Mazda2 vs. Ford Fiesta price and features comparison

[P5w3kids]

Used TrueDelta.com's car price comparison tool to compare the Fiesta and Mazda2, now that prices for the latter have been released. The Mazda generally lists for less, but the Ford's additional features, styling, power, and economy will more than compensate for many, probably most people.

My analysis:

Ford Fiesta vs. Mazda2 price and features comparison

To run your own price comparisons:

Car price comparisons

Am I missing something here?

 

[BlackCherry06]

Pretty much sums it up:

"Anyone willing to pay a little more for the Ford will get a car that looks better, has more power, gets better gas mileage, and includes more features."

 

[MazdaMatt]

if the 1,6 ford engine is the same that we have here in EU...good luck for Ford customers.(loser)

thirsty and noisy.....way less sporty than mazda's engine

engine and manual tranny are a lot better in Mazda2

 

[GianL]

yes, agree: Ford has been able to screw very same chassis.
And I have same piece of information about fuel consumption: much worse than Mazda 1.5 gasoline.

 

[Antoine]

if the 1,6 ford engine is the same that we have here in EU...good luck for Ford customers.(loser)

thirsty and noisy.....way less sporty than mazda's engine

engine and manual tranny are a lot better in Mazda2

yes, agree: Ford has been able to screw very same chassis.
And I have same piece of information about fuel consumption: much worse than Mazda 1.5 gasoline.

(mswerd) Opinions from people who have been living with the Mazda2 on sale for years and the 3rd Gen Mazda2 since 2007 which includes myself (being in Japan)...IMO anyone willing to pay LESS for the Mazda will get a car that looks and feels leaner & cleaner and is simply more enjoyable to drive...Seems a lot like a more affordable and practical version of the Miata/MX-5! (drive)

The Fiesta is nice but that's about it for me...It will be very interesting to see how the two cars do in the North American Market once they are officially ON SALE.

 

[CorkSport]

This sounds like when the Mazda 3 came out and there were comparisons done between the focus and the 3. If I remember the 3 was rated better all around compared to the focus.

We will have to wait and see.

Derrick

 

[jamesroy23]

I think the mazda does have manual aircon as standard. The alarm is also standard. The cheapest ford dealer I had a quote from is quoting 350 for this even though its on ford.ie site for 200(cost of fitting maybe?). Cd with aux in mazda, I think this is an option on the fiesta. I think the Fiesta is a bit more substantial weight wise (200kg) based on what I've seen on forums etc. Mazda chopped off the weight to make the car a bit zippier it seems.

 

[P5w3kids]

I've only looked at prices and features in the U.S. The cars are probably priced and equipped differently in Ireland.

 

[fateexceeds]

It's pretty much a given that the Mazda2 will be more fun to drive than the Fiesta. Also, the Fiesta may be a slightly better initial value, but let's see how the residual value turns out! If the Focus & the 3 are any indication, the 2 will be the better long-term deal.

(If you want data, check out this residual value tool from cars.com: http://www.cars.com/go/alg/index.jsp?makename=&modelname=&year=; for example, after the first 24 months, the 2010 3 ranges from 64% to 71% across all of the possible trims, while the 2010 Focus ranges from 51% to 56%. After 36 months, the 3 drops to a range of 57% to 63%, which still beats the Focus after only 24 months! The numbers for the Focus after 36 months are 47% to 50%. As you can see, that equates to a significant value advantage for the 3.)

As Antoine said, it will be interesting to see how they fare in the market.

 

[P5w3kids]

One thing to realize with ALG's residual values is that they're based on MSRP. Any incentives--which have been much more common on the Focus--would improve the actual percentage.

 

[RODSCALIP5]

Im currently driving a 1.3l 90 hp Demio as rental.

Its bare bones, nothing special, but has little features like Auto Wipers, one touch up and down driver side window, and auto lights.

The interior is nice for a daily driver, and the engine is more than sufficient IMO. Much like the P5 it feels like your going faster than you really are. Now granted I am in Japan where in some places you dont need a lot of HP.

The handling reminds me of my Protege5. Overall this would be a nice daily driver, too bad Mazda NA is taking some of the features away from the 2 that the Demio has out here.

 

[CorkSport]

Im currently driving a 1.3l 90 hp Demio as rental.

Its bare bones, nothing special, but has little features like Auto Wipers, one touch up and down driver side window, and auto lights.

The interior is nice for a daily driver, and the engine is more than sufficient IMO. Much like the P5 it feels like your going faster than you really are. Now granted I am in Japan where in some places you dont need a lot of HP.

The handling reminds me of my Protege5. Overall this would be a nice daily driver, too bad Mazda NA is taking some of the features away from the 2 that the Demio has out here.

Thanks for the feedback on the overseas models. I was wondering how the 1.3 powered cars were to drive.

-Derrick

 

[niky]

Interesting comparison, Michael!

Too bad I won't get to do a side-by-side comparison of these two cars till September... but from what Baruth said about it at TTAC and from my test drive of the Mazda2 earlier this year, it appears that the Mazda2 will be a much more enthusiast-biased car... which means they may be approaching the subcompact market from different directions, ensuring less product overlap than would be otherwise.

I'd like to get them on the racetrack, together, though. Because the relationship between the Mazda3 and the Focus Mark II was similar in the beginning... yet despite the Mazda being lighter and more youth-oriented, the Focus was still the better driving car.

 

[RODSCALIP5]

Just wanted to update everyone with MPG for the smaller engine Demio. This week I got 32.48 MPG, that was with A/C full blast nothing but city driving and hauling heavy luggage around. Not bad I would say.

 

[BEC]

I wonder about those EPA numbers. As I recall my '88 323 was rated 24/28 (4 speed manual). I only saw as low as 28 in the dead of winter on heavy commuting duty with wipers, lights and heater on all the time. I saw as high as 40 (after going to a 5-speed box) and routinely got 30-32 in the winter and 34-36 in the summer in mixed commuting service up until it lost an argument with a Cadillac last week with 316,009 miles on the clock.

I had thought to replace it with a Mazda2 when I wore it out. That's now off the table for awhile - and luckily my mechanic put me onto an '87 323 DX hatchback with only 122,000 on it. I expect to be driving it for a good long while unless I repeat last Thursday's stupidity.

All that said, I'm sure going to be looking at both versions when they become available and seeing if my Mazda-specialist mechanic will work on the Ford version as he does work on other Ford/Mazda twins.

 

[Mistersix]

the lighter of the two will more than likely always be the better drivers car. i just hope someone makes a couple bolt-ons to free up a few more hp. it dont take much to make a 2200lb car fun to drive.

 

[P5w3kids]

the lighter of the two will more than likely always be the better drivers car. i just hope someone makes a couple bolt-ons to free up a few more hp. i dont take much to make a 2200lb car fun to drive.

True, especially with a manual transmission.

 

[Speed3.5]

I liked the Fiesta they sell in Europe, very sexy design and it is currently top seller with its efficient gas consumption.

 

[Rockin03mp5]

Car and Driver comparison.

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparisons/10q3/2011_ford_fiesta_vs._2010_honda_fit_2011_mazda_2-comparison_tests

The 2... places a fitting 2nd. Mainly due to the Fit having so much space inside. They tried to like the ford, but yeah, same conclusion as I had. Plus the fiesta has no rear leg room!

Still, for 3K less than the fit, you have room to buy some fun extras!

Also, according to them, the fiesta gets the worst average fuel economy. I know, that you would have to get the special fuel savers option to get the best mileage out of the fiesta though.

 

[P5w3kids]

The fuel economy results vary so little that it could come down to testing error.

Must say that, after I've driven the cars, I agree on the driving impressions of the 2 vs. the Fiesta. Less so on the Fit. I like the space inside the Fit, but not the driving position or how it drives.

My reviews:

<a href=http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/review-2011-ford-fiesta-take-3/>Ford Fiesta review</a>

<a href=http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/review-2011-mazda2/>Mazda2 review</a>