New little Mazda can go a long way

Syamsul Yunos

KUALA LUMPUR


14-Mar-07

THE Mazda 2, which made its debut at the recent Geneva Motor Show, may not be the fastest or most glamorous car on the stands but it is certainly one of the most important small cars to break cover at the Swiss autosalon.

The Mazda 2 used to be called the Demio and in its previous incarnation, the car was about as interesting as a pair of beige trousers it certainly keeps all the grimy bits out of sight but that's about it.

Sure, the Demio was rather spacious inside, as are baggy trousers, but that does not make it a good and certainly not an interesting small car. But that has since been changed.

It has been a long time since a small car made such an impact in terms of its styling, the last time this happened, it was the Daihatsu Copen, which looked like a cross between a turtle and a large serving bowl which means it looks very interesting and unique.

The Mazda 2 is gorgeous because the designers took a bold step in terms of surface treatment.

The interesting interplay between concave and convex surfaces gives the car a lithe and athletic look without being bulky.

Just look at how the shoulder line begins halfway up the front wheel arch and extends itself all the way to the rear lamp cluster, creating a very strong dynamic wedge in profile.

Notice also how the surface gradually morphs from convex to concave on the flank before making room for a stylish lower body feature line.

The wedge accents on the flank are further magnified by the front end.

The designer has used a very unusual trick to blend the sides to the nose, a flared wheel arch that begins from the front door and does an upside down Nike kink before going all the way to the lamp cluster.

Interestingly, the line dissolves in the lamp lens and restarts again at the bottom of the lens before disappearing again towards the large and dramatic air scoop.

The front fog lamps keep the grille company within two scalloped spaces on each side and all three hold the subtle front spoiler in perfect placing.

To be sure, the car's proportion is nothing extraordinary or clever but the play with such complex surface is.

Conventional wisdom says that such complex surfaces do not have enough room to form on such a small car, just look at the BMW 1-series and how the flame surfacing there looks cramped.

By reducing the severity of the surface curvatures, Mazda designers needed less room for their design to fully form and this is evident when people find the design pleasing without actually knowing why.

There is some rather mundane detailing on the car, such as the front grille which begs more attention from the designers and side mirrors which wrote the rule book of conventionalism.

The dashboard is clean and easy to understand while still looking like the designers had a bit of fun with it and that is the key to the car fun.

The car simply looks like the designers had fun doing it and this is a rarity from a Japanese car manufacturer apart from the really quirky domestic models which play all sorts of games with classic car and anime themes.

The Mazda 2 is a car that is meant for the masses and is hitting the one segment which Europe has had almost total dominance over interesting, well designed small cars. Fiat, Renault, Volkswagen and Ford had better watch out because the Mazda 2 is certainly going to take customers away from their popular models.

The Two is the first model to take the Zoom Zoom model philosophy to the next level and if this is what they are capable of in Hiroshima, then the next few Mazda models are going to be very good looking.

Finally, the Japanese company that has produced so many motoring icons may now enjoy the commercial success that has so long eluded it.

The Brunei Times