pad aqades riot) RARE EE EM vEDiTa | Ob Friday, May 13, 1994 - North Shore # News - 31 ae NEWS photo Mike Wakefield NOT QUITE ready for production, the hydrogen-fueled Mazda Miata is a prototype that runs on hydrogen gas. Exhaust emissions, apart from a little water and minute traces of nitrogen oxides, are non-existent. ’ Greg Wilson. on TEST DRIVE THE CRISP, clean air and forested grandeur of North Vancouver’s Seymour Demonstration Forest was an appropriate setting for: test-drive in Mazda’s pollu- tion-free hydrogen-fueled Miata sports car. : Mazda invited journatists fram across North America to take a brief test-drive in their Hydrogen Miata, a prototype that may pave the way for a new generation of pollution-free automobiles. Thanks to the clean-burning attributes of hydrogen as, the Hydrogen Miata emits virtually no exhaust; only a small : amountof pure water and minute traces of nitrogen oxides. Mazda Motoc Corporation’s Managing Director, Seiji Tanaka, predicted that a cur like this could be mass-pro- duced by the turn of the century, but would cost about four times as much as a conventional Miata. No doubt Mazda is preparing for stricter emissions lep- isketion tike thatin California where 2% of vehicles sold in 199s must be zero-emissions vehicles. Mazda chose a rotiry engine because it is better sulied to burning hydrogen gas, Unlike a cons ention- it piston engine. a rotary engine hus separate Intake and combustion chambers, which climinates back- fire and pre-ignition problems com- aun to piston engines. Hydrogen gas in the Miata is stored at ambient temperature init metal hydride storage tank io the trunk. The metal hydride tank con- tains titanium and other metal parti- cles which act like a spange ta release small amounts of gas ata time. Mazda claims itis a very sate. explosion-proof storage sys However. the tank weighs a hefty 348 ky (766 Ibs.), raising the 66 [1's slower, heavier, and doesnt handle as well as a regular Miata, but it goes from point A to point B without contributing any harmful emissions to our atmosphere. 99 curb weight of the Miata to 14350 ke (3,098 Hs. )}. Though my test-drive in the hydrogen Miata was short. | was able to garner some impressions based on a comparison with the regular Miata. Turning the key. the engine starled quickly, but stalled bwice When attempted to take off gently. Mazda engineers said the idling speed needed adjusting bat that they couldn't do it until they got back to Japan! The third time. 7 put my foot into itand took off quickly, The rotary engine proved to be naisier hau the canveational LSE piston engine in the regular Miata, but this is likely because of a lack of sound insulation. The engine seemed reluctant to . rev high-and didn’t rev as smoothly . as the rotary engine in the RX-7. The extra weight and reduced horsepower C108 vs 128) of the Hydrogen Miata result- ed in slower accelera- tion times and reduced responsiveness. The Hydrogen Miata takes 13 seconds to go from zero to 100 km-h {62 m.p.h.) compared to nine seconds for the reg- ular Miata. This perfor- mance would be acceptable for an economy car, though aol 4 sports car. Since there was an extra 348 ke (760 Ibs.) of dead weight in the trunk, the front to rear weight bal- ance of the Hydrogen Miata was less than the ideal 50/30. During a short slatom through sonte traffie cones, the rear end began to take on a mind of its own at higher speeds. Mazda claims this problem can easily be solved by positioning the storage tank further forward in future models, This may help solve another problem: no trunk space. The metal-hydride storage dink lakes up the entire trunk, Perhaps the major drawback of this hydrogen-fueled car is its dri- ving range. On a full tank of hydro- gen (which takes 15 minutes to fill up), the Hydrogen Miata will travel 160 kim (99 mi.) at a steady 60 km- h (37 m.p.h.). That's about a third of the range of a regular Miata. And of course, there aren"tany hydrogen gas pumps around just yet. The hydrogen infrastructure is yet to be built. ; But all inal, there wasn'ta sig- nificant difference in the driving experience considering the pay- off...zero emissions. : Projected $80,000 “Fype wwo-door, (wo-passenger sports car Layout front enging, rear- wheel drive Engine 1308 c.c. two rotor Wankel rotary Horsepower |08 @ 6,000 rpm, Torque 127 ft-lbs. @ 3.000 rp, Curb weight [405 kg (3.098 Ibs.) Length 3.907 mm (156.3 in.) Width [.675 mm (65.9 jn.) Height 1.210 mm (47.6 in.) price approx.