Romero Mazda

2011 Mazda2 is an entry-level blast,  By Susan Carpenter, Los Angeles Times, August 12, 2010
Following a path blazed by competitors, the subcompact hatchback is short on luxuries but has enough pep to qualify as a cheap thrill.
Drafting is an auto racing art, the trick being to follow another car closely enough to take advantage of reduced air resistance, but not so closely as to crash into its bumper.
For the 2011 model year, this racetrack technique is wafting into the increasingly competitive space of subcompacts, a market segment that inspired yawns until two years ago when gasoline prices shot holes through consumers' wallets and got them thinking small.
Take the Mazda2, an inexpensive new hatchback that's taking advantage of Ford's heavily marketed new Fiesta - a car that itself was following the success of Honda's capacious Fit and Toyota's bargain-basement Yaris.
Finally, this formerly inconsequential and blase segment is getting interesting as each model seeks to distinguish itself and add whatever value is possible to the most prized attributes of cars in this class: fuel economy and price.
Starting at $13,980, the Mazda2 isn't the least expensive subcompact. (That would be the Yaris, priced at $12,605). Averaging 35 mpg highway and 29 city, the Mazda2 isn't the most fuel efficient. (Yaris wins again, with 36 highway, 29 city). But the Mazda2 is the most fuel efficient car the Japanese manufacturer has made in the 40 years it's been peddling cars in North America.
What drivers get for the extra $1,375: a cheap thrill.
Before driving this five-door five-seater, I thought the most fun I would have was counting the pennies I'd be saving at the pump. What I found instead was a car with enough pep to keep me interested. The five-speed manual transmission was smooth without being anemic, and it engaged quickly enough that my left leg didn't get an unintended workout in traffic.
The Mazda2 was designed to attract the unostentatious, and that philosophy carries through to the 1.5-liter 4-cylinder engine, which was so quiet at idle that I wouldn't have known it was running had I not personally turned over the ignition.
That quietude was disrupted, however, on a gravel-strewn stretch of the 110 Freeway, where I heard the pinging ricochet of small rocks on the car's undercarriage. All the more reason to turn up the six-speaker stereo system on the touring version I was testing, which wasn't exactly Bang & Olufsen but nevertheless decent for a car this size.
While the technology in the Mazda2 cockpit is neither plentiful nor cutting-edge, it's smart in what it offers. There are steering wheel controls for the stereo and cruise control. Motorola Bluetooth is available as a visor-mounted, dealer-installed accessory, allowing hands-free phone calls.
Navigation equipment isn't standard, nor is it offered as an option or with a built-in screen. Rather, Mazda has partnered with Garmin and offers its Nuvi Navi as an accessory, the benefit being that plug-in units are less expensive and drivers don't need to bring their cars back to a dealer to update the maps. They can just plug into their home computers and download them.
I found the Mazda2 interior to be pleasingly simple, if Spartan. The dashboard panel was a trio of easy-to-read interlocking circles for the tachometer, speedometer and odometer/fuel gauge. And the center console of stereo and climate controls mirrored those rounded shapes into well-organized buttons - a simple task, really, since there aren't that many bells and whistles on this vehicle.
Mazda defines the Mazda2 very clearly as entry-level. The interior appointments aren't luxurious, but they also don't feel cheap. The seats are clad in textile. The color scheme is a simple black with silver accents.
To prevent a sales cannibalization of its Mazda3 sedan, Mazda has intentionally scaled back the amenities and available trims on the Mazda2, which comes in four-speed automatic and five-speed manual sport and touring versions.
It's only when you get to the Mazda3 sedan that more premium features, such as leather seats and moon roofs, are options or that you get more space to stretch out.
The smallest Mazda on the market, the Mazda2 is little, but it isn't minuscule. The leg and head room were ample enough for me as a driver. Slipping into the back seat, there was enough space even for those with long femur bones.
The most noticeably small component of the car was its alloy wheels, which are a scooter-esque 15 inches. They sometimes dance around on grooved pavement, trying to find their line.
While the Mazda2 is new to the U.S. market, it's actually in its third model year. Like other popular subcompacts, the Mazda2 was plucked from the global marketplace, where it has sold 400,000 units since 2007 in Europe, Australia and Japan. Mazda anticipates a doubling of small-car sales in the next three years.
Now in its second generation, the Mazda2 lost 220 pounds before its U.S. debut, which has helped not only with fuel economy but also with handling. Mazda has Americanized the car in other ways as well, adding cupholders, fine-tuning the suspension to be more responsive at slower speeds and tweaking its safety features.
Full Story can be found at http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-car-review-20100812,0,5276084.story

2011 Mazda 2 - First Drive Review
Mazda's fun new subcompact is simple and affordable.
BY STEVE SILER (Car And Driver)
With lofty government-mandated fuel-economy standards coming down on one hand and a shaky economy spurring consumer interest on the other, car makers are serving up more subcompact cars to U.S. consumers than ever. Among the most hotly anticipated (at least among Car and Driver staffers) is the 2011 Mazda 2, Mazda's first America-bound B-segment vehicle since the 323 and arguably the best such car Mazda has ever built.
Although Mazda is calling the 2011 model the "third generation" of the 2, it's more or less a refresh of the second-gen car sold around the globe since 2008. Aside from redesigned front and rear fascias and sundry new interior bits, it's essentially the same car as before, one that shares its architecture with Ford's slick new Fiesta-which, incidentally, also arrives stateside for 2011.
Of the two platformmates, the 2 is the simpler machine: lighter, less powerful, and available only as a five-door hatchback in Sport and Touring trim levels. Its Eurocentric cabin assigns ergonomic priority to front-seat occupants while giving rear-seaters (and cargo) the somewhat shorter end of the stick. The interior design is pleasing, but the features list is surprisingly short. Unavailable, for example, even on Touring models, are a telescoping steering wheel, a sunroof, integrated navigation (a portable Garmin system will be available from dealers), a USB port, and a hands-free Bluetooth system. The only option beyond dealer accessories is special paint.
But the 2 is a hoot to drive. The 1.5-liter four-cylinder's 100 hp and 98 lb-ft of torque won't exactly burn your hair off, but this engine revs freely and sounds good as it springs the 2's feathery 2300-pound curb weight (2350 with the automatic) into motion. Better yet, the electric power steering and the chassis offer surprising feel and quick, linear responses to driver inputs. Ditto the front-disc, rear-drum brakes. Meanwhile, fuel economy is good if not worldbeating, at 29 mpg in the city and 35 mpg on the highway for the five-speed manual and 27/33 for the four-speed automatic.
The 2 hits dealerships this August, priced from $14,730 for the manual-equipped Sport to $16,985 for an automatic Touring model. It offers a lot of driving goodness for the money. But unlike the similarly priced Fiesta, the 2 has no available sedan body style, 20 fewer hp, and fuel economy that's 3 to 5 mpg lower on the highway. If any of those things are important to you, the choice is clear: Go for the Ford. If, however, you want to keep your B-segment car at a B-segment price-the Fiesta can be optioned to more than 22 grand-go for the more-performance-oriented 2.
full story at http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/car/10q2/2011_mazda_2-first_drive_review