Mazda's all-new Mazda2 supermini has been available in Europe for about two months, but Euro NCAP only now released the safety ratings for the car. We're afraid we have somewhat bad news, as the model only scored a 4-star rating.
In some respects, the Mazda2 actually handles itself better in the event of a crash than the Skoda Fabia, which Euro NCAP says is the best in this class. For example, Mazda got 86% for adult occupant protection and a massive 84% for pedestrian protection, as opposed to 81% and 69% for Skoda.
The Mazda2 even managed to score maximum points in the severe pole impact test, which many cars fail. In this test, the car tested is propelled sideways at 32 km/h into a rigid pole.
The passenger compartment of the 2015 Mazda2 remained stable in the frontal offset barrier test. Euro NCAP awarded maximum points for protection of the passenger dummy but deducted a fraction of a point for the driver's leg (the Mazda2 doesn't have any knee airbags).
The only real negative point was the reduced whiplash protection for the rear passengers when the car is rear-ended. This is down mainly to the visibility problems that taller headrests create. Points were also deducted for the lack of Isofix in the front and because Autonomous Emergency Braking doesn't work at inter-urban speed and is not equipped as standard.
We've recently tested the new Mazda2 and liked the way it handled on the road. The front bumper is soft and friendly to pedestrians while the passenger cell is rigid, so such a score is a real shame. With a few revisions, Mazda could get that missing star.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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