It's as much at home on the open road as in the suburbs and can cover long Aussie distances in the bush. In contrast, the lead acid starter batteries normally used in vehicles are far more limited in their charging and storage capabilities. If it's as light as they say, it could be quite a fun car to drive too. And that breeds superior high-speed stability. Enter your email address below: Mazda could have ducked out of keeping the impressive styling of the concept, but they haven't.
Developers were aiming for a progressive pedal feeling: smooth at first and increasingly firm when braking harder. Featuring an immediately recognisable U-shaped lighting signature, they nicely complement the headlamps and enhance the power expressed by the rising shoulder line and steeply inclined rear window. The bottom line is significantly advanced comfort and a confidence-inspiring stability that in many cases surpasses what Europe's best superminis have to offer. Those ingredients have now been distilled into the smallest model in the range — the Mazda2. Up front, what first strike the eye are the piercing low-slung headlamps and signature wing grille.
From many angles it apes the outgoing 2 heavily, but the new snout lends an attractive air to proceedings. And that price looks competitive; the top-selling Fiesta with a similarly powered 99bhp Ecoboost engine but less kit starts at £14,095. The idea behind Mazda Proactive Safety is to help drivers ascertain conditions, recognise dangers and react accordingly. As a result, the seats feature higher seatbacks and 30 per cent more contact area with the occupant's body. The device projects key real-time driving data into the driver's forward field of view.
Fair enough, that's standard marketing on just about all products. Mazda's Proactive Safety Philosophy supports all three with a comprehensive blend of active and passive safety protection, something rather unique for this segment. Interior One might think there would have to be trade-offs with a subcompact between roominess and stylistic freedom. Mazda cut significant weight off the outgoing model relative to its predecessor - no small feat for a subcompact. It features a single large analogue tachometer with integrated digital speedometer in the centre flanked by smaller wing-shaped gauges displaying the trip odometer, fuel gauge and temperature, among other things. The interior styling is very well executed from what I can see.
The carmaker was thus able to add 12mm of front shoulder room, 6mm between front occupants and their doors, 20mm between the driver and front passenger, and 12mm of width to the centre console. If you need a large Luggage Space, Mazda 2 Sedan is better for you instead of the hatchback model. And making the bodyshell 22 per cent stiffer despite being 7 per cent lighter. Mazda therefore optimised the height and shape of the door openings to ease boarding and exiting the all-new Mazda2 in spite of its lower A-pillars and compact-looking roofline. As always try for yourself, but we suggest finding some hilly roads to see what you think of engine performance. After all, this is the car that would contend for sales in the B segment, one of Europe's most competitive, while replacing an outgoing model that kicked off its lifecycle as 2008 World Car of the Year and was most recently named top of its class in the 2015 TÃœV Report.
However, since a smaller engine suffers from greater cylinder wall cooling losses, Mazda went with a new combustion chamber and fuel injection system, and slightly higher compression of 14. It simply feels natural to the driver, from the positioning of the gear shift lever and Drive Selection switch to the accelerator pedal, now more precise with a hinged organ-style setup that is easier on the driver's ankle. But none of this comes at the expense of performance. In a segment dominated by downsized engines, Mazda's rightsized powertrains are a breath of fresh air - and perfectly suited to the carmaker's patented driver-and-car-as-one handling. Great effort clearly went into making the all-new Mazda2 remarkably straightforward - and of course fun - to operate.
But as on the outside, the all-new Mazda2's interior style elements work in symbiosis with comfort, craftsmanship and ergonomics. An appropriately sized diesel engine was also a must, particularly in Europe. The Mazda 2 powered by 1. Only now, the carmaker has adapted this innovative powerplant for the smaller displacement, removing anything unnecessary to minimise cooling losses, mechanical resistance and weight. The cabin of the Mazda2 gets plenty of nice modern touches including an intuitive, easy-to-use touchscreen with and impressive nav system and, on higher trim levels, an optional safety pack with head up display, lane departure warning and cross traffic alert to help with reversing out of parking spaces. Hopefully they've done that with the new model. The engineers therefore tightened the steering gear ratio from 15:1 to 14.
So Mazda grew the all-new model by 140mm in length relative to the outgoing generation and added 80mm to the wheelbase - both now among the class leaders. The result is a success, giving big players like the Vauxhall Corsa and Ford Fiesta something to worry about. In doing so, the carmaker actually improved collision safety with a stiffer body and chassis. For hundred kilometer, you just need around 5. And at the back, the all-new model gets the x-shaped bumper reinforcing members used on other new-generation models. Ride, handling But really, the new Mazda 2 is extraordinarily well judged.