@
chrisl @
thill
Specs still aren't out, they could totally hit those power figures if they throw fuel economy out the window, Toyobaru managed to get 200 horses with D4S, no reason Mazda can't come close with true DI. BUUUT marketing a sports car with >30 COMBINED MPG will likely drive at least a handful of sales.
Also the current 2.0L claims 150 ft-lbs. of torque at 4,000 rpm, it will be at least on par with the Toyobaru in terms of torque while sliding in nearly 500 lbs. lighter.
The more I think about it, the more I'm excited, especially if Fiat stops screwing around and delivers a companion off the same chassis, a straight swap of the 1.4L MultiAir in the Abarth would be a hoot, more so if they go balls to the wall and toss some MOPAR at it, seems like 25-30 horsepower is available with a tune and mucking with the turbo putting that up into the 190 hp territory.
Here's a dynosheet that K&N published for the 2.0L in the Mazda3, for all the talk of delivering a flat torque curve on a Toyobaru...
http://www.knfilters.com/dynocharts/69-6033_dyno.pdf