2020 Ford Fiesta vs Mazda 2

What's the difference?

If you want a brand-new city-sized hot hatch which is also entirely track-ready, it is clear you only really have one option to go with in 2020.

Good thing then the Fiesta ST is not only a blast to drive, but it has all of today’s modern connectivity and tech items in an attractive and tasteful package at a not-outrageous price.

It’s just too bad the manual-only aspect will limit its appeal to true enthusiasts.

The Mazda2 sure ain't cheap to buy, but neither is its spec list stingy. While the GT is taking the Mick a little bit at $26,000, it does have a lot of stuff, yet none of it is really a must have. With an alright engine bolted into a really good chassis, the 2 is the kind of fun small cars haven't been for a while. 

The bottom line is, any Mazda2 is a good choice - the depth of engineering is part of the reason it costs so much, and the ownership proposition is good with a long warranty. It's also very well-built, feels substantial despite being light and is packed with safety gear. And you can still get the entry-level Pure in manual...

The Fiesta wears Ford Europe’s new design language, which has swung back towards curves and bumps from the angular look of a few years ago, being tied to the brand’s broader global range through the use of the Mustang-look rhomboid grille. After the Focus it’s the first car to bring this design language to our market, and heralds a better-looking range of Ford SUVs in the form of the Puma and Escape (a segment in which Ford is struggling to make ground).

Regardless, our Fiesta only comes in one four-door body-style and one trim, this full-fat ST with all the spoilers and contrast detailing.

I love it. It scratches that European hot-hatch itch many have with its compact dimensions balanced out well with more subtle design touches. The 18-inch wheels and contrast grey highlights work well in the ‘Race Red’ colour scheme on our car, which also seems to nicely integrate the rear light fittings.

It’s aggressive but not over the top; there’s an element of subtlety about it, which should be applauded.

Inside, things are interesting. The chunky leatherbound wheel is nice, as are the almost-too-well-bolstered Recaro seats. But the dash is very upright, and the seating position immediately feels just a smidge too high, even in its lowest configuration.

The 8.0-inch touchscreen juts out of the dash into the passenger compartment, making you really feel those tight dimensions. At least everything is easily within reach…

The cabin design is a little dated, with plenty of hard plastics, a more-analog-than-not dashboard and some fittings which could easily be in a last-generation Ford product. Those searching for that hot-hatch experience probably won’t care, but it’s just not the most modern space to be in.

The 2 has been a funky car from the very beginning, after its name change from being the Mazda 121. They've looked pretty much the same for well over a decade, but there's no shame in that. The 2 is also proof of just how elastic the Kodo design language is, starting here in the small-car size and stretching happily to the massive CX-9 I had last week.

For 2020, the 2 has a new grille with the "wing" running along under the tweaked headlights to widen its stance. The fog lights are now integrated with the headlights and various small changes are alleged by Mazda to make the car look a bit more premium. I'm an unabashed fan of Mazda styling, so I'm onboard with these changes. Apart from the new alloys, which look a bit old-personish.

The cabin is largely untouched, apart from some new materials, including the oddly executed mix of blue-grey leather and a synthetic suede. The back seats, in particular, look like you've sat on them straight out of the bath. They're not bad, just odd. The lovely Mazda steering wheel, wrapped in leather, takes centre stage and the minimalist design of its bigger siblings has long since filtered down to the 2, and works a treat. Most of the materials feel nice and help justify the price, too.

This isn’t a big car, nor is it particularly magical in the way it’s packaged. It’s focused on the front two passengers, so is best meant for a single or couple. This is most obviously reflected in the awesome Recaro seats, which you have to drop yourself into due to the high and firm bolstering.

Still, even for front passengers it’s tight, with little arm-flailing room, and minimal cabin storage.

There’s two centre cupholders, which can barely hold a large cappuccino, tiny bottle-holders in the doors, a small centre console box, but a decently sized binnacle under the climate controls where my wallet, keys and phone spent most of the week. The glovebox is also so small that the collection of manuals which live in there had to be bent out of shape to fit.

Amenity-wise you get one USB port and one 12V power outlet next to the gearknob, and one USB port in the centre console.

The Fiesta is tall, so at least no occupant is left wanting for headroom. That having been said, the rear seats are tight. Behind my own seating position, my 182cm tall frame had knees up against the seat in front, and entry/egress to the rear is a little tight. I’d hardly recommend placing an adult in the centre seat. Unsurprisingly, rear-seat passengers get next to no amenities. There are no power outlets or adjustable vents, leaving them with only a pair of pitifully small cupholders in the doors and rear-seat pockets. Still, the fact it has rear doors at all is something, and gives it at least the ability to carry four adults without too much trouble getting them in or out for quick urban journeys.

Boot space has been expanded 21 litres over the previous Fiesta to now offer 311 litres (VDA) of space. This is actually pretty impressive and held our largest 124L CarsGuide travel case with ease.

Under the floor there is a space-saver spare wheel.

Well, look, it's not massive, this thing. At barely more than four metres long, you can't really expect too much from the tiny 2. Boot space starts at 250 litres and Mazda doesn't supply a seats-down figure, but trust me, a trip to Ikea for a Billy bookshelf is not on the menu.

Front-seat passengers score two cupholders and a phone-friendly tray forward of the shifter. Behind the slightly awkwardly placed cupholders is a square tray with a removable divider. In the back it's, uh, tumbleweeds - no cupholders, bottle holders or even an armrest.

The space in the back is as tight, as you might expect. When I sit behind my driving position - all not-towering 180cm of me - my knees touch the seatback, but it is soft. My feet go under the front seat, though, so that's fine for short trips. Headroom is surprisingly good, but I pity anyone squeezed between two adults in the centre seat.

You can't buy a Mazda2 for less than 20 grand anymore - remember I said they're not the cheapest car in class. A manual G15 Pure is $20,990, with automatic adding $2000. The Evolve sits in the middle of the range as an auto-only with a $24,490 sticker and the GT, at $25,990 is also available in hatch or sedan. The Genki is gone, the Maxx shuffled off this mortal coil and the Neo has vanished.

The GT I had for the week features 16-inch alloys, a six-speaker stereo, climate control, front, side and reversing cameras, keyless entry and start, front and rear parking sensors, active cruise control, sat nav, auto LED headlights, head-up display, leather wheel and shifter, partial leather seats, power windows and mirrors, auto wipers and a space-saver spare.

The MZD Connect runs the older version of Mazda's own media and navigation software and, while feeling a bit creaky, it holds up well. Try saying that about a Toyota Yaris's system, which is nothing short of dire. MZD also has DAB+, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. All of the features are controlled by touchscreen when the car is stopped and by a rotary dial on the console any time you like.

You’re buying this car for its 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo engine from the larger Focus. It is a punchy and characterful little unit, pushing out a whopping 147kW/290Nm. A lot for such a small package.

The Fiesta ST is only offered with a six-speed manual transmission which proved quick but forgiving, even in dense traffic. There’s no magnetic clutch or anything too brutal here which is going to make the ST unpleasant for urban drives punctuated by stopping and starting.

On the performance front the ST comes to Australia with a Quaife LSD as standard, which you can really feel in the corners. (More on that in the driving segment.)

The G15 in the name translates to Mazda's 1.5-litre naturally-aspirated SkyActiv four-cylinder. Slightly cheekily, Mazda says it has increased power to 82kW from 79kW, but that's because the old base Neo made do with the lower figure. Since 2017, the 2 has had 81kW and 139Nm and now it has (drumroll please) 82kW and 144Nm.

It's a front-wheel drive, obviously, with a six-speed automatic.

More torque is always welcome and, without giving any details, Mazda says the revisions have also reduced harmful emissions.

The initial claim of 6.4L/100km on the combined cycle seems pretty bold, and we couldn’t get close to it. I’m sure you could get much closer if you tried, but I was having far too much fun.

After a week of blasting the Fiesta down alleyways and skitting it around corners, the engine computer returned a usage of 8.4L/100km. Not on the claim, sure, but also not bad considering how much fun you can have for that amount of fuel.

The Fiesta has a 45-litre fuel tank and will accept mid-grade 95RON unleaded.

The official fuel figure of 5.3L/100km is good, but you're not going to get that around town. By the time my week was done, I had a 7.9L/100km indicated figure, which is a solid miss, but no surprise given you need to give it a bit of welly to get it going.

Like any good hot hatch, the Fiesta is huge fun, even when in the tight quarters of a city, or on a daily commute which would otherwise be boring.

The torquey engine makes short sharp bursts down suburban streets smile-inducing, and, due to the pure physics of having so much power in such a small package, there’s serious entertainment to be had without wrangling with the law. That’s because this car comes alive in the little moments: bursting off the mark at the lights, or swinging it into a corner and feeling the LSD work its magic to keep the ST’s body in line. You don’t need to be speeding or breaking traction to enjoy it.

There is nothing remarkable about the transmission in a good way. It’s slick, slots into gear nicely and the clutch is smooth – even forgiving. That ties into something else the Fiesta does well. Nothing is over the top about it. It is sensible, understated, tasteful.

You can bring it to life in the confines of an apartment block without waking up your neighbors, go for a short drive to the shops without cringing at potholes, take your family somewhere without blending them in the corners.

The suspension has enough give to be firm, a pleasure in the corners and a little skittish perhaps, but not as brutal as, say, the Peugeot 208 GTi was.

And while it might be the only performer left in the segment for now, I reckon it is a better urban friend than the Peugeot on Sydney’s roads, and a more engaging one than the Clio in the curvy stuff. It’s a hot hatch with few compromises… as long as you can drive a manual…

There is just one annoying thing about the Mazda2 driving experience; the fact that it's a bit slow on the uptake. Well, not necessarily slow, but the transmission and throttle take their sweet time sorting themselves out, especially when you want to get out of a corner. Being a naturally aspirated engine, you have to rev the 2 to get some go, which explains the solid miss in the fuel-economy figures.

The last 2 I drove was manual, and it felt a lot more peppy and easier to get going quickly if I needed it to. 

Hitting the Sport switch improves the throttle response but the transmission just gets dumber, sadly. 

The rest of it, though, is mint. The inclusion of the clever G-Vectoring system on the smallest Mazda was something I liked in 2017, and still do. Along with a firm-but-compliant suspension setup, the 2 has lovely pointy steering. The way it responds to a turn of the wheel is enthusiastic, without being worrisome.

The G-Vectoring Plus system mimics a tiny lift of the throttle by reducing torque to the front wheels and shifting the weight forward to the front tyres. This makes the car quite chuckable, almost reaching the warm-hatch territory occupied by GT-Line branded Euros from Renault and Peugeot. The Plus bit means that the brake-based torque vectoring has been added to the 2 for better performance out of corners.

The ride is perhaps a little firmer than you might expect from a small hatch - even taking into account a short wheelbase and relatively high-profile tyres - but that does translate into the 2 being good to drive if you're not an enthusiast, and fun to drive if you are.

The 2 has long been a pioneer on the advanced safety front. In addition to six airbags, ABS and stability controls, you get forward AEB with pedestrian avoidance, cameras everywhere, lane-departure warning, lane-keep assist, reverse AEB and reverse cross traffic alert. I have been wracking my brains to work out another car this size with that kind of gear, and I think it's the rather more expensive Audi A1. 

There are also three top-tether anchors and two ISOFIX points.

The 2 scored five ANCAP safety stars in December 2015.

All Fords are now covered by a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, which is on-par with major rivals, and a nice bit of security to have on a performance car. Check the fine print before taking it to the track though…

Ford also offers a few kickers through its Service Benefits program, like a free loan car when you service, auto club membership, and sat-nav updates.

The services which need to occur every 15,000kmn or 12 months are also cheap, with Ford covering the first four years at a fixed price of $299 each time.

Mazda owners score a five year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, along with five years of roadside assist, which replaced the previous paid scheme in 2019.

The company does persist with the annoying 12 months/10,000km servicing regime. It's probably less annoying for an obvious city car, but it's worth knowing. Service prices are capped for the first five services and are either $300 (first and third) or $330, with extras listed on the website, such as brake fluid and a cabin filter.