Small cars are all the rage for prudent buyers today. PADDY COMYNcompares two of the favourites of the motoring team
OUR ROAD tests are an eclectic mix of supercars, luxury cars, hybrids, electric cars and even the odd concept model held together with sticky tape and prayer.
Yet we are not immune to the current realities of the motoring world. While we like to read about the cutting-edge excess and petrolheads like to drool over Bugattis and Ferraris, the supermini segment is one of the few that is stable worldwide.
Downsizing is all the rage, as buyers want more economical, user-friendly and fun vehicles. Gone are the days when a small car meant compromising on items such as safety and comfort, and today’s supermini is as well engineered as much bigger, more expensive cars. These are no longer just cars for your mother or granny.
While cars such as the Ford Fiesta, Toyota Yaris, Nissan Micra and Peugeot 207 have dominated the supermini segment in Ireland, there are some good alternatives to the more mainstream brands. Here are two of the best.
STYLING
Swift ****
Mazda2 ***
The Suzuki Swift became an instant hit because of its pseudo-Mini styling; there is an unashamedly familiar look to the Swift, with the overall stance and the friendly face offering a strikingly similar look to the more expensive Mini. Yet it has something the Mini doesn’t: five doors. For families, that’s a no-brainer.
Admittedly the Swift is starting to show its age a bit now and is due a revision. Compared to the more recent Mazda2, it is starting to look a little old-fashioned.
The Mazda is a better-looking car, overall. It manages to look fresh, modern and upmarket, yet resists the slightly more striking look of the Swift.
It’s a great-looking supermini and, while the Suzuki is probably the more sporty of the two in terms of styling, the Mazda wins out for its more modern look.
It’s a very close call, but we suspect that younger male drivers would prefer the Swift to the softer lines of the Mazda2.
RELIABILITY and QUALITY
Swift ***
Mazda2 ****
In the case of both of these cars, you are set to enjoy Japanese reliability and are unlikely to suffer too many headaches when it comes to mechanical or electrical faults in the way that you can with some European brands at this level.
Suzuki is famed for is reliable engines, and this is likely to be true with the already tried and tested Swift. The build quality, while never feeling quite as solid as some of its German-built rivals, is nonetheless very good, and the interior, while basic, feels hard-wearing. The Mazda2, on the other hand, is a very impressive car in terms of perceivable quality, with tight shut lines on the exterior and a really good-quality interior. Of these two really well-put-together cars, the more expensive Mazda2 has the edge in terms of an upmarket, quality feel.
DRIVING
Swift ****
Mazda2 ****
The benefits of driving a supermini, aside from the ease of parking and the ability to manoeuvre in tight spaces, is that these cars are usually light, and each year they are becoming more powerful. The Swift won acclaim from critics because it was such fun to drive, even at entry level, such as the 90hp 1.3-litre model tested here.
It’s competent on the open road, but it’s in town and on country roads that the Swift excels. It’s just so nimble that it gives the driver real confidence. We’re frequently asked for buying tips by parents looking for a starter car for their children, and while it has always been too expensive new to put an inexperienced teenager in a Swift, there are plenty in the used market now. At the right price it’s a perfect starter or college car.
The secret to the Mazda2 is its chassis, and many people underestimate just how agile this car is. While the ride is quite supple, and perhaps sometimes too firm for some buyers, it will reward those who want their superminis to be fun as well as practical. It is virtually impossible to separate these two cars from this perspective. Let’s call it a dead heat in this category.
COMFORT and PRACTICALITY
Swift ***
Mazda2 ****
Here again there is very little between these two cars. The Mazda2 is 5mm longer, but has a wheelbase 110mm longer than the Swift. Although the Swift is 25mm higher, the Mazda has 39mm more headroom in the front and 38mm more legroom in the front.
In the rear, the Mazda too has more space, with 46mm more rear headroom and substantially more rear legroom, at 253mm more than the Swift. The Mazda also has a larger boot, with 250 litres compared with 213 litres in the Swift. All these figures add up to the Mazda being a more practical offering than the Swift. Whereas in our economic glory days these cars would have been the second or even third car in the driveway, buyers now are looking at using a supermini as the main mode of transport. For that they require as much practicality as possible, and that’s where the Mazda wins out.
ENGINES
Swift ****
Mazda2 ***
The Suzuki comes with a 1.3-litre four-cylinder engine putting out 90hp and 116Nm of torque. This compares to the 1.3-litre 86hp unit used in the Mazda, which has 121Nm of torque.
The Swift has the better of the Mazda in many of the performance figures. It is two seconds faster to 100km/h, but it also has a top speed of 175km/h, compared to the 168km/h the Mazda can manage.
The lightweight Mazda is cleaner, with CO2 emissions of 129g/km, compared to 140g/km in the Swift, and while this makes no difference in terms of tax bands, the Mazda is slightly more economical, using 5.4l/100km compared to the 6.1l/100km of the Swift. The Mazda unit does roar a bit, though, and doesn’t feel as refined as it might.
RUNNING COSTS (ECONOMY, ROAD TAX, DEPRECIATION)
Swift ****
Mazda2 ****
There isn’t a lot to differentiate the two when it comes to fuel economy.
The Mazda is slightly more economical and has lower emissions than the Suzuki, but as they both reside in Band B for tax, buyers will pay the same rate of road tax for each, and the fuel-economy figures are so close to identical as to not make any real difference.
We also looked at year-old models of both cars to track their possible depreciation, and while the Mazda2 did originally have a higher purchase price than the Swift, a year later asking prices remain stronger for the Mazda than the Swift, although used examples of the Suzuki are much more plentiful.
As a used car, the Swift is much better value than the Mazda, if perhaps not as well equipped in most cases.
EQUIPMENT and SAFETY
Swift ***
Mazda2 ***
There is a more than significant €1,835 difference in purchase price between the two cars as we have them here, but the Mazda in this Touring spec does come generously equipped with alloy wheels, fog lights, a leather wheel and a CD player with an auxiliary connection for an MP3 player. The Suzuki as a GLX gets air conditioning, fog lights and alloy wheels, and costs almost €2,000 less than the Mazda with a similar specification. The Mazda2 received five stars for adult protection in the Euro NCAP safety tests compared to four for the Swift, and it also beat the Swift in the same test when it came to child protection, scoring four stars compared to the three stars of the Swift.
VERDICT
The Mazda has beaten the Swift in many of the individual categories, but this doesn’t make the result that simple, as the price difference is quite significant in these like-to-like models. There are cheaper Mazda2 models, and indeed a cheaper Swift model, but these two cars have pretty much identical specifications, and the Mazda is quite a bit more expensive. The question then is whether the Mazda2 at this level is worth more than €1,800 more than the equivalent Swift.
The answer is no. We would prefer the Mazda for its more modern fit and finish, along with its better practicality, but we would be hard pressed to pay that much extra for it. Two great superminis, but in a time when cash is king, the Swift just about pips the Mazda to the finishing post.
Factfile: Mazda 2 1.3-litre 86bhp
Engine: 1,349cc four-cylinder petrol, 86bhp, 121Nm torque, five-speed manual transmission
0-100km/h: 13.3 seconds
Top Speed: 168km/h
Economy: urban – 6.8l/100km (41.0 mpg), extra-urban – 4.6l/100km (61mpg), combined – 5.4l/100km (52 mpg)
CO2 emissions: 129g/km
Tax: Band B (€156 annual road tax)
Boot capacity: 250 litres
Price: €16,795
Factfile: Suzuki Swift 1.3 GLX 5-door
Engine: 1,328cc four-cylinder petrol, 90bhp, 116Nm torque, five-speed manual transmission
0-100km/h: 11 seconds
Top Speed: 175km/h
Economy: urban – 8l/100km (35mpg), extra-urban – 5.l/100km (55 mpg), combined – 6.1l/100km (46 mpg)
CO2 emissions: 140g/km
Tax: Band B (€156 annual road tax)
Boot capacity: 213 litres
Price: €14,960