In many ways, the Mazda2 was a great car

Supremely easy to drive, surprisingly spacious inside (used without any major problem for a 5-people on the school run, and later for transporting a large and unwieldy diorama base). The Mazda2 brings exceptional roadholding and good levels of equipment. It proved a very capable and practical means of transport.

But at the end of the day, a few small niggles just held me back from awarding full stars. The ride was just a bit too hard, and unforgiving on our damaged roads, for this to be a car that I would look forward to driving for any major distance.

We enjoyed the wide opening rear doors, and good access to the surprisingly deep boot; we benefitted from the smooth gearchange, light pedals and responsive steering, and we felt very ‘at ease’ with the multi-adjustable seat, steering wheel controls, and intuitive dash layout. Easy to park and drive, with good rear-quarter visibility, iPod connection and air-conditioning, this supermini was, overall, a good place to be.

And yet, and yet… somehow slightly sterile, and seemingly built to a budget (no passenger vanity mirror, no rear internal light) I could not award maximum marks.

But if you are looking for a well priced, highly versatile local run-around, for journeys mainly around town, with quite zippy performance and fair set of economy figures (45mpg shown in our time with the car) and surely problem-free driving from this reliable manufacturer, then the Mazda 2 could very well be the car for you.

Model tested: Mazda 2 1.3 5dr Venture Edition

Price £13,295
CO2 115 g/km
Fuel consumption Combined: 56.5 (5.0) mpg (l/100km)
0-62mph 13.6 seconds
Top Speed 106 mph
Length 2920 mm
Width 1695 mm
Height 1475 mm