• Five-door-only
• Tight in the back
• Boot trails rivals, too

How much space is there?

We’re not going to sugar coat it – the Mazda 2 isn’t a particularly practical supermini. It sits between the Renault Clio and the Skoda Fabia in terms of its dimensions, but it isn’t packaged as well as either of these rivals. That means adult passengers travelling in the rear might be quite cramped.

The Mazda 2’s tall roof means there’s enough headroom, but the Skoda Fabia offers much more leg and shoulder room. The Fabia’s cabin feels airier, too, because it has larger side windows.

21

Up front, there’s enough head and legroom but, like the rear, broader drivers may find the narrowness of the 2’s interior to be a quite uncomfortable. Mazda has done this for a reason, though – to envelop the driver and make them feel more involved in the driving experience.

Storage space doesn’t quite meet the needs of modern drivers, but this can hardly be considered modern car. It was first launched in 2015 – and demands have changed since then, so we’re willing to extend some leniency. Thankfully, the door bins are large enough to hold litre sized water bottles, but there isn’t a cubby large enough in the dashboard to store the latest flagship smartphones.

Boot space and storage

With the rear seats in place, the Mazda 2 has 280 litres of boot space. That figure trails almost all its closest rivals, which will limit the car’s usefulness for those with growing families. For comparison, the Vauxhall Corsa’s boot has 309 litres of space, the Skoda Fabia’s measures 380 litres and the Renault Clio offers a whopping 391 litres.

Add in a higher loading lip and narrower opening than its rivals and the Mazda 2’s fate is sealed as one of the least practical superminis on sale. If you need to carry something larger, you can liberate up to 950 litres of space by folding the 2’s rear seats flat, but that figure is again bested by the Skoda Fabia and its 1,190-litre maximum capacity.

21

The boot is at least well-shaped. There’s a 1,000mm gap between the wheel arches that’s useful for wider items. Less helpful is the 738mm height from the ground to the boot entrance and the narrow entry point where the curve of the tailgate cuts into the bumper. Form over outright function here.

Is it easy to park?

Oh yes. This is where the Mazda’s dinky dimensions pay dividends. It’s a doddle to weave around tight city streets and car parks. The square front end, large door mirrors and upright rear mean it’s very easy to judge its limits, and the addition of parking sensors and a camera on higher-spec models mean you have no excuse for shunting it into a bollard.

Safety

• Four-star safety rating in 2015…
• … but that rating has expired
• Probably not as safe as a Clio

The Mazda 2 was last crash-tested by Euro NCAP in 2015. It achieved a four-star rating, which looks quite respectable in its class. However, it worth bearing in mind that Euro NCAP’s safety scores are only valid for six years, simply because the rate of progress in the field of automotive safety is so rapid that it would be unhelpful to compare a car of that age with a new car launched in 2023.

To illustrate the point, we’ll use the BYD Dolphin as an example. It’s a five-star-rated supermini that was launched mid-way through 2023 – and it features reverse autonomous emergency braking, a central airbag to prevent front seat occupants from clashing heads in the event of a side impact and a system that will stop passengers from opening a door into the path of an oncoming cyclist. The Mazda 2 has none of that tech, which makes it difficult to compare the two cars fairly.

Still, even though its safety rating has expired, its structure stood up well to Euro NCAP’s impact tests. It stayed stable in all the crashes and its belts and airbags protected the adult dummies from injury well. The only point of concern was the rear headrest, which does a poor job of preventing whiplash in adult passengers.

Watch the Mazda 2 Euro NCAP crash test video