ROAD TEST - MAZDA2 SEDAN 1.5 INDIVIDUAL:
Small four-door cars are not easy to design. Given that sedans are among the most space-wasting body styles around and that in this class, there really isn't much space to play with and it's no wonder that these small saloons often look like afterthoughts.
As if some lazy designer just took the hatchback and slapped a boot onto the back end.
Luckily my sentiments towards the Mazda2 sedan are the exact opposite. Yes it shares its 'smiley' front end with the facelifted version of the Mazda2 hatch that's due here soon, and perhaps the bonnet does look too short to belong to the rest of the body but that's par for the course in this segment.
The point is that once you're past this point, the side and rear views look every bit a downscaled Mazda3 sedan and that can't be a bad thing. That BMW-like 'Hoffmeister kink' in the back windows and the roof that slopes down into the stubby boot, fast-back style, give this sedan an athletic aura.
Pity then, that I couldn't help but shake my head in dismay after opening that stubby boot for the first time. Yes there is a lot of space in there, a decent 450 litres worth - albeit still 80 litres less than the Honda Ballade.
But this Mazda has a really small boot aperture, a result of its sloping roofline and short boot top. This design shows narrow-mindedness at its very worst, either on the part of the designers or on the part of the customers in the sedan-obsessed markets where Mazda mainly sells this small four-door.
Why didn't they just make it a hatchback? Sure, a Mazda2 hatchback already exists, but this could simply supplement it as a slightly more expensive 'fastback' model with more boot space.
The rest of the car is very much as per the Mazda2 five-door. That means it has a spacious and well-equipped interior with ample rear legroom by B-segment standards and an MX-5-like dashboard that I don't feel matches the Fiesta's for funkiness nor the VW Polo's for perceptive quality.
I tested the flagship 1.5 Individual model, which is powered by a 1.5-litre 16-valve petrol engine that puts out 76kW at 6000rpm and 125Nm at 4000rpm. While it is rather lively when you give it a good rev, its outputs fall rather short of rivals like the Ford Fiesta 1.6 and Honda Ballade 1.5, both 88kW.
Sharing its platform with the aforementioned Fiesta, the Mazda2 is a hoot around corners. The small steering wheel is nicely weighted and the car displays impressive agility through sharp bends. The ride quality though, while not uncomfortable, is a tad firmer than we'd prefer in a car of this nature - especially on the Individual model, which comes standard with sports suspension.
The Individual is also priced too steeply for a car of its size, at R212 000, and I'm not convinced that the extras it offers over the base model, like alloy wheels and keyless entry and start, are really worth the price premium. Unfortunately this is also the only model in the range with side and curtain airbags.
The range kicks off with the 63kW 1.3 Active at R168 740 but this model is aimed at people with such an abysmal financial sense that one has to wonder how they were capable of earning the money to buy a car in the first place.
The one to go for here is the 1.5 Active, which costs just less than R4000 more yet offers far more performance ability than the price difference would suggest and you still get all the basic comfort amenities like aircon, remote locking, power windows all 'round, an MP3/CD player with auxiliary jack, dual airbags and ABS.
The Mazda2 four-door is not without its flaws and is not an instant choice in its segment, yet if you're looking for a small sedan that's rather fun to drive and one that's not going to get lost among the rental cars in a parking lot, it certainly has appeal.