel in and it'll knock.

 

[SkyActiv]

High compression needs high octane. Put a low octane fuel in and it'll knock.

Yes this is true in most gasoline engines but diesels run 15-18:1 CRs and diesel's octane ratings are very low... just because a car has high CR doesn't necessarily means it needs high octane rated fuel....
SkyActiv has different parameters that allow the engine to run at 87 such as the MPDI + high fuel pressure and piston design to keep the chamber cool enough to prevent pre-ignition which leads to knocking. I've driven 800 miles on my sky and with no knocking. I'm thinking of going to 91 later as more time goes by, not to knock prevention but it might bring out the best in this engine due to it's 12:1 CR. I hope no TSBs or recalls are put out on the engine.

 

[Protege03ak46]

I'm confused, are we talking about diesel or gas?

Yes this is true in most gasoline engines but diesels run 15-18:1 CRs and diesel's octane ratings are very low... just because a car has high CR doesn't necessarily means it needs high octane rated fuel....
SkyActiv has different parameters that allow the engine to run at 87 such as the MPDI + high fuel pressure and piston design to keep the chamber cool enough to prevent pre-ignition which leads to knocking. I've driven 800 miles on my sky and with no knocking. I'm thinking of going to 91 later as more time goes by, not to knock prevention but it might bring out the best in this engine due to it's 12:1 CR. I hope no TSBs or recalls are put out on the engine.

 

[SkyActiv]

I'm confused, are we talking about diesel or gas?

-_-... Gas obviously, but I was commenting on what you said...