Highway Driving
On the highway is where you'll notice you're driving a small, light car, and
that's not always a great thing. Right off, there was fair amount of road noise,
and passengers noticed a lot of wind noise. That can be common for lighter cars,
because they don't tend to have a lot of sound insulation. Neither noise was
intrusive.
The steering is lively on the highway. I never felt like the car got twitchy,
but other editors who drove the Mazda2 said the steering was too light at speeds
above 70 mph.
If I liked the automatic for cruising around town, the highway was one place
where I really preferred the manual transmission. The automatic Mazda2 runs out
of steam at high speeds, and I think that's because it could use one more gear.
When you want to pass, what you get is pretty much what you'd expect from a
small, four-cylinder engine: a lot of noise but not a lot of surging forward.
This was less of a problem with the manual.
The Mazda2 absolutely shines in one aspect of highway driving: its ride. You
hear the car go over expansion joints, but you don't really feel it. Also, some
small cars — notably the Honda Fit — seem to porpoise over lumps in the road,
but the Mazda2 really soaks them up. I took the Mazda2 for a weekend of bike
races and came out of it as fresh as I have from some other, larger cars — maybe
fresher. Whoever tuned the Mazda2's suspension should be commended, especially
because the Mazda2 takes curvy highway on-ramps pretty flat, too. It's tough to
get both of those attributes in one car.
See also:
Operation Using Advanced Key Functions
qKeyless Entry System
This system uses the more traditional
keyless entry buttons to remotely lock and
unlock the doors and opens the trunk lid,
and opens the power windows.
It can also help you ...
Windshield Wipers and Washer
The ignition switch must be in the ON
position.
WARNING:
Use only windshield washer fluid or
plain water in the reservoir:
Using radiator antifreeze as washer
fluid is dangerous. If sprayed on t ...
Bottle Holder
Bottle holders are on the inside of the
front doors.
CAUTION:
Do not use the bottle holders for
containers without caps. The
contents may spill when the door is
opened or closed. ...