‘Drive light’ - new Mazda2’s strategy

Posted on 07/19/2007 under: Hatchbacks, News, Mazda

The all-new Mazda2 is the product of a lightweight mindset at Mazda’s R & D community. Engineers are striving to reduce the vehicle weight of new Mazda products as a way to lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, while continuing to deliver the agile handling and safety attributes Mazda customers expect. The new Mazda2 is a milestone in this respect: almost 100 kg lighter than the previous Mazda2, it reverses the trend towards ever-heavier vehicles while being safer and even more fun to drive.

Engineering solutions achieved 60 percent of this weight saving, including the savings in the body shell, which has an optimised structure and uses high and ultra-high tensile steels for less weight, with greater rigidity and better crash resistance. Another 20 percent were saved by features adjustments and 20 percent by making the car’s exterior dimensions smaller – while employing skilful packaging to retain generous interior dimensions.

Mazda2 engineers reduced weight by:

- use of high and ultra-high tensile steels for lighter (and stronger) body and joint reinforcements
- shortening the trailing arm of the rear suspension and giving the front lower arms an open-section design
- making the bonnet striker assembly smaller, the hinges thinner
- eliminating the underfloor catalyst (1.3-litre model)
- moving the fresh-air inlet to the top of the radiator shroud (doing away with the need for a resonator and baffle)
- making the wiring harness shorter
- changing the door-mounted speaker magnets to neodymium types and making the plastic moulding single-piece
- decreasing the length of the vehicle by 40 mm and height by 55 mm

These weight-saving measures make the new Mazda2 a trendsetter for fuel efficiency and low CO2 emissions. It delivers some of the B-segment’s lowest fuel consumption, from just 52.3 mpg on the combined cycle, while producing just 129 g/km of CO2.

Source: Mazda