If you noticed the earlier 2 Hybrid on a Mazda forecourt, it instantly stood out from its stable-mates. “I wouldn’t call it a black sheep, but it didn’t fit the line-up,” says Stenuit. So the objective for this revamp was to make the common Mazda 2’s “adopted sibling” look extra like a part of the household.
Key to that’s effort to distinguish the grille and provides it extra of the texture of Mazda’s conventional five-pointed design. There’s additionally a new-look entrance bumper that’s extra in step with the Hiroshima agency’s conventional designs, whereas on the rear there’s further bodywork parts on the boot.
Still, there may be undoubtedly nonetheless a whole lot of Toyota DNA within the 2 Hybrid, a results of the constraints of finances, manufacturing feasibility and the necessity to keep away from having to conduct pricey separate crash exams. The entrance headlights are nonetheless clearly Toyota in design moderately than Mazda’s spherical signature, whereas the badge sits above the grille moderately than on the centre of it on different Mazda fashions.
Given the Yaris is a smart-looking hatch, that’s not likely a nasty factor, and Mazda’s stylists deserve credit score for injecting a little bit of particular person character into the design with out making it look an excessive amount of of a mash-up between totally different design philosophies.
The Mazda 2 Hybrid additionally shares equivalent key dimensions to the Yaris: it’s 3940mm lengthy and 1531mm large, with a wheelbase of 2560mm. For comparability, that makes it marginally shorter and narrower than its ‘adopted sibling’. It additionally has an even bigger boot: the two Hybrid has 286 litres of boot area, in contrast with 255 litres for the common 2.
Underneath the bodywork, the Mazda 2 Hybrid is basically equivalent to the Yaris. That makes it considered one of only a handful of hybrid-powered superminis, together with the Honda Jazz and Renault Clio.
Power is distributed to the entrance wheels and comes from Toyota’s confirmed three-cylinder 1.5-litre Atkinson-cycle petrol engine, linked to 2 electrical motor mills powered by a 178V lithium ion drive battery.
While the Yaris is now provided with a alternative of 114bhp and 129bhp variations, solely the lower-powered choice is obtainable for the Mazda 2 Hybrid.
Notably, the two Hybrid trim ranges don’t match as much as these provided on the Yaris, so entry-level Mazda fashions come on 15in wheels, which aren’t an choice on the Toyota. On medium- and higher-level trims, 16in and 17in wheels can be found.