2021 Mazda CX-30 Long-Term Test Car News

Infinitely easier to use than most touchscreens, it also benefited from Apple CarPlay which never failed to sync with my phone (unlike some choppy connections). The negroes were few and far between.

The need to turn off the slightly excessive lane-keeping assist each time I entered was at least tempered by the fact that it required little more than a quick press of a prominent button, while the ability of the rear window (and rear view camera) lens) to attract dirt meant the rear view was often obscured. Oddly enough, not once has the start-stop system come to life, and the shrill beep every time I opened the power tailgate never failed to squeal.

I expected the 2.0-liter naturally aspirated engine’s lack of low-speed urgency to annoy, but that was never a problem. The soft hybrid starter-generator gave just enough low-end boost to compensate for any lethargy, and as the engine slackened, it became more responsive.

For those used to torquey turbodiesels or slightly boosted low-capacity oils, the CX-30 can feel a bit anemic. It takes a bit of work to squeeze out all the performance, but it’s always impatient, and that crisp, quick manual shifting means effort is never a chore. Plus, in our day with the car, it returned a very decent 40.1 mpg, which isn’t at all shabby for a blown-front SUV with a fairly large gasoline engine.

So my biggest problem with the CX-30 is the existence of the very closely related 3. In all fairness, a lot of what I’m about to say holds true for most compact crossovers, so it is. just as much a slight against the genre as the CX-30 in particular. But in the 3, Mazda has an even better car to drive, more efficient, just as spacious and less expensive to buy. If those tinted off-road machines offered even a hint of the ability to go anywhere, that might be enough to make up for their on-road tradeoffs and higher prices. But they’re as likely to get stuck in the rough as any normal Tarmac runaround.

Still, it’s a mark of the CX-30’s capabilities that thoughts of swapping it out for a 3 became less frequent as the miles traveled (not as many as I would have liked, given the lockdown) . And while it’s not a fast car or a car that offers a deeply immersive driving experience, it was a satisfying device to drive day in and day out, and that matters a lot.

The fact that it is beautiful, economical to use and practical only makes it even more attractive. If you’re in the market for a small crossover, it should definitely be on your list. It would certainly be on mine.