What's this?
We'll admit, it's been a while since we last drove a Mazda2. Getting on for four years, in fact, having sampled it at the international launch in early 2015. And, in that time, a lot of very impressive new superminis have arrived - from Japan, from Korea and, of course, from Europe. Plus, Mazda - the company which held on to rotary power for so long, and which is rumoured to be bringing the technology back to market - often takes wilfully different engineering approaches to solving problems and it seems to have a real problem with sticking a turbocharger on any of its petrol engines. Which is odd, because it used to have few qualms about bolting blowers onto all three generations of the
RX-7 coupe. But there we are.
Thus, even as deep into the downsizing era as we are right now in 2018, the Mazda2 - in petrol form - remains resolutely normally aspirated. That makes it less appealing to a wider audience than some rivals, as many customers prefer the easy-come, easy-go delivery of a forced induction motor; certainly in your bog-basic supermini run-around, where a screaming redline is not exactly top of a potential buyer's priority list. Thankfully, the Mazda2 Black+ Edition isn't terrible on the old eco-stats, with 111g/km of CO
2 and 57.7mpg, but toting just 90 nat-asp horses and a thin 148Nm delivered at a lofty 4,000rpm, the 'work it' driving manners of the Mazda won't be to all tastes. At least the Black+ Edition, limited to just 500 units at £15,795 apiece, comes with 16-inch black alloys, rear privacy glass, a shark-fin antenna on the roof, a Brilliant Black spoiler sitting just aft of said protrusion and a choice of three free-of-charge special paints: Machine Grey Metallic, Dynamic Blue Mica or Deep Crimson Mica. As you can see, we're in a Dynamic Blue Mica example here...
How does it drive?
Mazda, as a brand, is one of our 'dark horse' favourites. Every time we drive one of its products, we're usually deeply impressed and yet, with the greatest respect, they're not always the first things we think of to recommend to people. Which is shameful of us, because - in the case of the larger vehicles and, of course, the
mesmerising MX-5 - the company's machines are, if not actually on it, then at least challenging for podium places in each class they compete in.
The exception is the Mazda2. Don't get us wrong, it's not a bad car, or even an average one, but it doesn't have the same sharp, engineered feel that some of the rest of the brand's products possess in spades and when you're behind its wheel, you're always acutely aware there are better choices in what is a very strong market segment right now. There's no one area where the Mazda2 stands out, you see. It's not massively spacious inside and the interior is the company's least convincing effort, even with the carbon-like trim across the middle of the Black+ Edition 2's dashboard fascia. The whole drivetrain is perfectly pleasant, even with its paucity of torque, but a five-speed gearbox always feels like an anachronism these days - especially ones with quite long, widely-spaced ratios like this - and the sub-ten-second 0-62mph time that's quoted on paper is surely hugely optimistic. The ride and refinement are very good, if not exceptional, and overall you're probably going to be ambivalent about the 2; it's there, it's different and it still does look pretty good on the outside, yet you're going to be blown away if you step from this into a
Ford Fiesta EcoBoost or a
SEAT Ibiza TSI, plucking but just two names of rivals from the air at random*.
* This is utterly disingenuous, we didn't pluck those names from the air at random at all.
Verdict
The Mazda2 is a perfectly stylish and adept supermini that forges its own path, and with the black-tinged looks and generous equipment levels of the Black+ Edition, a 16-grand asking price is great value. But while there's plenty to like about the Mazda2, there's very little to truly fall head over heels in love with and you'll find better products for similar cash loitering in the showrooms of rival marques.
