Mazda 2 review

Prices start at £18,615 for the entry-level Centre-Line trim, which comes as standard with 15in alloys, black cloth seats, air conditioning, adjustable cruise control, electrically adjustable and heated mirrors, an eight-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, automatic LED headlights, rain-sensing wipers and rear parking sensors. Honestly, what more could you really want?

Homura is next up and adds 16in alloys, red interior accents, black mirrors and a black grille, as well as a reversing camera; Exclusive-Line follows with auto-folding mirrors, fancier headlights, a chrome-tipped exhaust, rear privacy glass and keyless entry.

Finally the top-sec Homura Aka gets black 16s, a semi-leather interior, a honeycomb grille, plus a leather-wrapped, heated steering wheel. Exactly the kind of thing that’ll be worth its worth in gold in the depths of winter.

The base-spec trim is your entry-point for the 89bhp mild-hybrid engine for £19,515, from which Homura grade is a mere £400 jump. Exclusive-Line opens up the slower, less efficient, not as green, non-hybrid version of the 89bhp (nope, we don’t get it either) for £21,890.

Homura Aka is your only route into the 113bhp engine, and given it’s the only one we could live with, seems a little steep at £23,835.

If you can stretch to that one and stick £5k down as a deposit, you can unlock repayments of less than £300 a month at 4.9 per cent APR through Mazda’s own finance scheme.

Monthly payments in base-spec SE-L trim start at around £185, rising to £200 in SE-L Nav, £215 in GT-Sport, or £230 in top-of-the-range GT Sport Tech trim, on a three-year agreement with a six-month initial payment.  

Our choice? If your budget allows, the most powerful variant of the 1.5-litre engine will be the easiest to live with, especially if you’re likely to do significant amounts of time on faster roads. In which case the top-spec model is your only option.

More of a local driver? The mid-range engine will do, and the entry-level spec has most of the kit you’re ever likely to really need. Just be prepared to rag it on the motorway slip road…

Emissions range from 107 to 122g/km, with the mild hybrids slightly better off in that regard. So your first-year car tax rate will be £165 or 185.