Mazda 2 Drive in Chiang
Mai: 2 Good 2 be True
My Latest Trip To Thailand Was Too Good To Be True, Or Should I Say, Doubly Special. First, I Never Imagined I’d Have A Chance To Revisit Chiang Mai After 14 Years And Second, I Got To Experience Driving The New Mazda 2, The Multi-Awarded Car That Will Be Introduced In The Local Market Soon.
Chiang Mai Hosted The Southeast Asian Games In 1995 And I Was Part Of The Nbn 4 Broadcast Team That Covered The Games. The Team Also Included Fellow Commentators Christine Jacob-Sandejas, Lydia De Vega-Mercado, Chiqui Roa-Puno, Freddie Abando, Bill Velasco, Zaldy Perez And Recah Trinidad, And Producers Edgar Reyes, Bob Arias, Chit Gatan, And Bong Barrameda.
Having Stayed In Thailand’s Northern Capital For More Than Two Weeks, I Learned To Appreciate Thai Culture, Way Of Life And Spicy Food, Especially. The City, About 700 Kms Norfh Of Bangkok, Had A Newly Built Sports Complex At That Time And They Made It Even More Beautiful By Decorating The Area With Thousands Of Potted Flower Plants. Although Not Too Many Thais Spoke English At That Time, I Found Them Friendly And Hospitable. The Hotel We Stayed In Was Huge And Had Wide Corridors Where I Used To Do My Morning Jogs And It Had Links To Restaurants And Department Stores. It Was Also Very Convenient Because The Hotel Housed The Broadcast Studios For The Games, Thus, We Just Had To Walk A Few Minutes From Our Hotel Rooms If We Were On Duty For The Off-Tube Commentaries Or Taping. Of Course, I Enjoyed The Tuktuk Rides During Short Trips To Chiang Mai’s Night Markets. I Also Hitched Rides On Our Liaison Officers’ Scooters A Few Times. We Frequented The Night Bazaars As The Prices Were Unbelievably Low And My Colleagues Tagged Me As One Of The Gold Medallists For Shopping.
The Thai Airways Plane We Took From Bangkok’s Suvarnabhume Airport To Chiang Mai Was A Big Boeing And All Seats Were Taken Mostly By Foreign Tourists. We Were Told That Tourism In Chiang Mai Has Increased Significantly; There Are Eight Domestic Flights From Bangkok Daily. Our First Day Consisted Of A Bus Tour Of The City And The Second Highest Mountain In Chiang Mai Which Had Some Of The Oldest Buddhist Temples, And Culinary Treats In Some Of The Authentic Thai Restos. I Did A Lot Of Reminiscing As We Passed Through The Main Roads, Now More Congested With All Kinds Of Vehicles. My Day Was Made When I Finally Saw The Facade Of Our Hotel, Park Sang Kiaw.
It Was On The Second Day, When We Got To Be On The Steering Wheel Of The Mazda 2. I Was With Dong Magsajo, Motoring Editor Of Philippine Star, And Ardie Lopez, Producer-Host Of Auto Extreme, In One Of The 25 Units Made Available For The Asean Launch And Test Drive.
The 2010 Mazda 2 Impressed Me As A Smart, Sporty-Looking Subcompact Car. It Is The Latest Entry Into The Philippine Small Car Market And Will Compete Directly With The Toyota Vios And Yaris, Honda City And Jazz, And Suzuki Swift, And To Some Extent, The Hyundai Getz And I-10, Kia Picanto, And Suzuki Alto And Celerio. Small Cars Are Getting A Bigger Slice Of The Market And The Entry Of The Mazda 2 Will Surely Add A Lot Of Excitement In The Field, Maybe The Way The Bigger Mazda 3 Did When It Was Introduced Five Years Ago.
The Mazda 2 Is Powered By A 1.3 L In-Line 4-Cylinder 16-Valve Gasoline Engine With Maximum Output Of 63Kw At 6,000 Rpm. It Comes In 5-Speed Manual And 4-Speed Automatic Transmission. It Also Has A 1.5L Variant That Is Available Only In Automatic Transmission. In Developing Mazda2, "We Aimed To Meet The Diversified Needs Of Today’s Customers Interested In A Vehicle Of This Class, And Set "Personal Smart Commuter" As The Key Product Concept. Since Its Debut In 2007, Mazda2 Has Gone On Sale In More Than 70 Countries," Says, Ryoichi Kishimoto, Mazda2 Programme Manager.
The Mazda2 Earned Worldwide Acclaim Particularly For Its Sporty, Stylish Design Including The 2008 World Car Of The Year; Rjc (Automotive Researchers’ And Journalists’ Conference Of Japan) Car Of The Year 2007–2008; 2007 Design Car Of The Year (Also In Japan); European Car Of The Year 2008 (Second Place); New Zealand Car Of The Year 2007; Chilean Car Of The Year 2007; And South Africa’s 2008 Car Of The Year.
The Mazda 2 Launched In The Asean Features Many Refinements Made Especially To Suit Customers In The Region. The Design Tone Of The Current Model Remains Unchanged But For A Refreshed Appearance Consistent With The Latest Mazda Family Identity, Kishimoto Said They Have Adopted A New Front Face Incorporating A More Pronounced Five-Point Grille Without Changing The Basic Theme Of The Current Model. In Keeping With Asean Road Conditions, Mazda Has Also Come Up With A Smoother, More Comfortable Ride, Well Balanced With Dynamic Performance.
Our Long Convoy Attracted A Lot Of Attention Especially On City Roads Where We Had No Problem Driving On Narrow Streets. On The Open Highway, Our Car Was Next To A Much Bigger Pace Car Provided By The Police Escort But We Were Able To Keep Pace With The Lead Car Even At Speeds Of 130 Kms Per Hour In Some Stretches. Automatic Shifting Was Smooth And The Engine Supplied The Power When We Needed To Do Some Overtaking Maneuvers. The Car’s Mzr Engine Also Promises Good Fuel Savings. The Manual 1.5L Engine Is Capable Of 15.6 Kms Per Liter While Its 1.3L Version Can Have 17.2 Kms/L Output Based On Mazda’s Tests. Mazda Also Made The ‘2’ As Light As Possible Because Weight Directly Affects Running, Turning And Stopping Performance. The Lighter The Car The Better Its Performance In Every Respect. In Addition, Weight Has A Major Effect On Fuel Consumption. To Help Improve Fuel Efficiency As A Way To Reduce Co2 Emissions And Other Exhaust Gases That Place A Burden On The Environment, Mazda Made The Current Model Lighter But Without Sacrificing Zoom-Zoom Performance And Collision Safety.
The Latest Weight-Saving Technologies Used From Mazda’s Advanced Development Efforts Include A Body Structure In Which A New Kind Of Framework And High-Tensile Steel Are Employed In Line With A New Crush Concept; And Hysteresis-Minimizing Measures Whereby Spot Welds And Weld Bonds Are Used To Stiffen Highly Stressed Body Parts, Not The Body As A Whole. The Organizers Chose Various Types Of Roads For Us To Test The Mazda 2’S Performance But The One I Liked Most Was The Drive To Mae Taeng District, A Sanctuary Of The National Forest Area, Some 90 Kms From The City. Here, We Had A Good View Of The Chiang Mai Countryside With All Its Long Winding Roads And Several Zigzags. The Car Simply Showed Its Sportiness, Handling The Straights And The Corners Like A Tireless Long Distance Runner And Sprinter. We Were Having Fun And We Barely Noticed That We Had Completed Half Of Our Test Drive Route And We Parked The Cars Under The Shades Of Tall Forest Trees. Coffee Tasted Even Better As We Continued Appreciating The 10 Body Colors Of The Parked Cars. I Made A Quick Survey Among The Journalists. The Popular Choices Were The Green And Red, Also My Personal Favorites.
The Designers Aimed Mazda2 To Be Enjoyable In Day-To-Day Life, Not Just In Terms Of Driving Pleasure But Also In Terms Of The Enjoyment That Comes From Owning Such A Car. Within Its Compact Dimensions, Mazda2 Encapsulates Mazda’s Zoom-Zoom Approach To Carmaking — An Approach That’s About Individuality, Not About Being Average. I Agree With The Designers That The Car Has A Beautifully Coherent Design. Every Contour On The Mazda 2 Seems To Have A Look That Changes Greatly Depending On The Way Light Falls On It.
During Our Farewell Dinner And Party, The Band Sang "Can’t Take M<Y Eyes Off Of You," While Four Female Models, Also Members Of A Popular All-Female Band In Thailand, Got Out Of A Mazda 2 Unit. "You’re Just 2 Good 2 Be True." The Band Serenaded As The Girls Continued Dancing Around And Appreciating The Car. Well, One More Reason Why The Mazda 2 Trip Was Doubly Pleasant.