Mazda's tell all weight-loss tips

In the tradition of the Hollywood weight loss diet, Mazda has now revealed how it managed to chop 100kg from its new Mazda2 supermini. Considering the fact that cars have been getting heavier due to increased safety features and higher feature specs, only a few car companies have managed to reverse the trend in their own cars. According to Mazda, 60% of the savings were made due to engineering, 20% by adjusting the features and another 20% by shrinking its dimensions.

Some of the adjustments made include the use of high and ultra-high tensile steels for lighter (and stronger) body and joint reinforcements, eliminating the underfloor catalyst, and changing the door-mounted speaker magnets to neodymium types.

We just hope other car manufacturers take notice of these changes and implement them in new models. It’s getting a little bit ridiculous for “sports” coupes to be nudging 1500+ kilos.

Click ahead for the full list of Mazda's weight saving techniques.

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