Like with jeans, sometimes it is hard to find that perfect fit with a vehicle as well. What if want an SUV larger than a small and not quite as big as a medium? Then Mazda have you covered with the all-new CX-30, which is snuggly placed between the Mazda CX-3 and the CX-5 in their SUV line-up. You will be sure to find a CX-30 to suit your lifestyle with models available in either Front-Wheel (FWD) or All-Wheel Drive, with a manual or automatic transmission and three petrol engine options, including a mild hybrid version to choose from.
I spent a week with the entry level G20 Pure, which is a FWD and paired with a 6-speed automatic gearbox. I found the ride in the Pure to be comfortable, but the gearbox was a bit lazy on the up-shifts. The G20 Pure has a 2.0 litre, 4-cylinder engine with 114kW of power and 200Nm of torque. The official combined fuel consumption for this model is 6.5L/100km and for my week I used 7.9L/100km. If you are calculating the running costs of your new CX-30 you will be interested to know that Mazda Australia recommends the use of 91RON petrol for the G20 Pure.
Being this is the entry level model some of the features are basic, like the climate control that is adjusted with a rotary knob for temperature and speed control or the cloth covered seats. The G20 Pure does have soft-to-touch plastics on the dash and across the top of doors, but I didn’t like the blue faux leather highlights used in the cabin.
However ‘basic’ is not a word I would use to describe the safety equipment that comes standard in the G20 Pure and across the CX-30 range. The active safety features include adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring, lane keep assist, lane departure warning, rear cross traffic alert and smart brake support for the front and rear. ANCAP tests of the Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) system for the CX-30 range in highway speed scenarios showed GOOD performance with collisions avoided or mitigated in all scenarios and overall, effectiveness of the AEB system performance in highway speed scenarios was rated GOOD. ANCAP Tests of Lane Support System functionality for the CX-30 range showed some GOOD performance, however the system does not intervene in more critical emergency lane keeping test scenarios. The overall score for Safety Assist on the CX-30 range was 9.95 out of 13 (76%). But one thing I experienced was the overhead lights in the new M8 Westconnex tunnel triggered the front collision avoidance braking on my CX-30.
All CX-30 variants from February 2020 onwards have a 5-star ANCAP safety rating (2019) with an Adult Protection score of 37.6 out of 38 (99%) and a Child Occupant Protection score of 43.2 out of 49 (88%). The CX-30 has seven air bags including front (driver and passenger), side (front), knee (driver) and curtain (front and rear). The G20 Pure has a standard reversing camera with rear parking sensors only.
Other high-end features that come standard across the CX-30 range include Apple CarPlay/Android Auto and a colour head-up display. You also get voice control and I found that this worked well for setting a destination on the sat nav and making phone calls. Like many other manufacture’s the voice control activation button located on the steering wheel has masculine-looking silhouette on it.
The 8.8-inch infotainment screen is not a touchscreen and can easily be navigated using the rotary knob on the centre console. Your media options include AM/FM radio, DAB, Bluetooth and USB and there is one USB port at the front of the centre console, with a ledge for your smartphone and a second USB port under the armrest, along with a 12V outlet.
For me the cloth covered driver’s seat was comfortable, even though it only has manual adjustment for forward/back, recline, height and front tilt. The passenger seat only gets forward/back and recline adjustment though.
The rear seats have enough head and leg room for two adults and two ISOFIX/three rear tether points for children, but the width of the CX-30 means you would only fit two car seats in. The centre seat does not fold down to an arm rest and I found that it was very sensitive and mistook a small bag as a child and kept wanting the seatbelt to be done up. There are no air vents or USB/12V ports for rear passengers, but there is drink bottle storage in the door cubbies.
The boot is a reasonable size for a small car that could fit the weekly shop and maybe a small stroller as well? It only has manual open/close and there is no boot release in the cabin or on the key fob. There is a temporary spare tyre under the boot floor and the rear seats have 60/40 split fold mechanism if you need extra storage.
All new Mazda vehicles are backed by a five year, unlimited kilometre warranty plus five year’s Mazda Premium Roadside Assistance. The service intervals are every 12 months or 10,000kms, whichever comes first and I calculated the cost for the first five basic services on the CX-30 G20 Pure to be $1,665 using the Mazda Australia website.
The Mazda CX-30 G20 Pure starts at $29,990 plus on-road costs and as tested with front floor mats my SUV was $30,185 plus on-roads. Visit your preferred Mazda dealer to get fitted into your all-new CX-30.
| Pros | Cons |
| The level of safety technology that comes standard across the range | No front parking sensors |
| Apple CarPlay/Android Auto is standard across the range | No rear air vents for passengers |
| Mazda recommends using 91RON petrol | Boot can only be opened using the exterior boot release |
Photographs by Driven Women Magazine.