2023 Mazda CX-30 vs 2022

What's the difference?

I’m glad we checked in on our old friend, the Mazda CX-30. Despite being a car with two wheels planted in the future, and two firmly planted in the past, it manages to hold the line against many of its newer rivals, both on the cheaper and higher-tech end of the spectrum.

What you see really is what you get with this Mazda; it’s lovely to drive, looks fantastic, and punches above its weight when it comes to cabin ambiance. While what’s under the bonnet might no longer be in vogue, driving this car again has only reinforced its standing as small SUV royalty.

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. 

While the Haval Jolions of the world look ready to hit up the McDonald’s drive thru with their youthful flair, and cars like the Toyota Corolla Cross want to save money and dine at home with their conservative appearance, the Mazda CX-30 looks dressed to impress, as though it should be seen at the valet stand of your nearest Michelin-star restaurant.

A few years of age or not, the design of this car is still spectacular at this price, placing it right at the forefront of looks for the mainstream small SUV segment.

The delicate panel work, signature big grille, and large wheels at this Astina grade match nicely with the minimalist light fittings which themselves come complete with a soft-fade effect for the indicators.

It’s attention to detail like this which makes the CX-30 look like it belongs in a price-bracket above, and demands rivals pay attention.

The interior meets expectations, too, which is no small feat given some cars in this space prove it’s one thing to look great, and quite another to match it with a truly premium feel.

Mazda has done a fantastic job in the cabin which feels the part with an abundance of soft-touch materials, a dark, modern colour scheme, and an overall vibe which is ageing well even compared to more recently launched rivals.

I would go so far as to say, at the Astina grade the CX-30 feels more like it should be competing with Lexus, certainly punching above the mark, even at its mid-$40K price-point.

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.

It looks good and feels good, but is it practical? While the CX-30 is larger than its smaller CX-3 sibling, it still leaves space to be desired, especially compared to some other segment-bending small SUVs it competes with.

The front seat is not where the bad news starts though. It feels spacious enough inside for a couple, with large seats, plenty of space separating the front two occupants, and plenty of comfort on offer with padded armrests on both sides.

There are big bottle holders in the doors and in a flip-open bay in the console (wouldn’t want to interrupt this design… ), and there’s additional storage once you slide and flip open the armrest.

To keep things tidy, your USB and 12V power connections are also located in the console bay. No need for messy cables, and there’s a little divider, too.

On the downside here, there’s a chunk of dead space under the climate unit, which looks like it could be filled with a shelf or, better yet, wireless charger. As it is, it’s just a plastic panel with a small bay underneath which barely fits a phone.

Adjustability is great for the driver, with a reach- and tilt-adjustable steering wheel, and high belt-line offering a sporty hatch-like feel, which I instantly felt comfortable with.

The rear seat isn’t as impressive. While the fancy seat trim and soft-touch points mostly continue, some of the padding in the doors has been replaced with hard plastic, and there’s a raise in the floor to facilitate all-wheel drive on some variants which eats into the centre occupant’s foot space.

Behind my own seating position, my knees have a tiny amount of room, and so does my head, at 182cm tall. Technically, I fit, but it’s close, and feels it.

Rear occupants get a padded drop-down armrest with two bottle holders, an extra two surprisingly large ones in the doors, but no power outlets. There are two adjustable air vents on the back of the centre console.

The coupe-like design also has a cost when it comes to boot space. There’s 317-litres (VDA) of space available, although we could only fit the CarsGuide luggage set when the parcel shelf was removed.

The space is suitable for a couple on a weekend adventure, but a bit tight if you have more requirements, like a pram-age child, for example.

There is an under-floor space which houses a space-saver spare wheel and part of the Bose sound system.

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 is where the Mazda is really showing its age. G25 variants are powered by a 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine, which isn’t turbocharged, nor is it assisted at the wheels by electric motors in a hybrid arrangement.

It’s punchy enough to keep the pace with most of its turbo rivals, putting out 139kW/252Nm, and some will love the fact it’s paired with a traditional torque converter automatic instead of a rubbery continuously variable or glitchy dual-clutch set-up, but it’s certainly not for the eco-conscious.

Not only is it a relatively large displacement engine, but aside from a start-stop system there’s little to mitigate your emissions. In fact, this unit only complies with Euro 5 emissions regulations, well behind the pace today.

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.

Some bad news, of course, comes at the fuel pump. The official claim for this relatively large engine is a bit bold, at 6.8L/100km on the ADR combined cycle, but if you’re using it for mainly urban duties as we did for this review I wouldn’t be surprised to see figures more in the region between 8.0 and 9.0L/100km.

As it stands, our car produced an average of 7.8L/100km, which is better than expected, but still painful in the era of hybrids and fuel-sipping turbos, especially when fuel is close to $2.00 a litre in most capital cities.

Mercifully, the lack of complexity from this engine does mean you can put bog-standard 91 RON unleaded in the 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.

The CX-30 is awesome to drive. In a sea of lacklustre small SUVs, it’s instantly easy to connect with this Mazda. Yes, the engine and transmission here aren’t the most recent additions to the landscape, but they are predictable, smooth, and easy to deal with.

In fact, one thing Mazda is particularly good at is making its entire range feel homogenous in terms of the drive experience, maintaining the great dynamics which the brand has become synonymous with.

The touchpoints continue to be fantastic on the move. The steering feels light and easy to turn at low speeds, but becomes purposeful and full of feel at higher speeds.

The direct feedback on offer from the rack and the firm springs up front give a great handle on what the front wheels are doing.

The overall feel is firm and reactive, ready for action, and while not everyone will love the hard edge to the suspension, it helps the car feel springy and agile in the corners.

You can feel the Mazda 3 DNA on full display when you’re driving this car in haste, and it’s a kind of dynamism which most rivals can’t match, even if the Mazda’s drivetrain is feeling a little low-tech.

You certainly don’t need to worry about the six-speed transmission, which is a smooth-shifting unit.

There’s no glitchy behaviour on hills or from a stop like you might get in a dual-clutch, or rubbery surging under acceleration often delivered by a CVT, just the feeling of the car riding each gear out, and shifting between clearly defined ratios.

Drivers of older vehicles especially will appreciate its instantly familiar feel.

Ergonomically, it’s pretty straightforward, with the one major downside being the dial set-up. We like physical controls rather than touch controls, but Mazda has taken this to the extreme by not making the main multimedia screen a touch unit.

Instead, you’re forced to negotiate with phone mirroring software using a rotary dial, which is at best clumsy, and at worst distracting.

It’s also a tad difficult to see over this car’s high beltline, making it hard to tell where the corners are, front and rear, and a common Mazda problem is the wing mirrors which seem to have a zoom factor on them. Why? It limits your view into the lanes next to you.

Thankfully the active safety suite spends most of its time in the background and unlike some more recent offerings in the small SUV space, not interfering with the excellent drive experience.

The lane keep software is light handed, and the driver monitoring tech is more basic, which is honestly all you should need.

Overall then, the CX-30 is predictable, familiar, and has a fantastic quality to its handling which fits the Mazda brand promise.

Aside from a few blemishes then, it’s one of the best cars to drive in the segment, just don’t expect it to feel as cutting-edge as it could.

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.

As with all Mazdas, the ownership proposition is pretty straightforward. There’s five years of warranty, five years of roadside assist, and five years of capped price servicing.

Service costs are pretty tame, too, with our front-drive G25 Astina working out to an average of $360 per year for the first five years.

You’ll need to visit a workshop once every 10,000km or 12 months, whichever comes first.

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.