2.0 120ps SE Auto 5dr Hatchback

Superb, except no spare! Petrol every time!

This car is a pleasure to drive. I have covered only some 3200 miles since I got it new and 2000 of those have been two long drives into France, the rest kixed or short drives. It is comfortable, the controls are intuitive and the power instant - a lot more immediate than a turbo, especially a diesel. The interior is as good as a BMW (we also have a three) and the whole impression is of some quality; quiet, restrained,. The only two things things I can complain of are the fitting of the SatNav, not the kit itself, which is not at all bad, but the fact that my pet, artificial, cadeau Kat cannot be held in position without the elastic band obscuring the screen on the 2017 model, plus, and much more important, the lack of a proper 'spare' facility (see later)l.

Otherwise, I am sold. I took a long time deciding and I do not regret it. It is much better as a car than the 2014 model I had before. I now have set the wing mirrors and locks to auto-shut, the (new) rear camera is a boon, the resolution of the camera is good, the sun visors are no more and no less usable than the competition, the seats are comfortable, a heated seat is unnecesary (a heated steering wheel is a bit of a joke) but the options list remains small. For example; there is still no option for seats to be electric, let alone programmable (my wife is just 5ft tall and I am over 6ft.) but we can now manually raise the passenger seat, so that is one deficiency gone. I don't know who at Mazda is in charge of this sort of thing but they are selling fewer cars because of this deficiency.
Overall, though, it is a fine motor.

However, as I said, it has no facility to fit run-flat rubber and with either nothing but an injected gunge, which is messy and doesn't work, or a silly 'get-you-home' spare wheel, which I don't have, like a lot of other cars, perhaps that is the single most risky and annoying thing about the Mazda. The fact that you don't often get a puncture is irrelevant, as is the fact that others, but not BMW, have followed or preceded Mazda in this daft way of saving weight and 'improving' fuel consumption figures. The tyre manufacturers need to catch up and the suspension designers need to talk to them!They both need to look at BMWs - in Englend at least!

Otherwise, a fine car!! I would buy another. They only get better.

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