This article is from page 34 of the 2008-07-29 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 34 JPG
Be UAUDerea(oie mo sce) ony (Or memne ne Mazda 2 at the end of last year and this time I was due to test the re- vamped Mazda 5, the one with the sliding door. But due to a mis-under- standing I got the Mazda 2 diesel in- stead, but I have no complaints. The Mazda 5 can wait for another day.
Last year was a great one for Maz- da Ireland with sales here taking a major leap after they decided to dis- tribute the cars directly in Ireland themselves.
Also at the end of last year their Mazda 2 finished second to the Fiat 500 in the European Car of the Year competition, but didn’t make the top five when it came to vote for the Semperit Irish Car of the Year. As the Lisbon Treaty vote proved we do things different than our European colleagues.
However, Mazda has been boosted with the recent news that they were named ‘Best Carmaker’ in the second annual Which? Awards. The maga- Zine has a good reputation for testing absolutely everything and they said that all Mazda cars are interesting to drive and there is something for eve- ryone in the Mazda range.
So this light Supermini could be the car in your range. It’s reasonably small but very nippy and my family loved the fact that it had four doors. When I drove the petrol model last year | commented on how quiet it was. Naturally the diesel 1s every so
slightly noisier.
It’s has been said, mainly by me on these pages, that diesel is the new black. So if you happen to be driving a black model of the sporty-looking
Mazda 2 diesel then you should re- ally feel that you are up to date fash- 10n-wise.
In the past I have often complained about the interiors of cars being pre-
dominantly black. This time the in- terior was mainly black again, with just the odd speck of silver on the doors and a touch of great on the seats. But I did like the exterior black
and I thought it gave the car a classy look.
On the dash the instruments are well laid out and easy to use. I like the way the gear lever is incorporat- ed into the dash rather than a stand alone item. The only complaint was that the digital clock had to share dis- play space with my choice of radio station. So often I found myself look- ing at something like: ‘1I800RTEI’ or ‘(0900 TodayFM.’
Eventually I copped on that there was a dot between the time and the name of the radio station, but it was very small one and difficult to see.
While the back seat could take three adults it’s unlikely to happen with most families, but it is fair to say that there is plenty of room for children. The boot is small, but deep.
Mazda have a marketing line where they say that their cars have more ‘Zoom-Zoom’ and it certainly is true of their Mazda 2.
Prices start at €14,995 for the 1.3 petrol model, while the 1.4 diesel I drove costs €17,495. For that you get a few extras like 15 inch alloys, elec- tric and heated mirrors, air con and MP player. Also the diesel comes in at Band A, the lowest in C02 emis- sions, which means just €100 road tax per annum.