2022 Kia Sportage vs Mazda CX-30

What's the difference?

Kia has upped its game with the new Sportage, especially in this circa-$50,000 part of the segment. It is absolutely packed with comfort, tech and safety features and it’s hard to beat when it comes to value. The fact that it offers such an engaging drive experience is a bonus, and a credit to the local team. Look out Mazda CX-5 and Toyota RAV4, the new-gen Sportage may just be the new dynamic pick of the segment.

At roughly $30,000 it’s hard to do better than Mazda’s base CX-30 in the small SUV space when it comes to cabin ambiance, premium looks, and safety equipment.

While popular variants further up the range sell well, I’d recommend you resist the urge to upgrade as this version has almost everything you could need in a good-looking and relatively fun-to-drive package. 

There sure is. Kia has been known for strong design for some time now, thanks in large part to a brand transformation led by former Audi designer Peter Schreyer a little over a decade ago.

The third-generation Sportage from 2010 was a game-changer for Kia, with its modern design helping elevate the brand in Australia. The fourth-gen version from 2015 built on that with a much sharper take on Kia’s design language, but the latest model takes it to a whole new level.

Based on Kia’s new 'Opposites United' design language, the new Sportage is undeniably modern, almost radically so, and it makes many of its rivals look staid. To say the Sportage received a lot of attention during our week driving it would be an understatement.

The boldest design elements are up front. The gloss black grille graphic introduces a new take on Kia’s signature ‘tiger nose’ grille, which is surrounded by very cool boomerang-shaped LED daytime running lights that hug the LED headlights.

A darkened D-pillar treatment, bulging rear shoulder line, appealing LED tail-light design, rear tailgate spoiler and sexy 19-inch machined alloy wheels cap off the Sportage’s striking look.

The CX-30 embodies Mazda’s current design ethos to a T. It owns the swoopy lines, silver embossed grille, and tight light clusters which define the brand.

This Pure version is no exception, with even the more basic 16-inch alloy wheels finished in a more premium-looking gunmetal hue, and it maintains a sense of presence thanks to its standard LED headlights and dual exhaust.

Stepping inside, there is so little evidence pointing to the idea the Pure is the most basic grade. Sure, this interior feels as though it was built to be accompanied by leather seat trim, but this doesn’t take away from the sleek cabin ambiance built up by a digital dash cluster, attractive steering wheel, and luxurious-feeling centre console.

This basic version of the CX-30 is defined by a blue interior theme rather than the brown theme which appears on higher-grade models, and upon closer inspection you’ll notice the areas where the Pure differs from higher grades, like the more basic air-conditioning controls which replace a more premium looking dual-zone climate control set.

Sure, it’s missing some of the extra silver trims here and there, but for a base offering the CX-30 Pure is hard to go past, forgoing nasty plastics and major missing features of some of its rivals. For an SUV at this price, it is hard to do better.

Kia has been kicking serious goals lately when it comes to interior design, comfort and materials. The Sorento is a stellar example of thoughtful and appealing design. Thankfully, the Sportage follows suit.

As is often the case, particularly with Kia and sister brand Hyundai, the higher grades make the entry-level models look like stripped out, bargain basement offerings.

While the Sportage GT-Line has high-end fittings and a massive connected screen, the base Sportage S has none of the fancy tech, a budget screen and it’s missing armrests and more.

However, we are assessing the GT-Line so best to compare with similar rivals.

There’s a lot to like in the cabin, from the soft-touch materials on the dash, to the gloss black and lovely grey woodgrain inserts. There’s no mistaking this for anything but the top-spec model.

Thank goodness for the digital air con controls that sit between the screen and console. You don’t have to fumble through a menu on a screen like some models.

The nicely laid out centre console houses a drive mode selector, seat heating and cooling controls, gear dial (don’t love) two sizeable cup holders you can convert into one big space, and a gear shifter dial instead of the lever found in lower grades.

Kia’s well-designed three-spoke leather-appointed steering wheel houses clear controls and it feels nice to touch.

Cool retro-looking air vents sit on either side of the main screen, which is curved. Actually, it’s two 12.3-inch screens side by side, seamlessly integrated. It’s an interesting approach from Kia, and it works.

The instruments are clear and configurable to show different vehicle information, but it lacks a head-up display. Kia might think it doesn’t require one, but it wouldn’t go astray.

Kia’s multimedia system is a winner. It’s intuitive, simple to navigate and the graphics and icons are modern and visually appealing. Every single one of Kia’s Japanese rivals, except maybe Mazda, take note.

Connecting the phone to Bluetooth is quick and easy and there were no connection issues with the wired Apple CarPlay. Hopefully Kia and Hyundai add wireless CarPlay to higher grade models soon. Many entry grades have the wireless set-up.

Storage-wise a phone fits neatly in to the wireless charging slot that has a sliding cover, and the central bin has enough room but it’s not huge. Same goes for the glove box.

Door bottle storage is tight up front and we couldn’t get thicker bottles in there.

The perforated leather-appointed front seats with synthetic suede look lovely and offer great upper body support, but could to with more under-thigh bolstering. Regardless, they are very comfortable.

Kia has stretched the new Sportage by 175mm in length compared to the old one, which has added 80mm to the wheelbase, and it shows. The second row is so much more spacious than the model it replaced. There’s plenty of toe, knee and legroom and the panoramic sunroof has no impact on headroom back there, even for my six-foot (183cm) frame.

Conveniences back there include lower air vents, two USB-C ports on the rear of the front seats, map pockets on both sides, a storage nook under the vents, a coat hanger hook on the seat backs and a very handy slot for a phone or tablet in the back of the front headrests. Oddly, bottles slot in to the doors more easily in the rear.

Rear seats have some upper body bucketing and are quite comfortable. The centre armrest folds down with two cupholders and the backrests recline. The 60/40 seats can be lowered easily via levers in the boot and they fold close to flat.

It has a full-sized spare wheel under the boot floor and shopping back hooks. With the rear seats up it can swallow 543 litres – more than the old one – and 1829L with the second row stowed. That’s more than the new Mitsubishi Outlander and slightly more than the Toyota RAV4.

Sadly, the CX-30 was never the most practical of the small SUV bunch, and more basic grades even miss out in some areas.

Front passengers are treated well with ample width and headroom on offer, and the big centre console box not only offers a large storage area but will accommodate two elbows on top with ease.

On the topic of elbows, the front seat also offers lovely soft trims in the doors, as well as a large storage bin and bottle holder underneath. There are also a set of two bottle holders in front of the gearshift, and a small tray for phones and wallets under the air conditioning controls.

The screen looks great and is mounted in just the right spot but is only controlled via a dial. While it is easy to navigate the simple menus of the stock software this way, controlling phone mirroring software with it is clumsy to say the least.

The back seat is nowhere near as accommodating as the front, with my knees close up to the front behind my own driving position.

Headroom is decent although getting in requires you to duck under the descending roofline. Amenities in the base Pure grade are also limited, with a single bottle holder in each door, a single pocket on the back of the passenger seat, but no power outlets or adjustable air vents. At least the soft elbow-pad is maintained in the door trim.

The boot is also far from the largest in this class, at just 317 litres. It could just fit the full set of three CarsGuide luggage cases, but required the removal of the luggage shelf, and would have had the medium case obscuring your rear view.

The CX-30 has a space-saver spare wheel under the boot floor, as well as dual ISOFIX and three top-tether mounts across the rear row.

Price is a bit of a funny topic here, because when the CX-30 launched Mazda was talked about as though it was suddenly going ‘upmarket’. With its rivals seemingly forced into a string of price rises though, the gap between the CX-30 and key alternatives has significantly narrowed.

Wearing an MSRP of $30,390, this entry-level Pure automatic is now on-par with its rivals, which in this specific small SUV shape currently include the Toyota C-HR GXL ($30,915), Volkswagen T-Roc 110TSI Style ($35,500), and the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross ES ($30,990).

Mazda, perhaps owing to its lofty ambitions on other CX-30 grades, has packed the Pure with a particularly odd array of standard equipment. For a base model it has an impressive 8.8-inch multimedia screen, push-start ignition, and even a holographic head-up display, but doesn’t include traditionally basic items at this price like dual-zone climate control or even the convenience of keyless entry.

Expected base-grade stuff like basic cloth seat trim with manually adjustable front seats is there alongside small 16-inch alloy wheels, but then again, there’s also lovely synthetic leather trim for the steering wheel, door cards, and centre console. The semi-digital dash suite from other CX-30 grades is even included.

It makes this car feel very nice for the price, but the strange set of omissions are clearly designed to encourage you into a higher grade.

On the options front there is only the 'Vision Technology' pack ($1500) which includes some of the omitted safety items, like a 360-degree parking camera, adaptive cruise control, driver attention alert, front cross-traffic alert, and front parking sensors. Two shades of grey and Mazda’s signature 'Soul Red' exterior paint colours also wear a $495 optional price tag.

A lot of what goes into buying a car though is emotion, and I can see why prospective owners would easily be swayed into the CX-30 at this price with its upmarket look and feel compared to, say, an entry-level version of the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross.

This Sportage GT-Line is powered by a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine pumping out 137kW of power at 4000rpm and 416Nm of torque at 2000-2750rpm.

In terms of outputs, it matches its mechanical twin, the Tucson, and it’s roughly in line with the VW Tiguan (147kW/400Nm), but it’s slightly down on the Mazda CX-5 2.2-litre diesel’s 140kW/450Nm.

All diesel Sportage grades come with all-wheel drive as standard and the transmission is an eight-speed automatic.

The CX-30 Pure has a decidedly low-tech 2.0-litre four-cylinder non-turbo petrol engine, which drives the front wheels via a six-speed traditional torque converter automatic transmission. It is the least powerful of the three engine options available in the CX-30 range, producing 114kW/200Nm.

It would be nice to see a parallel hybrid option here, but Mazda instead offers its semi-compression ignition engine technology at the top-end of the range.

According to Kia’s figures, the Sportage diesel consumes 6.3 litres per 100 kilometres on the combined cycle.

We ended our week of testing with 8.9L/100km, which is considerably more than the official claim. Granted, it was a week of very mixed driving – freeway, heavy traffic, inner city and back road testing – so you’d likely get better results in a less erratic week.

The Sportage emits 163g/km of CO2 and has a 54-litre fuel tank.

This little 2.0-litre engine seems to have to push hard to keep up, and while the CX-30’s combined cycle fuel consumption number comes in at 6.5L/100km, in my real-world week-long test I saw an alarming 9.0L/100km average.

To be fair, my driving was almost entirely confined to city limits, but it is still above this car’s official ‘urban’ number of 8.0L/100km.

A small reprieve, this most basic engine option can consume entry-level 91RON unleaded fuel.

The CX-30 has a 51-litre fuel tank, which using my real-world average consumption translates to a range in excess of 550km.

There wasn’t anything particularly wrong with the previous Sportage, but it was middle of the pack when it came to dynamics and overall driver engagement.

While I can only speak for the flagship GT-Line diesel here, it’s safe to say the new model represents a big improvement over the outgoing car.

Quite conveniently, I spent the week prior to the Sportage with the Hyundai Tucson Highlander diesel – the direct equivalent to the Sportage tested here.

While I found very little wrong with the Tucson, it lacked a level of driver engagement that gives a car that fun factor.

Despite the two models sharing so much of their underpinnings, the Kia manages to offer that playful dynamism lacking in the Tucson.

To start, the turbo-diesel engine is more responsive in the Sportage, even though the two have identical outputs. There’s a hint of turbo lag, but the Kia delivers its power and torque in a more linear manner.

This responsiveness comes in handy during daily driving around town, but it’s also useful if you need to overtake on a highway.

Steering is heavy even at low speeds and it feels like it pulls back to centre when turning. It could be a little looser on that front, but it’s direct when required.

One of the reasons for the more engaging driving characteristics is Kia’s local ride and handling program. The Sportage has been tuned by locals for local conditions and the team generally does an exceptional job.

The Tucson didn’t get the usual rigorous local tune from Hyundai’s specialists and that’s given the Sportage the edge.

It feels more planted to the road and given its GT-Line badge, it’s been tuned for more enthusiastic driving.

The Sportage doesn't skip on loose edges, even when cornering, and it remains remarkably flat through the twisty stuff.

The eight-speed auto does a good job for the most part, shifting smoothly, but it occasionally hunts for gears when the engine is pushed hard.

The ride quality also impresses. The Sportage is not bothered by speed bumps in urban areas or potholes. The 235/55 R19 tyres have a decent sidewall and help soak up these bumps.

Despite some noticeable road and tyre noise on coarse chip roads, the cabin has a good level of insulation and is generally hushed. The diesel isn’t as agricultural as some, too, so that helps with noise levels. And there was no vibration detected through the steering wheel.

One gripe is that the auto wipers are all but useless. Even when they are on the highest auto setting, they just don’t seem to detect the rain and you have to engage it manually.

The CX-30 feels slick and sporty from the get-go, with direct steering and an engaging ride. In most city-based scenarios this is a zippy little car which offers decent comfort levels and a lovely cabin ambiance, too.

Mazda maintains a traditional six-speed torque converter automatic transmission, which pairs nicely with the 2.0-litre engine to make for a predictable experience under acceleration, forgoing the nasty rubbery feel of many rivals’ CVT automatics, or the glitchy take-off from other dual-clutches.

The engine does leave a little to be desired however, with hollow power delivery in the mid-range meaning you’ll need to push it hard in overtaking and uphill scenarios.

It feels a bit rudimentary in today’s car landscape of hybrids and turbocharged engines, but Mazda has at least made it sound good, with a warm thrum rather than a nasty rattle at higher revs.

If you’re considering solving this problem by shopping further up the range, the alternate 2.5-litre four-cylinder behaves largely the same with a little extra power.

The CX-30 also maintains a particular firmness which permeates Mazda’s cars. While it imbues this small SUV with an engaging road feel and fun handling, big bumps and corrugations will rattle through the steering and A-pillar, making the whole car feel light and fragile and taking away from the CX-30’s otherwise semi-premium ambiance.

Ironically, the Pure improves this issue by having the smallest alloy wheel out of any CX-30 grade, providing a bit of extra tyre to soak up the worst jolts the road might offer.

The active safety items punch above their weight at this price point, making the Pure feel as though it has your back, particularly with those rare-at-this-price rear-facing items.

Like a lot of new-generation Mazdas though, the CX-30 suffers from a limited field of view from its disturbingly close rear-vision mirrors.

Overall, the CX-30 Pure offers an engaging drive experience paired with a lovely cabin ambiance. The engine and transmission are feeling a bit dated, and the ride trades comfort for sportiness, so it may not be for everyone, but ultimately Mazda’s signature drive experience is maintained, even at this lower end of the price scale.

The CX-30 comes with a high base level of active safety equipment, coming with radar-based auto emergency braking which works to freeway speeds detecting cyclists and pedestrians during the day.

It also has rear auto braking, lane keep assist with lane departure warning, and traffic sign recognition as standard, with the surprising inclusion of rear-facing items like blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert, both of which are rare on entry-level cars at this price.

Omitted items on this base Pure grade, which include the 360-degree parking camera, front parking sensors, the full adaptive cruise control suite, driver attention alert, and front cross traffic alert can all be optionally included as part of the $1500 Vision Technology pack on automatic versions. Arguably worth it.

Rounding out the CX-30’s equipment is the standard array of electronic brake, traction, and stability aids, alongside a suite of seven airbags (the standard dual front, side, and curtain, as well as a driver’s knee).

The CX-30 range is covered by a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating to the 2019 standard, scoring an impressive 99 per cent in the adult occupant protection category.

The Sportage comes with Kia’s seven-year/unlimited kilometre factory warranty, and free roadside assistance for one year.

It’s also covered by a seven-year capped-price servicing program that will cost approximately $3500 over the seven-year period. Service intervals are every 12 months or 15,000km.

Mazda covers its entire passenger car range with a competitive five year and unlimited kilometre warranty, which also includes five years of roadside assist.

Some notable newcomers are moving to seven-year warranty promises, which should increase pressure on established players like Mazda in this space.

The CX-30 needs to be serviced once every 12 months or 10,000km, and pricing alternates between $316 and $361 per visit, for an annual average of $334. It’s not as cheap as some Toyota servicing programs but is certainly at the most affordable end of the market.