Jamie Page Deaton: One thing that stands about most Mazdas is their performance, and the Mazda 2 is no exception. There's only one engine available in the Mazda 2 and it's a 1.

5 liter 4-cylinder, it makes about a 100 Horsepower. Now with that kind of engine size, I mean you're talking about that kind of power output, you'd expect good fuel economy.

With the standard manual 5-speed transmission, the EPA says the Mazda 2 gets 29 miles per gallon in the city and 35 on the highway. With the optional 4-speed automatic, the 2 gets 27 in the city and 33 on the highway. These figures are pretty good, but given the Mazda 2's size, a number of reviewers say they thought the fuel economy could be better. Still the Mazda 2 is more fun to drive in a typical eco-minded fuel sipper, so given away a few MPGs might be worth it.

Getting up to highway speeds in the 2 can be a little bit taxing if you've got a full load of passengers in cargo, but if there's just one person on board, it's really okay. And anyway, the 2 is meant to be a city car and it's got enough power for around-town driving, so the highway stuff really isn't that important.

Now we've got the standard manual transmission and it's pretty good. One thing I really don't like is that the shifter is mounted almost up on the center stack and since I've got short arms, I've got to reach out for it a little bit, but that might not be an issue for you.

Now the clutch on this is really nice and smooth which is great when you're in traffic because your knee doesn't get tired. But because it is so smooth, it's really hard to feel the friction zone when the engine is engaged, and so you end up over roving it a lot, or at least, I do. So there's going to be probably a little bit of an adjustment period for you as you learn to drive it.

Still for a front-wheel drive car, the Mazda 2 handles really well, it's really zippy, it's really maneuverable, its small size makes it great in tight places. And another nice thing about it is it's got some standard safety features like stability and traction control which help prevent skids which sometimes cost extra on other subcompact cars.

And really the bottom-line on the Mazda 2's performance is if you've only got about $14,000 to spend on a new car and performance is a priority, the 2 is a great choice. If you want to learn more about the 2, check out our other videos.