2015 Mazda2 Review: The Japan Drive
August 20, 2014
What’s Hot: Premium look and classy cabin, advanced driver aids, efficient engines.
What’s Not: Reduced interior space. (Yep, that's all.)
X-FACTOR: A new level of refinement and technology for the segment will make the new 2 a hard one to ignore.
Vehicle Style: light five-door hatch
Price: $TBA (expect to start around $15-16k)
Engine/trans: 81kW/131Nm 1.5 4cyl petrol | 6spd auto
Fuel Economy: not revealed, but Mazda promises up to 25 percent improvement.
OVERVIEW
Here it is, Mazda’s new 2. The subject of more than a year’s speculation, rumours, spy photos and leaks… it's an important car for Mazda, and the new model has big shoes to fill.
The current model, despite being seven years old, has not long been overtaken as Australia's best-selling light car by the Hyundai i20, and it still sits at second in a very tight race.
But its time has come. Fresh winds of change have swept through Mazda’s wider range and, with the CX-5 SUV, midsized 6 and small 3 all replaced, it’s now the 2’s turn.
It’s a promising looking thing. There’s a new design, new platform, new engines and new transmissions.
Mazda says all of this makes the new hatch a more refined and compelling product. To prove it, the Japanese carmaker invited TMR to Mazda's homeland to taste the new 2 for ourselves.
THE INTERIOR | RATING: 3.5/5
- Full Australian specifications are still to be confirmed, but this week’s high-grade testers were equipped with Mazda’s new MZD Connect infotainment system that includes a full-colour seven-inch touchscreen display with sat-nav and a rotary dial controller in the centre console.
Refinement. That’s the key word here, because this new 2’s cabin is a far more refined space than the lunchbox plastics and basic trim of the model we’ll soon wave goodbye to.
On the design front, much from the Hazumi concept’s streamlined and premium-looking cabin has translated into production.
The neatly divided dash both emulates and evolves the design of the concept's cockpit. The screen display sits proud above a compact centre console and the space behind the steering wheel is dominated by the bold instrument cluster and jet fighter-inspired head-up display (seen also in the Mazda3).
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