by Anthony Fongaro - Photos vis Volkswagen- 09/20/2021
When I do a quick analysis, that’s because the vehicle feels similar to other cars I’ve tested before. For this, it is Mazda. Both the CX-5 and 3 are wonderful vehicles that drive well and have an upscale interior. Looking at those vehicles, the CX-5 was the smallest SUV Mazda had. There was a CX-3 but let’s just not think about that. Instead, we have the CX-30. It has a 0 in its name which seems weird, but it is a great SUV.
I call it an SUV, but it really doesn’t look or feel like one. In fact, “it’s cute”. My words. When I saw it in person, I thought it was an adorable little SUV. This Turbo Premium Plus came with Polymetal Gray Metallic and that’s the color I’d get. The Premium Plus model also comes with quite stylish black 18” wheels. You can tell that this is a Mazda and is the SUV version of the 3. Mazda did a great job of making the rear-window sort of steep, but that didn’t help while driving.
This is a Mazda. It also has a Mazda interior. The Premium Plus is the top-of-the-line CX-30. There was a darker black and beige interior which was quite interesting since the beige was more of a secondary color. Steering wheel controls are the standard media and adaptive cruise control with a view out to a useful head-up display. Unfortunately, this still has Mazda’s infotainment system that I can’t wait for them to someday change.
Since this is one of the Turbo models, this CX-30 comes with a 2.5-liter turbocharged inline-four producing 227-horsepower and 310 lb-ft. It has AWD along with a six-speed automatic which gets the CX-30 to 60 MPH in 5.8 seconds. It feels as fast as the Mazda3 Turbo but the six-speed automatic feels old and sluggish. There are paddle-shifters but there’s no point using them. Flick the little switch to Sport mode and it changes the drivetrain, but not too much.
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