The Mazda2 was sold in the US from 2011 to 2014. Mazda released the new generation in 2015, but decided not to sell it in the US. This new generation is being sold here as the Scion iA. Since the Scion brand is being discontinued, for 2017 the car will be rebranded as a Toyota. Note however that the iA is a sedan while the Mazda version only comes as a hatchback.
I picked up a 2014 Mazda2 a few months ago and am enjoying it very much. Having owned nothing but Miatas for the previous 25 years it’s a bit of a come-down but the 2 is fun to drive too.
I think the rental car I got in Denver this winter was a Mazda Scion. Went out to the parking lot, keyfob in hand, hit the “unlock” button, then stared at the keyfob looking for a secret hidden button that would make the key swing out from wherever it was hidden. No joy. Back to the rental office. “I think maybe I’m too stupid for this car. How the hell do you get the ignition key to make an appearance?” “Oh there ISN’T ONE. There’s a start button on the dashboard. You have to hold down the brake pedal at the same time for it to start”. Seriously?
There’s nothing really wrong with that method of starting a car, but it definitely helped shape my initial impression of it as a kitchen appliance, which was then completed when I floored it coming from a residential street onto a major highway, aiming for a gap in right-lane traffic. Engine goes waaaaaAAAAAAAA!!! but I’m not being pushed back into my seat and the opening I was aiming for quickly disappears on the distant horizon and now I’m parallel to big truck bodies hurtling past me at 3x my speed. Glance down: I’m doing all of 20 mph. What’s under the hood in this thing, a model airplane engine?
Scion is a marque of Toyota, so don’t tar Mazda with that brush!
Anyway… my experience with Mazdas is three-fold.
First, my parents had a Mazda RX-4 coupe back when I was a kid (1976-ish. Not a terrible car- it had the rotary engine that Mazda used back then, and I think my folks ended up getting rid of it in about 1983 or so when the apex seals were worn out and it burned oil pretty bad. By that point, the interior was sun-bleached and it was kind of ratty. What I remember about it was that it took off like a scalded cat. The rotary engine could rev really high and produces a lot of HP for its displacement, and the way they’d set up the automatic transmission took advantage of that
Fast forward about 20 years, and my wife bought a 2003 Mazda 6, a year before she met me. She kept it about 10 years, until Dec. 2011, because we found out that she and I are too tall to actually fit in the front seats with a baby seat in the back seat. Otherwise no complaints at all. Reliable, economical, handled well, reasonable power, etc… I wouldn’t call it roomy, but it wasn’t cramped either, unless you stick a baby seat behind you!
I came up with the bright idea of driving for Uber and Lyft about a month after I bought my Mazda3, so I could cover the monthly payments. Now I’ve finding that I’m making 3 or 4 times the monthly payment with these diving gigs. I should have bought a fully loaded Mazda6!
I’m not a huge fan of Mazda but I did like the RX-7 and a lot of their newer cars look really nice. That said I’ll have to staunchly disagree about the Mazda 2 I drove a rental car and it was the worst thing I’ve ever driven. Horribly uncomfortable and I’m only 5’9’’, handled like a cardboard box on a skateboard, every time another car drove past when I was stopped at an intersection it felt like I would get blown away, and despite the small size it still felt overwhelmingly underpowered.
I have a Mazda story. But probably not what you’re looking for.
When my dad got too old to drive, he decided to gift his 92 or 93 Protege to my son. The caveat was I had to fly to Tulsa to drive it back to Atlanta.
I’ll never forget what that Alabama highway patrolman said to me as he walked up to my car, shaking his head ruefully. “Man, I wouldn’t have thought that this car could go that fast!” :eek: After a hefty speeding ticket I was on my way. I had even asked him if I could get out of ticket since he was so impressed. Obviously that idea didn’t go over well.
As it turns out, that car ended up being the car that wouldn’t die. My son drove the hell out of it for years before giving it to his sister to drive. She was driving down the highway (GA-400 for those of you familiar with North Georgia) and she was hit by a deer. You read that right, a deer ran into the side of the Mazda trying to cross the highway, and crashed through the passenger door. That door could only open a little bit after that, but the car wouldn’t die. She ended up selling it to a friend of the family who was a mechanic. He said the engine was in perfect condition! He drove it for a year or two, and ended up selling it back to my son! My son finally sold it on Craig’s List or something. In my heart I believe that old thing is still driving around Roswell, GA refusing to know it’s time has come.
I’m waiting on a reply from my Mazda sales guy about whether there is any official word about a long-rumored return of the MazdaSpeed 3. The link is one of many stories circulating about it returning sometime in the next 2-3 years. Basically the idea is that it will have the current 2.5 liter engine with a turbocharger added on, and all wheel drive. I would jump at it if it becomes available again.
Well, when I wrote the first part of the post, I was only going to tell the part where I got caught speeding, and the HiPo’s now legendary (in my mind) comment. That wasn’t really about the Mazda so much as it was about my speeding. Other than the fact that the Mazda was miraculously capable of high speeds.
After I started typing I realized there was some interesting things I could add after all. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I had a friend with a Mazda Speed 6 and it was an impressive car really sporty and great interior, myself I prefer my 2016 Subaru WRX, turbocharged AWD Boxer engine and it’s a 4 door and got it under 30k even with tax, tag, and title it handles like nothing I’ve ever driven before.
Got one of those (Mazda 2) as a rental once myself, and it was everything you described plus it was louder than a passenger jet when driving over 50mph.
Yabbut, the sockets melted. Melted. I was shown, and melted they were. Both within 3 months of each other. I trust they put a little more effort into Mazda 3’s these days.
I’ve owned 2 82 RX7s, an 87 TurboII, a 00 MPV, a 98 Protege, an 06 3 (that just blew up last fall) and I currently own an 08 CX7 and an 97 Miata. I love the little beater. The NAs are so easy to drive “fast” (which isn’t that fast), it’s no gokart, but it’s as close as you can get for reasonable cash. Even more fun than the RX7s, though nowhere near as fast as the TurboII was. And despite it being kind of ratty looking (and the driver does too), I’ve still had more people compliment me on it in a month than I have all my other cars combined minus the TurboII. I think most people are just jealous.
I like Mazdas if you couldn’t tell. Not as solid as a Toyota or Honda, but buckets more fun and solid enough.
A little update. I heard back from my Mazda guy, and the rumors of the return of the Mazdaspeed 3 remain just that – rumors. He said Mazda told them the last two years that it would be coming back the following year, which didn’t happen. Now they’re not even saying that, even though there’s been a recent upsurge in articles discussing the return.
There is a huge arms race in the hot hatch market right now. Mazda would have to do some serious work to compete. When the old one was around, it was the most powerful hot hatch. Today it would be a distant blip.
Bought a '93 Mariner Blue Miata new - had it for three years, then sold it as it was too hard for my wife to drive it when she became a real estate agent. What a fantastic and fun car to drive. I drove a modern one a few months ago-tons more power and still a lot of fun. When the kids get out of the house in 7 years, I’ll look to buy another one.
The post immediately before yours refers to what used to be Mazda’s “Hot Hatch”, and apparently for some reason Mazda has bowed out of that niche, at least for now. I would jump at a new Mazdaspeed 3 if it were offered.
I love my 2007 Mazda3. It’s really fun to drive! The only downside is that the tires wear REALLY QUICK. Like after 25,000 miles, I’m being told I need to replace my tires (they basically go bald at 30,000). I’ve read this is an issue with the 2007 Mazda3s and it doesn’t exist anymore, though.
but the 2 is fun to drive too.
