With SISS, Mazda has put a new spin on engine stop-start technology

Mazda has developed a new technology that’s said to improve fuel economy by about 10 percent. Mazda’s Smart Idle Stop System (SISS) is meant for congested urban traffic conditions, where the driver has to stop frequently for stoplights.

Mazda, which plans to introduce SISS on some of its cars by 2010, says that the system uses direct injection technology, and provides seamless, automatic engine stop-start, which does not cause any inconvenience to the driver.

SISS saves fuel by shutting down the car’s engine automatically when the vehicle is stationary, and restarts it when the driver presses the throttle pedal...

The Mazda ASV-4 is a testbed for future automotive safety technologies…

Mazda has started public road trials of its advanced safety vehicle, the Mazda ASV-4. The vehicle’s safety systems use vehicle-to-vehicle communications to alert drivers of oncoming vehicles at blind intersections or on twisting roads where visibility is limited.

The aim is to lessen the severity of, or eliminate, vehicle collisions at blind intersections, rear-end collisions and accidents when a vehicle turns right by reducing driver error. Testing of the two-vehicle blind collision avoidance system has already started and road trials of the right-turn and rear-end collision avoidance systems will begin later this year.

The trials, now into their fourth phase, are based on the Japanese government’s Advanced Safety...