You nailed the appeal of the vehicle, kudos. For some reason, some reviewers have had a really hard time with the idea of it being a jack of all trades drivers car that isn't going to scare you to take off pavement, and that will allow you to access trails usually reserved for something with some specialty for it. Six months into ownership of one, no regrets.
Other than the extra ground clearance and plastic cladding for stone chips, I really don't see anything that makes the CX-30 more offroad worthy than my Mazda 3 turbo hatch. Do you take yours off the pavement often? I can see it doing very well on snowy roads that havent been cleared, dirt roads leading to campsites and things like that...but rock crawling, rutted out forest service roads and such seem like they would be a bit too much. I'd guess the CX-30 would be able to do anything a stock Crosstrek would do, so there's that.
A lot of people say to get something larger for approximately the same money. Thing is, not all of us have big families or use the car as a moving van. Not all of us have big garages. If you're a couple with no kids in the house, and don't want or need a big soul-sucking bland SUV or van, the CX-30 seems like just the thing.
This was the best review of this car out of the blue. I watched a lot of videos, but this one touched exactly on what I needed to know and in a great way. Keep it up!
This is an excellent, all-around and honest review of the cx30 turbo. I'm in the market for a cx30 or Mazda3 turbo, and this helped me decide that the cx 30 is a perfect fit for what I'm looking for. I think Mazda has done something smart by making a versatile vehicle that does many things well. That suits my drive style. I think I'm really gonna enjoy this car. Thanks for the great review- I just subscribed.
I just bought one and you will love--BTW here is my video of how much power this little thing has in triple digit speeds--I was in normal and never pressed the gas more then 70%--so not only can you hit a trail--you are at the top of the food chain for sports cars under 40k in terms of acceleration.
Great review and amazing shots of the car with very nice editing, good job! Waiting for my own CX-30 to arrive in a couple of weeks, you just got me even more hyped for it!
Mazda's cars are way more stunning than any other Japanese product. Really like them, and I have a Mazda 3 hatchback in Australia. However, 2.5T is not available in Australia, probably because they don't want to adjust that engine for Australia's poor petrol quality as the sales share may not be high enough to cover the cost of engineering work.
Very good to drive on a daily basis. Enough power to keep it entertaining. Quieter than expected . Active safety features can be a bit too aggressive but they are more precise than a prius 2.o safety sense. Seat comfort and cabin ergonomics are good and better than the competition. Cabin touchponts and knob s have a high quality feel. Ride is a bit stiff and may be due to cheap factory installed tires and high recommended pressures.
The CX-30 is definitely what I was looking for. I need a car for commuting, outdoor activities and that has some storage space, but I don't want to hate driving it. The majority of other cross overs are just cars to get from A to B. Thankfully brands like Mazda still keep people who actually enjoy driving in mind and create driver's cars for people who need a to (at least pretend) be responsible adults.
The niche this fits into is exactly why it's at the top of my list over larger, more capable, or luxury options. I drive a Hyundai Accent and live in upstate NY. This will be my fourth winter with it and I'm sick of getting stuck in our (not well maintained) driveway. The 8" clearance and AWD of the CX-30 will eat that up with no issue. For the other three seasons, the smaller size/weight along with the drive feel makes it a much more interesting pick than your average overkill Grand Cherokee. Big upsides are keeping an auto transmission while most others in this bracket go with CVTs (which seem suspiciously absent on higher trims or more premium models). Reviewers seem so baffled on what the purpose of this vehicle is but they completely miss that it's a dependable AND fun crossover that will get you anywhere you need to go. I don't off-road, but I appreciate that I'll make it up a muddy incline or through some deep snow. I don't put my cars on the track but I appreciate a more sporty suspension feel and enough oomph to pass comfortably. I'm anticipating getting my first real job soon and the CX-30 is gonna be a gift to myself that'll put a decade and a half of automobile woes and compromises to rest.
I have a Mazda 3 turbo hatch, but did test drive the CX-30, both naturally aspirated and turbo...I think you nailed the review. This thing is not really an SUV or even crossover if we're honest, it's a lifted AWD hatchback with plenty of power and much better than expected handling. Would it be the first choice of someone who often drives on mountain roads such as the one in this test? No, but you can certainly do worse, much worse. Even my Mazda 3 turbo which is the same basic platform but better suited to such roads needs a brake upgrade if you're going to do these kinds of roads with any speed. But thats literally all the 3 turbo needs besides better tires than stock. To get the CX-30 turbo to the same level you'd also need aftermarket brakes and high performance tires, but also a lowering kit of some sort. Of course doing all that would beg the question: why didnt you just get the Mazda 3 turbo in the first place? Btw I have seen one lowered CX-30 with the plastic cladding painted body color and it does look really good. Better than the Mazda 3 hatch? Very subjective...the styling isn't worlds apart, but definitely different.
Nice review( because you said good things), well done. Enjoying our Turbo, will never see a dirt road( would mess up tire gloss), only the potholes and uneven tarmac of the Motor City. One drawback is the size of gas tank, c'mon Mazda, you couldn't add 2 more gallons? Still a blast.
I just bought one and they said they had to shrink the gas tank a tad because of the diffrential and AWD parts.But you can baby the car and get well over 25 MPG.Also use premium.I rent cars and have done tests and most recent was an A6 that was filled with regular cause I saw the receipt--I reset the computer and it got 26.9 gallons (4 cylinder A6)--after I put premium in and did the same thing I was at 28.9 gallons and everything was smoother fro gear shifts to acceleration cause the computer did not have to retard the timing and all the other things for it to run on regular.I just picked mine up and know they put regular in it and just filled up 3/4th of the tank with premium and it is driving MUCH smoother.. it showed 30 MPG on the brief HWY dip I took and I was doing 80 plus.The 6 speed is very good--I just sold a 2020 AWD Stinger which was also fantastic but around town it would hunt for gears too much.I sold the stinge for way more then I paid for it a year ago and bought one of these CX-30 outright and put thousands of dollars into the bank.It is fantastic but use premium if you can afford to--premium also reduces any carbon buildup that might occur.
I own the CX-30 Turbo. Overall I mostly like the car except that it is not great on New England rough roads. Terrible on bumps and potholes. The best gas milage I have seen on mostly highway is about 25.5 per gallon. Not great but not awful either for a Turbo.
I just got a preferred trim 21 cx30 natural aspiration and I took on a corner at 60 and it's damn near 90° and my 07 bmw 328xi only could do 70 so it's got that corner and I get like 24~mpg on a fun weekend but from New York to Pennsylvania I get 33mpg I really like it my only gripe is the auto locking can be weird and not lock when you leave or lock just trying to walk around to the other door so idk what that about but other wise amazing
Every single one of you guys can have your turbos -- I will never, ever have one. Maybe if I buy a heavy-duty truck or an 18-wheeler -- something with an engine that was actually designed from the beginning to be turbocharged -- but all of these "just slap a turbo on an otherwise 'normal' gasoline engine" situations are just disasters waiting to happen, just like they always have been in the history of passenger vehicles. Lease one and then wad it up and throw it away? Fine, go ahead. Buy one and expect to drive it for 200,000 miles? "It is to laugh." You go right ahead. Oh, and the massive body claddings and the teensy-tiny infotainment screen half a mile away from your vision doesn't float my boat, either. Perhaps some people like that kind of stuff.
