2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 15:44
With the three-door sport, Mazda is now supplementing the Mazda 2 range and is targeting the younger audience. Despite the good consumption values, the diesel chances seem slim.
By Martin Woldt
The future of the car in general may be questionable. Small cars in particular may still have their best days ahead of them. In the future they have to meet expectations that are still projected onto larger cars today. The new Mazda2, introduced in autumn 2007, stands out from the jungle of offers because of its more sophisticated design. Now Mazda has the three-door version, the Mazda2 Sport, which is offered around 500 euros cheaper than the four-door and attracts with prices from 11,450 euros. The new one is also about ten kilograms lighter than the four-door, which has already won a lot of praise for the slimmed-down 100 kilograms compared to the old Mazda2.
Comfortable access from the right
Visually, of course, the missing rear access makes the most noticeable difference. In order to make climbing the second row more or less comfortable, the front doors in the sport are over six centimeters wider than on the four-door. This pays off more clearly on the passenger side, because the front seat can be folded in and pushed forward with less effort.
A small lever next to the seat cushion releases the access gap without any effort, while the same mechanism on the driver's side only tilts the backrest forward. Mazda justifies the preferential boarding from the right with the intention of not having to readjust the driver's seat position after the rear passengers have been placed.
Passable space
The wider doors naturally affect the side design and especially the shape of the rear side windows. It is not uncommon for these to come up to modest peepholes in three-door small cars, which trigger an oppressive feeling in the back seat. Mazda has managed to allow a certain amount of generosity through a delta-shaped construction of the rear side windows. Without being able to completely avoid the tight feeling of space and especially the restricted visibility to the rear. But the space conditions are quite acceptable considering the average body size and the sidelong glance doesn't seem narrowed like through a porthole. The space construction leaves a trunk with 250 liters of storage volume over a total vehicle length of 3.88 meters. That is 30 liters less than the only four centimeters longer VW Polo.
Idiosyncratic glove compartment
The cockpit conditions are no different from the four-door. Uninviting black hard plastic, broken up by circular fan, setting and reading functions dominates the picture. In a slightly inclined position, the short, sporty gear stick is integrated into a compact center console. The construction of the glove compartment is idiosyncratic: when the lid is closed, it leaves a deliberate gap two fingers wide, so that apparently small parts can easily be hidden away. But what also tempts you to misuse the compartment as a garbage container.
Sporty handling
The additional name sport in the Mazda2 is not an empty promise. As part of a small series production car, even with the entry-level engine it provides a very immediate driving experience. The speed-dependent electric power steering skilfully balances on a fine line. You can always feel direct contact with the road, which never degenerates into tiring manual work. Unfortunately, the height of the steering is usually only adjustable in small cars, which forces larger drivers to sit in a curved position over longer distances. The standard five-speed manual gearbox has short, precise shifting paths that willingly convey the driver's commands.
Low consumption gasoline engines
The entry-level engine is a 1.3 liter petrol engine that is available in two output levels. Both 55kW / 75 PS and 63 kW / 86 PS were calculated as an average consumption of 5.4 liters per 100 kilometers in the driving cycle. And even the more powerful 1.5 liter unit with 76 kW / 103 PS is satisfied with 5.9 liters. An equally powerful VW Polo consumes a whole liter more and is not faster when accelerating from zero to 100 with 10.4 seconds.
Good compromise
But you don't necessarily have to choose the more powerful petrol engine in order to underpin the sporty handling with driving performance. Although the 1.3 liter four-cylinder with 86 hp and 12.9 seconds for the zero-to-hundred sprint is a bit more modest, it has enough elasticity and sufficient overtaking reserves without over-revving acoustically. Only from 150 km / h does it get a bit noisy inside the car. 172 km / h are reached at the top.
Skeptical diesel expectations
Mazda also has one or two diesel units for sport in its range, without having great sales expectations given the price trend. First of all, a 1.4 liter direct injection engine with 50 kW / 68 hp from the cooperation with PSA is available, which only wants to consume 4.3 liters per 100 kilometers and therefore does not have to fear any comparison. A 1.6 liter version is to follow later. In the price-sensitive small car segment, 1,550 euros additional costs compared to purchasing the entry-level petrol seem almost bearable. But if you can't speculate on higher performance in order to take advantage of the consumption advantage, you will hardly have to do without the ESP, which is standard in the other Mazda2 engines. The centrifugal blocker is just as unavailable for diesel engines as a particle filter.
Price calculations
The entry-level prices for the smallest petrol engine with 75 hp without optional air conditioning (plus 1,100 euros) start at 11,450 euros. The diesel engine starts at 13,000 euros. The 86 hp petrol model, including air conditioning, is available from 13,700 euros. The large petrol engine is available with the same equipment from 14,500 euros.
