2013 Mazda 2 Review

The five-seater Mazda 2 is a front-wheel-drive sub-compact road warrior destined to take on on the Nissan Versa, Ford Fiesta, Chevrolet Sonic and the like. With the ever increasing demand for better fuel consumption and versatility, the subcompact  has become the fastest growing class in the automotive segment.  That said, the Mazda2 has many qualities that make it a desirable one of the bunch.

At a first glance, the tiny compact vehicle looks cute and functional. It’s got bold sporty panels with colored door handles, relaxed windshield, and a wedge shape hatch.  Notorious to Mazda, the 2 also has a smiling front grille with a welcoming hood, fenders, headlamps, bumper, air intakes and 15-inch wheels.

Under the hood of the Mazda2 lies a 1.5-liter double-overhead-cam 16-valve four-cylinder engine with variable valve timing to provide both  low-rpm torque and high-rpm horsepower. The numbers crunch out to 100 horsepower at 6000 rpm and 98 pound-feet of torque at 4000 rpm. These numbers are by no means, staggering, but considering the size and weight of the car, it’s plenty sufficient for your daily commutator.  In about 310 miles of combined driving in city and highway, we fuel consumption test averaged at around 33.2 miles per gallon, falling in between the EPA estimate of 29 City/35 Highway mpg for the 2012 Mazda2, which is

Mazda kept in sight of good gas mileage, acceleration and responsive handling by keeping the car simple and light.  It uses high strength steel with more structural welds and weld-bonded adhesives in the body to reduce the overall amount of steel used. This design greatly reduces the weight of the overall vehicle since weld joints are much lighter.

After all that, the drum roll weight scale results in 2306 pounds, which is even less than the Mazda MX5 coupe!  To put these numbers into perspective, the Mazda 2 is lighter than the Fiat 500 and magnitudes lighter than the Ford Fiesta.  Only the Toyota Yaris comes.

As what’s expected of any subcompact car, the interior cabin space can be limited in functionality and form.  The seats are made of cheap clothe, but provide sufficient comfort and support.  The thick steering wheel; however, adds a nice touch to both the eyes and the hands. The Mazda 52 can fit 3 passengers in the rear, but wouldn’t take long before discomfort unfolds. The accessible rear fold down seats offers excellent additional cargo space when needed.

The miniscule 1.5 liter engine is the smallest available engine on the market to date, but Mazda has found a way to make the best out of it.  The subcompact car acts shy in in normal driving conditions, but can suddenly bring out madness of the engine with a heavy foot on the gas pedal – it is almost frightening with the combination of engine tone and noise it makes.

The engine pulls sufficiently well at lower rpm with its torque peaking out at about 4000 rpm.  Breaching the 6000 rpm line is when the engine really starts screaming.  Thanks to the drive-by-wire, acceleration is very responsive.

The suspension on the Mazda 2 uses conventional McPhersonal strut suspension that offers decent ride quality.  While test driving up a twisty mountain road, the Mazda 2 offered decent handling and was able to absorb road bumps quite well.

The Mazda 2 remains a strong contender in the already super competitive automotive segment. The cute sporty look coupled with its versatility and flexibility make it a practical everyday hatchback.  By using a small 1.5 liter 100 hp engine, the Mazda 2 is rewarded with excellent fuel economy of an averaged 30 mpg city and highway.  However, don’t let size fool you as the engine has plenty of heart and spirit.  All in all, Mazda never failed to deliver their zoom zoom promise with the performance and handling of the Mazda 2.