2023 Mazda CX-30 review

What is the Mazda CX-30 G20 Touring like on the inside?

Mazda hasn’t been sucked into the latest industry trend for bigger screens and fewer buttons.

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Even newer cars like the CX-60 and CX-90 have touchscreens that are integrated into their dashboards rather than dominating them, and the CX-30 is even more classical. The black and brown combination is an acquired taste, but the rest of the cabin looks lovely given this is a mid-range model.

Want to change the temperature or fan speed? You get knurled-effect dials that make a satisfying, Audi-ish click when you turn them, and buttons that don’t involve any diving through touchscreens or menus.

It’s refreshing, as is the BMW iDrive-style rotary dial on the transmission tunnel.

The old-fashioned way giveth, but it also taketh away. The screen in the CX-30 is mounted a long way from the driver, and looks small after spending time in the new Kia Seltos. It’s not a touchscreen on the move, which is annoying when you’re using Apple CarPlay, although the graphics and animations are all slick.

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There’s no wireless phone charger, and the two USB ports hidden beneath the sliding and tilting central armrest are USB-A units rather than more modern USB-C.

There’s no shortage of storage spaces, from the door bins to the transmission tunnel with its cupholders and phone/wallet-sized space beneath the dash, but the armrest/storage cover is too clever by half.

Both driver and passenger sit in leather-trimmed seats with plenty of support for long drives, and a broad range of adjustment for odd-shaped bodies. The slim-rimmed, classically-styled steering wheel telescopes out to meet the driver, and the places designed to house an elbow are pleasingly soft.

Space in the rear of the CX-30 is decent, but not class-leading. Headroom is generous enough for normal-sized adults or tall teenagers, and will feel spacious if you’ve been squeezed into the back of the more style-oriented 3 hatchback.

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There are air vents to keep the kids cool in summer, along with ISOFIX points on the outboard rear seats and a trio of top-tether points. The central armrest folds down, and the backrest split-folds 60/40.

The Mazda CX-30’s boot has a capacity of 317L with the rear seats in place, or 430L with underfloor storage accounted for. It’s a small space compared to what’s on offer in rivals such as the Seltos, and there’s a pronounced loading lip.

A space-saver spare sits beneath the boot floor.

What’s under the bonnet?

Power in the CX-30 G20 comes from a 2.0-litre naturally-aspirated four-cylinder petrol engine, making 114kW of power and 200Nm of torque.

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It’s sent to the front wheels through a six-speed automatic transmission. The base Pure offers a manual transmission as standard, but the auto is the standard shifter on every other variant.

The G20 uses a claimed 6.5 litres per 100km on the combined cycle, and drinks 91 RON regular unleaded. Front-wheel drive models like our tester have a 51L fuel tank.

How does the Mazda CX-30 G20 Touring drive?

Maybe we’ve been spoiled by a steady diet of turbocharged engines, but the G20 engine that opens the CX-30 range feels undercooked.

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It’s a shame, because the rest of the driving experience is nicely polished.

The 2.0-litre engine has just enough punch to feel capable in traffic, but anything more than sedate progress requires a heavy right foot. Flatten the accelerator and the automatic kicks down, the revs rise, and you get more noise but not all that much of a shove in the back.

The CX-30 isn’t meant to be a sports car, but it lacks the effortless low-down shove you get from the turbocharged engines becoming more common in rivals. It also feels weedy alongside the more expensive 2.5-litre engine sitting above it in the range, which itself isn’t all that powerful.

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It does feel reassuringly simple to drive, though. There’s no low-speed jerkiness from the torque converter, and the naturally-aspirated engine delivers its (limited) performance in a linear way that’ll make anyone stepping up from an older Mazda 3 or CX-3 feel right at home.

Mazda’s lane-keep assist system doesn’t try to wrestle the wheel from your hands if you drift towards the white lines, intervening smoothly when you need it, and the adaptive cruise does a good job maintaining a gap to the car in front. The learning curve here is much flatter than in some rivals.

It’s clear some real effort has been poured into polishing how the CX-30 drives. The ride is excellent; it keeps the worst potholes and pimply roads out, and is impressively settled on the highway, despite this being a small-ish car riding on big wheels.

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Road and wind noise are impressively suppressed at 100km/h, which is indicative of how much Mazda has improved. Older examples of the 3 and 6 in particular were among the noisiest cars in their class on average Australian highways.

The steering is typical Mazda, which is to say it’s slightly heavier than you get in some rivals, with an oily smooth feeling off centre. It’s easy to park in the city, but it also makes for a car that feels planted on the open road.

Relative to its rivals it’s happy to be thrown around. It feels balanced on its feet in a way few compact crossovers do when you’re in a hurry, and the weight of the controls inspires confidence.