2011 Mazda 3 to Receive i-Stop Technology, Dual Clutch Gearbox?
Posted on 22. Jan, 2009 by DeuxEx3 in Mazda3 Guide, Mazdaspeed3 Guide, What's Hot
More fuel efficiency is on its away to the Mazda 3 lineup according to Autocar. Although no model year was specified, Autocar reports that the petrol-based (gasoline for us North Americans) Mazda 3 motors will see the new “stop-start” technology by the end of 2009. This could mean one of two things: Mazda will add this as a mid-year enhancement to the 2010 model year or introduce it for the 2011 Mazda 3.
The article cites only European engines as the powerplants to receive this new tech but it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Mazda will incorporate this technology into the North American Mazda 3 engines as they are also gasoline based.
One other very intriguing detail is the mention of Mazda’s plans to offer a DSG-style dual clutch gearbox in the 2011 Mazda 3 lineup. From the article:
“Mazda is also developing its own DSG-style twin-clutch gearbox for the new Mazda 3, although this won’t be production-ready until 2010.”
Could we see this dual clutch gearbox offered in the 2010/2011 Mazdaspeed 3? We should know in just a couple more months at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show where it is widely speculated that Mazda will debut the next generation Mazdaspeed 3.
[Source: Autocar]
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