Goodwood Test: 2021 Mazda CX-30 Review

Because no car manufacturer worth its salt in 2020 has a model line-up with nameplates that makes any sense, this is the latest small SUV from Mazda. While the 30 at the end might suggest that it’s either bigger or more powerful than the existing CX-3, CX-5 and CX-7, it isn’t. It’s actually niche gap-plugger between the CX-3 and CX-5 – apparently “CX-4” just wouldn’t do.

If you’re still following you’ll realise that means this is a sort-of medium family car-sized crossover, roughly the right size for a burgeoning young family and all their collective “stuff”. While the name may be utterly bonkers, what is more convincing is the style and numbers behind it. If the niche exists that this needs to plug, then it should do well.

This is the major strong point for basically every Mazda on sale right now, and for the last few generations. Mazda’s current “Kodo” design policy has managed to straddle that fine line between brilliant concept and the realities of production. Every car in the current Mazda line-up looks cracking, even in that awkward slightly jacked-up middle part of the range, where the CX-30 sits.

If it looks familiar that’s because there’s a lot of Mazda 3 in this, (which we guess is where the 30 bit comes from?). There’s a strong front with piercing headlights blended sharply into the grille which give it a purposeful, if slightly frowny look out front, uncomplicated hips and a rather fetching simple rear end. For the CX-30 there’s also a lot of excess plastic bumper work, something to which I’m not averse. It makes this look more like the off-roader that buyers want to think they are buying, but which the CX-30 surely is not.

The test car we had was in GT Sport trim, fitted with the 180PS (132kW) “SKYACTIVE-X” four-cylinder petrol engine, mated to a six-speed manual gearbox. One hundred and eighty horsepower sounds like more than enough for a car with a kerb weight of only 1,542g, but actually this motor feels like the major downer on the CX-30. The power doesn’t come until 6,000rpm – at which point basically any road user has already switched up a cog – and don’t expect the torque to rescue you, oh no. There’s 224Nm (165lb ft) of it, again ample for a middle range family car, but for some reason you won’t find it until 3,000rpm. These might sound like the annoyed pernickety rantings of a motoring journalist looking for speed in an everyday car, but in the real world it presents an actual issue. If you want to get anywhere you need to rev the life out of the CX-30, which gets tiresome very quickly. Try to accelerate in the gear you’ve been cruising in (anything above third) and absolutely nothing is going to happen for a very long time. There’s a real difficult lag period that goes from interesting to irritating in very short order. It will hit 62mph in 8.5 seconds, but it’ll be rattling its way there. While it’s not amazing for performance, this new SKYACTIVE-X tech is quite clever when it comes to efficiency. We won’t go into its fancy tech, but basically this means the CX-30 can easily attain its quoted 47.9mpg.

Thankfully the handling is quite sprightly and there is a very good shift from the six-speed manual, which is fortunate, as you’ll be using it a lot. Actually the ride control is rather impressive on the higher-riding CX-30, with very little roll to be felt through the corners, although this lack of roll is paid off with a tendency to jiggle on less well-finished roads. Keep it in a lower gear, and you’ll find that actually you can have some fun in the CX-30, with an engaging semi-quick steering rack and very little in the way of understeer even in on the front-driven model – unless you start being an idiot. While the ride can be a teeny bit annoying on tighter roads, get up to speed and it all gathers up in much more expected fashion, so longer journeys in the CX-30 are not an issue.

Mazda has kept it quite simple with their interiors of late. They are very nicely laid out, but don’t expect any real fire crackers here. The wheel is a nice three-spoked unit and the dash nicely laid out with the air vents acting like sort-of wings to the dials. There’s an 8.8-inch colour touchscreen that can also be controlled by a rotary dial and some buttons on the centre console. It’s a nice screen, but perhaps a bit far away to easily use as a touchscreen, so you will mostly end up using the rotary controller, which is thankfully intuitive enough. That leaves the panels relatively free of buttons, with just a pair of rotary dials and a few connected buttons to control the climate control left in the centre of the dash. It’s all very nicely put together.

In a competitive middle market there isn’t really space for an under-teched crossover these days, so the CX-30 comes well appointed, even in its standard SE-L trim. As standard you will find navigation and Bluetooth connectivity on the touchscreen along with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. You’ll also find a head-up display as standard, LED headlights, 16-inch alloys, rear parking sensors, traffic sign recognition and air-con. Our car, in GT Sport trim would set you back £29,930 including options and adds 360 degree camera, driver alert monitoring, powered sunroof, 18-inch wheels, climate control, reversing cameras and a 12-speaker audio system.

The Mazda CX-30 is actually a good choice in a market that is gradually getting quite crowded. The interior is excellent and well festooned with tech for not too high a price, while the ride is comfortable at higher cruising speeds and enjoyable on smaller roads. The only issue is the engine range, with this naturally aspirated 2.0-litre feeling a bit too breathy. If you can put up with needing to rev it a bit more around town or to overtake, then the CX-30 is a great choice for any family. Plus, it looks great, which is hard to find in this market.