Mazda CX-30

Like other of its stablemates, the Mazda CX-30 also has a driver-centric design philosophy for its cabin, which is internally known as ‘Jinba Ittai’ (horse and rider as a single unit). With an all-black theme for its cabin, the Mazda CX-30 feels premium with all the leather finish for the dashboard, seats, door trims and steering wheel, with the contrasting silver accents on the steering wheel, dashboard and inner door handles only adding to the premium appeal. 

The Mazda CX-30 has a round-themed, three-spoke steering wheel, which has a conventional-looking housing for the instrument console. While this console has a modern-looking 7-inch screen, the all-analogue dial display mode looks pretty basic for a vehicle of its class. This instrument console has triangular AC vents placed on its sides, which makes the cabin look more driver-centric.

The asymmetric-looking dashboard has a sleek middle layer, which has switches for the climate control in the middle and an AC vent to its left, with an additional AC vent placed on the far corner of the dashboard. The angular and asymmetric-looking touchscreen infotainment system is housed within a dedicated carving over the top of the dashboard in the middle. 

Pros and Cons:

Pro: Premium-looking leather finish for the cabin

Con: Outdated layout of dials in the instrument console

Features and Technology

The Mazda CX-30 is one of the most expensive options in the compact crossover category, and that is visible in its premium equipment list. Features like an engine start-stop button, coloured head-up display, 7-inch full-TFT instrument console, 8.8-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, multi-function commander control, tilt and telescopic adjustable multi-functional steering wheel with audio and Bluetooth controls, an 8-speaker audio system, cruise control and reverse camera are standard across all the variants of the Mazda CX-30. 

From the High variant of the Mazda CX-30, features like paddle shifters, powered tailgate, dual-zone automatic climate control, rear AC vents and a 10-way power-adjustable driver’s seat with memory function are available. The High+ Premium variant of the CX-30 gets a couple of exclusive features like a powered sunroof and a 360-degree parking camera. That being said, there are still a few crucial new-age features like ventilated front seats and a wireless charger that are missing in the CX-30.

Pros and cons:

Pro: Several comfort and convenience features are offered as standard 

Con: No ventilated front seats and wireless charger in any variant

 Boot Space and Storage

For a compact crossover that measures around 4.3 meters long, the Mazda CX-30 has a decent boot space of 430 litres, though we would have loved to see a bigger boot here. Thankfully, the Mazda CX-30 comes with the convenience of folding down the rear seats in the 60:40 split fashion, after which the boot space expands to a massive 1,406 litres.

In its cabin, the Mazda CX-30 has sufficient small storage spaces, which include cup holders in the front centre console and rear centre armrest, bottle holders in the door panels and a closed glovebox. The front centre armrest also has a decent storage space beneath it to store small knick-knacks.  

Pros and cons:

Pro: Huge boot space after folding down the rear seats

Con: Boot space with rear seats up could have been more

The Mazda CX-30 looks more like a raised hatchback on stilts than a heightened SUV, making it a traditional crossover. Its hatchback-like proportions look well-balanced, and tough-looking body cladding all around adds to the tough visual appeal of a modern crossover. 

At the front, the Mazda CX-30 has a sleek and dynamic-looking fascia, which comprises a widened grille with tapered lower edges and chrome garnish on the lower and side edges. Like in most of the other Mazda offerings, this chrome garnish stretches to the lower edge of the sleek-looking headlamps, which have LED projectors within them that have signature illumination in High, High+ and High+ Premium variants.

The Mazda CX-30 looks very curvy and aerodynamic when viewed from the side, with the crossover having smoothly flowing curves for the bonnet, door panels and fenders. The CX-30 has a low-slung appeal with door-mounted rearview mirrors and alloy wheels – 16-inch alloys in Standard and 18-inch machined alloys in the other three variants. 

The rear profile of the Mazda CX-30 looks quite muscular and dynamic, with the crossover having a steeply raked rear windscreen and a wide boot lid, with bird’s eye-themed LED combination tail lamps positioned on the sides of the boot lid. The CX-30 also gets a rear spoiler with an integrated brake light and trapezoidal license plate housing at the bottom of the boot lid. 

Pros and cons:

Pro: Aerodynamic and sleek design

Cons: No fog lamps

With its 2.0-litre engine, the Mazda CX-30 claims a maximum fuel efficiency of 16.7 kmpl. This naturally-aspirated petrol engine manages to return 12-13 kmpl in city driving conditions, while the actual highway mileage comes to around 15-16 kmpl, which is pretty decent for an engine this big and powerful. The Mazda i-stop idling technology, which is Mazda’s idle start-stop system, is the biggest contributor to achieving high fuel efficiency figures. 

Pros and cons:

Pro: Impressive fuel efficiency on both city and highways

Con: Nothing much actually

Ride and Handling

With Macpherson struts at the front and a torsion beam at the rear, the Mazda CX-30 comes with the Japanese brand’s G-Vectoring Control Plus (GVC Plus), which makes the overall driving dynamics sharper and more engaging. Contributing to the overall nice handling of the Mazda CX-30 is its well-weighted steering setup, which weighs well with an increase in speeds. The Mazda CX-30 has a turning radius of 5.3 metres, which is pretty decent for a crossover of its size. 

Pros and Cons:

Pro: Good ride quality and handling

Con: Nothing much actually 

The only engine option offered in the Mazda CX-30 is a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, which debuted with the crossover in 2019. This smooth and reliable engine is offered only with a 6-speed automatic transmission in the Mazda CX-30 and churns out a maximum power output of 162 bhp and a maximum torque output of 213 Nm. Given the compact size of the CX-30, the 2.0-litre petrol engine has sufficient performance on tap, with the 6-speed transmission also being reliable and perfect in its operation. 

Pros and cons:

Pro: Peppy and refined petrol engine

Con: Could have had a stronger top-end grunt

Several safety features are offered as standard across all four variants of Mazda CX-30, the list of which includes seven airbags (dual front, side, curtain and driver knee airbags), reverse parking camera, electronic parking brake, ABS with EBD and brake assist, dynamic stability control, traction control, emergency stop signal, hill launch assist, ISOFIX mounts for the child seats and front and rear parking sensors.

The High+ and High+ Premium variants of the Mazda CX-30 further come with the i-Activesense suite of ADAS functions from Mazda, which include adaptive headlamps (only in High+ Premium), high beam control (only in High+), blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, front cross traffic alert (only in High+ Premium), lane departure warning system, lane keep assist system, front and rear smart brake support, driver attention alert and adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go. The High+ Premium variant also comes equipped with a 360-degree parking camera, driver monitoring system and cruising and traffic support. 

Pros and cons:

Pro: Standard safety features in all the variants

Con: 360-degree parking camera only in top variant

Competitor Comparison

Belonging to the compact crossover category, the Mazda CX-30 has a host of similarly-sized rivals like the Toyota Corolla Cross, Honda HR-V, Nissan X-Trail, Peugeot 2008, Subaru XV and Hyundai Kona.

Conclusion and Final Verdict

Compared to the CX-3 above, which it has been positioned, the Mazda CX-30 doesn’t offer much value-for-money proposition, considering the little it offers over the CX-30 while being significantly pricier than it. However, for the added premium, one does get a slightly higher sense of space and premium appeal, which makes the CX-30 a dynamic-looking crossover. The performance, ride quality, handling, and equipment list also feel well-sorted.