Mazda 2

By Julie Sinclair

March 2010

My Mazda has barely been able to clear its throat since it joined the fleet last year. With the exception of a summer jaunt down to the south of France, it’s spent most of its time grinding its gears through the traffic-choked streets of London. That is, until I moved to the country…

Yes, it was time to turn my back on life in the capital, don a pair of wellies and get the 2’s tyres dirty. And as I pulled up outside my new village green, I could already tell my car would finally have the chance to show its
true colours. And thanks to its distinctive Spirited Green finish, the Japanese machine was going to blend in very nicely.

Gone are the speed bumps of London’s East End. Gone are the bus lanes, the wardens and the double parking neighbours. Gone also are the CCTV cameras and reckless uninsured drivers. I’ve traded them all in for the rolling Chiltern countryside – and in one slick manoeuvre, have turned my chic city car into a right rural runaround.

It even helped me make the move. With the seats folded flat, my Mazda’s 787-litre boot made a perfect companion to the Ford Transit van that shifted the bulk of my gear. It took the entire contents of my kitchen, in fact.

Despite the ample room inside, the 2 is surprisingly compact, too – a fact that’s now proving to be increasingly useful as I weave my way through this rolling Hertfordshire countryside, and navigate the narrow lanes that litter my new stomping ground. Unlike my wide-eyed neighbours negotiating huge off-roaders and even tractors, I’m always confident the 2 won’t need to breathe in to squeeze through the gaps on these single-track roads as it meets oncoming traffic.

These last-minute manoeuvres remind me how light and responsive the Mazda is, too. No wonder it’s loving its new-found opportunity to show off its fancy footwork around the area’s many challenging corners. Already used to performing in the low gears, it’s dodged deer, dawdling pedestrians and ditches by the dozen since we arrived. And when the road opens out, I can fully exploit the punchy 1.6-litre diesel engine.

The agricultural traffic and the hedgerows aren’t the only obstacles it has had to avoid, either. I may have left the back-breaking speed bumps of Hackney behind – but not, sadly, the potholes. In fact, the frequent frosts from the recent cold snap have left the local lanes looking more pitted than the Welsh valleys – something that highlights the sporty Mazda’s stiff ride. Best of all, though, is that my hour-long commute to the office has really given the 2 a chance to get into its stride.

A reduction in stop-start motoring means I’ve discovered just how frugal my commuting companion really is, regularly achieving more than 50mpg.

Okay, so I’m putting more miles on the Mazda’s clock than ever before. But frankly, it’s never been so much fun!

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