MODEL ON TEST: HYBRID 1.5 HOMURA AUTOMATIC – MILEAGE – 3,516

At a time of near-record fuel prices, it seems especially pertinent to be driving a small, frugal supermini and rather sad that our short time with it has already come to an end. Sure, an electric city car could be an even more obvious pick at a time when oil prices seem to go up and down more than Stealth at Thorpe Park, but not everyone can live with a fully-electric car.

For those with poor access to chargers, both while at home and out and about, the Mazda2 Hybrid represents new car running costs that are virtually as cheap as they come. In our first two monthly reports I posted economy figures of 59.5mpg and 62.6mpg, while this month it’s almost unchanged at 62.5mpg. Impressive, especially considering most of my driving has consisted of either fairly high-speed running on dual carriageways or short hops into town where the engine barely warms up. When the fuel low light does ping on the dashboard, there’s another pleasant surprise awaiting you. Filling the tank to the brim cost me £36 the first time; an experience I don’t think I’ve enjoyed since I owned a Peugeot 106 two decades ago.

I’ve spent most of my time with the car in Eco mode, which makes it easier to stab the throttle without provoking the 1.5-litre petrol engine into drinking too much petrol. Drives in Normal mode could net the same economy figures in my experience, but it’s far more tempting to accelerate with a bit of verve and undo all your hard work in the trip computer high score. Speaking of which, the witchcraft that’s the planetary gearset that somehow juggles power between the electric and internal combustion motors continued to impress, with smooth responses that never seemed to get caught out by traffic, junctions or roundabouts.

This, along with the simplicity of no gearchanges, its small size and tight turning circle, made the 2 Hybrid a doddle to drive and park. Small parallel bays you wouldn’t look twice at in an SUV become fair game, and even tight supermarket parking spaces suddenly feel more spacious while you’re getting in and out with shopping.

Of course, not everything about the smallest Mazda is perfect – superminis in particular are sensitive to ruthless cost-optimisation to give them a fighting chance of profitability. Perhaps most noticeably, the Mazda2 Hybrid is a bit noisy on the motorway, and its thin- sounding speakers aren’t always able
to put up much of a fight against the din of tyre roar. This leads us on to the infotainment system, which has cheerful enough graphics and menus, but feels pretty dated next to the latest models. The features you’d expect – DAB radio, Bluetooth media, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay – are all present, but the screen is as sharp as a wooden sword and there’s a bit of lag in between presses too. As for the rearview camera; think old selfie camera or webcam rather than some of the best examples we get to test, where the picture is so clear you can see a distant cat’s expression as it watches your reversing manoeuvre.

I might be getting ideas above my station, but I’d also have loved to have seen heated seats in the front of the Mazda, even as an option. Now, that might seem like I’ve gone soft in my middle age, but I’d argue that getting in a freezing hybrid at 5am, heated seats are a quicker and more efficient way to get some warmth than having to wait for the blowers to eventually produce some heat – after around 10 to 15 minutes in my experience.

In other respects, the Mazda2 Hybrid in Homura specification is impressively well-specified, and I’ve already waxed lyrical about how much I like its warm hatch styling in previous reports. Passing many Toyota Yaris’ while out and about, I reckon the post-facelift Mazda looks better. Now that Mazda has also
upped the standard warranty to six years/100,000 miles, I reckon many more people will plump for the Mazda instead of the Toyota. The Yaris’ warranty might be even longer on paper, providing they get the car serviced at a Toyota dealer, but that’s academic for most people leasing a car for two or three years.

ANDY GOODWIN

WHAT’S HOT: The 2 Hybrid tops 60mpg in real-world driving and costs under £40 to fill up.

WHAT’S NOT: Somewhat tinny speakers lack the punch to drown out road noise at higher speeds.

CLICK HERE TO READ ALL OF OUR LONG-TERM REPORTS ON THE MAZDA2 HYBRID

FACTS & FIGURES

PRICE: (NEW) £27,775

PRICE: (NOW) £27,475

PRICE: (AS TESTED) £28,725

PRICE: (DEALER TRADE-IN) £15,800

PRICE: (DEALER FORECOURT) £16,900

COLOUR: Northern white pearl

BUILT IN: Valenciennes, France

CODENAME: ZV

GENERATION 4: Facelift

PLATFORM: Toyota TNGA-B

BODYSTYLE: 5-door hatchback, 5-seats

LAYOUT: Front-wheel drive

POWERPLANT: 1,490cc, 3-cylinder, 12-valve, petrol with electric motor and lithium-ion battery pack

GEARBOX: e-Continuously variable transmission

MAX POWER (ENGINE) 68kW/91bhp/92ps @ 5,500rpm

MAX POWER: (ELECTRIC MOTOR) 59kW/79bhp/80ps

MAX POWER: (COMBINED) 85kW/114bhp/116ps

MAX TORQUE: (ENGINE) 89lb ft/120Nm @ 3,600-4,800rpm

MAX TORQUE: (ELECTRIC MOTOR) 104lb ft/141Nm

TOP SPEED: 109mph

0-62mph: 9.7secs

CO2 EMISSIONS: 97g/km

ECONOMY: (COMBINED) 74.3mpg

ECONOMY: (ONTEST) 59.5mpg

FUELTANK: 36 litres

RANGE: 588 miles

INSURANCE GROUP: 14

BIK RATE: (2026/2027 TAX YEAR) 26%

SIZE: (LENGTH/WIDTH WITH MIRRORS/HEIGHT /WHEELBASE) 3,940/2,020/1,500/2,560mm

BOOT SPACE: (MIN/MAX) 286/935 litres

KERB WEIGHT: 1,130kg

MAX TOWING WEIGHT: 450kg

EURO NCAP RATING: Five stars

SPARE WHEEL: (FULL-SIZE/SPACESAVER/RUN-FLAT /SELF-SEALING/REPAIR KIT) No/no/no/no/yes

WARRANTY: 6 years/100,000 miles

DATE ARRIVED: 19th January 2026

COSTS: None

FAULTS: None