| First Drive | Stockholm, Sweden | Mazda2 three-door |

Since the five-door Mazda2 went on sale in Europe at the end of 2007, a massive 40,000 units have been sold and among its many awards, the 2 scooped the 2008 World Car of the Year. Surfing a wave of increased sales and market share, Mazda decided that an even cheaper model was called for and the new derivative is actually the first three-door Mazda to go on sale since 1996. Despite its place at the very bottom of the Mazda-badged food chain, the three-door 2 is appealing in its own right, even before you take the price into consideration.

In the Metal

The Mazda2 is already one of our favourite superminis in terms of styling and the three-door body is even better looking. That's despite few real changes to the sheet metal. The front doors are 163mm longer and the rear haunches are subtly altered, but that's about it. The three-door model will also come with the option of a Sports Appearance Package, which really adds to the car's stance with a new front bumper, side sills and roof spoiler. Even without these add-ons, the Mazda2 is attractive, more so in the new three-door format.

There are precious few differences between the interior of the five-door 2 and the new model either. Other than the presence of tilt-and-slide front seats and the lack of rear electric windows, rear passengers lose space only at the shoulders, as the three-door shell's contours rob the interior of about 25mm of width. Let's face it; you don't buy a three-door hatch in the hope for rear seat practicality.

What you get for your Money

The beauty of the new 2 is that, despite its perceived sportiness, it is actually £500 cheaper than the corresponding five-door model. So the entry level 1.3-litre petrol TS model costs a competitive £7,999. Unfortunately, good value as it is, that spec lacks air conditioning, so it's likely that the TS² will do better. The 1.3-litre engine gets a power boost (from 74 to 85bhp) in this guise, while the new 67bhp 1.4-litre turbodiesel model attracts an extra £1,000 premium. The top-of-the range 1.5-litre Sport model comes on stream in July at £11,399, with the added appeal of the Sports Styling Pack. It certainly looks the part and is loaded with other niceties too such as automatic wipers, lights and climate control, as well as cruise control and extra electronic driving aids.

Driving it

Unsurprisingly, there's little difference between the three- and five-door models in terms of the driving experience. The three-door is nominally lighter, but the variation is small enough to make no difference. Not that we're complaining, as the Mazda2 is a great car to drive. Mazda's philosophy with the 2 from the start was to go against the trend for each new generation of car to grow in size and weight, so the new one is smaller and lighter than its predecessor. In spite of that, Mazda's engineers have significantly improved the rigidity of the 2's body shell and on the road this pays dividends. Although the car is light, it feels more secure and stable on the road than most cars of this size, with a real grown up feel to its damping and body control. It's even a bit of fun to push along a twisty section of road, though not at the expense of ride comfort.

However, don't begin to think that the Mazda2 is a junior hot hatch. Even in 1.5-litre Sport guise, its performance is impressive rather than exciting. The 1.3-litre does a fine job too and is commendably refined. The new 1.4-litre diesel is a little disappointing in comparison. It's obviously designed for low emissions and decent fuel economy above all else, as it felt quite flat in comparison to both of the petrol models. To make matters worse, it's quite gruff when you try to extract all of its modest power, which means you'll probably not bother. For some reason, the shift of the five-speed manual gearbox in the diesel model was not quite as slick as it is in the petrol alternatives either.

Worth Noting

Mazda's 'gram strategy' looks at every single component of the car to see, literally, where the grams can be trimmed from. In the case of the 2, the oft quoted saving is 100kg, which is even more impressive when you consider the extra standard equipment that the new car features, especially on the safety side - as borne out by the five-star EuroNCAP safety test result. The new 6 was developed with that in mind too and fuel economy has been improved as a result. The next step for Mazda is a stop-start system to cut the engine automatically when at a standstill. Expect to hear more on that before the end of the year.

Summary

Yes, the new Mazda2 three-door is now the cheapest and smallest model in the Japanese manufacturer's line-up, but that certainly doesn't make it the least appealing. If you really need better access to the rear seats, then the £500 extra for a five-door version is no hardship, but the three-door should attract younger buyers more interested in its image than how easy it is for their friends to get into the back. Reflecting the target market is a palette of vibrant colours and options aimed at the iPod generation. They'll enjoy the new three-door version of the 2.