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What is it?

The all-new Mazda 2 supermini, which hits the UK in September. Its body and underpinnings will also be used on the new Ford Fiesta – due in 2008.

The 2 reverses a 15-year trend towards bigger, heavier superminis. It is about 10cm shorter than the current, recently-launched crop of hatchbacks such as the Vauxhall Corsa, Peugeot 207, Renault Clio and Fiat Punto, without seeming to pay any significant penalty in reduced interior packaging, beyond conceding some boo...Read the full article

I've recently been in the market for a small car to replace my 5 year old Seat Ibiza and after reading some high appraise for the car from magazines and internet sites (including Autocar) I decided to test drive a Mazda 2 TS (my finances are tight!). I also took a mate along with me to get a second opinion. We took the car down some country lanes and as the reviewer of this article says you can noticibly feel the weight-saving that Mazda have put the car through. It isn't a quick car (this is the TS we are talking about) but the steering was really direct and you felt the car wanted to flow smoothly round corners. I was genuinely surprised as to how good the car felt to drive and how light it actually feels. I have 2 complaints though. Firstly, as the article suggests the car is well put together (and well thought out) but the plastics in the cabin do let it down. But, I am guessing this was the result of the 2's diet. Secondly, the TS I drove had a fairly noisy engine and road noise was also very noticible. I went back to the Mazda garage and was in 2 minds about the car, until, we drove back to work in my Ibiza. It felt like I was driving a bus! Myself and my mate were really shocked at the difference. I went back to work, rang the garage and put a deposit on one, which i hope to get next week. The 2 feels really fun to drive and I agree with the reviewer that that is very important in this class of car.

Rojan
 

Nice story Rojan.

Congrats to Mazda for coming 2nd in COTY, arguably this move by Mazda against the supermini trend of getting fatter and fatter could make this more significant than the 500, which I feel is a copy of BMWs strategy with MINI. 

Cheers :)

I really hope other manufacturers follow suit with weight saving measures like the 500 and Mazda 2. My partner has a 56 plate Mini (which she raves about) but it feels like a heavier bigger car than my 2 even though it is of similar size, But, I hear that the new one is better and lighter and practically a totally different car. I noticed that Mazda did the same trick with the new 6, shedding around 35Kg off the one it replaces. I read a review in The Independent where the journalist absolutely raves about it, It'll be interesting to read what other journalists think of it. I wonder if Mazda will make a 1??? Now that would be interesting. 

Rojan