Per Road and Track's article 2019 Mazda3 Has Mazda's Compression-Ignition Gasoline Engine of the Future:
Does this mean a hardware change to the i-Activ AWD system or would this be just a software update that can be retrofitted to current vehicles with i-Activ, like the CX-9?
And for the first time, the Mazda 3 will offer all-wheel drive. The i-Activ AWD system will have front-rear torque vectoring and brake-based yaw control, and Mazda says the new AWD setup reduces mechanical losses by up to 60 percent compared to previous designs, improving fuel economy. We suspect that, for the North American market, all-wheel drive will be paired with the 2.5-liter engine. At this time, it's unclear whether all-wheel drive will be available with the manual transmission.
Does this mean a hardware change to the i-Activ AWD system or would this be just a software update that can be retrofitted to current vehicles with i-Activ, like the CX-9?