2024 Mazda CX-30 Turbo Premium Plus First Test: Small SUV, Big Aspirations, Even Bigger Price Tag
Mazda presses the gas on its premium intentions, but do they work here?
Pros
- Attractive styling
- Drives like a premium SUV
- Turbo more punchy than base engine
Cons
- Tight cabin
- Loud on the freeway
- Frustrating infotainment system
Mazda has pivoted toward a more premium positioning in the market, working to ensure even its lowliest models come off as viable luxury alternatives. As such, it has been carefully, quietly updating its entry-level CX-30 crossover SUV (which replaced the less upscale CX-3) following its debut in 2020, adding a turbocharged engine option in 2021, and in 2022 making all-wheel drive standard across the lineup, dropping the front-wheel-drive option. For 2024, Mazda has made a larger 10.3-inch display available on higher-end models. The CX-30 still trades largely on its stylish looks and upmarket vibe inside and out, but you’ll pay dearly to look down on Honda HR-V, Toyota Corolla Cross, and Kia Soul buyers.
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Take this 2024 Mazda CX-30 Turbo with the $3,965 Premium Plus package we tested as an example. It tops the CX-30 range, starting at $38,175. Yet the cheapest Turbo you can buy still costs $34,210, and the least expensive CX-30, period, runs $26,415. Keep in mind, this is a subcompact crossover from a not-luxury make, even if Mazda’s premium bent is evident throughout. It comes standard with the CX-30’s available 250-hp, 2.5-liter turbo I-4 engine in place of lesser versions’ 191-hp, non-turbo 2.5-liter four, the new 10.3-inch central display, a 360-degree parking camera, parking sensors, automated emergency braking (front and rear), and Mazda’s Cruising and Traffic Support lane keep and adaptive cruise control bundle.
That’s just the stuff that’s in addition to the one-rung-down CX-30 2.5 Turbo Premium trim; other goodies include a power tailgate, leather upholstery, heated front seats and steering wheel, Bose 12-speaker audio system, navigation, dual-zone automatic climate control, and power driver’s seat. The CX-30 Turbo Premium Plus is therefore unquestionably loaded with luxuries, lining up favorably against similarly equipped (and sized) luxury alternatives that cost more, such as the Lexus UX, Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class, and BMW’s X1. But does the 2024 Mazda CX-30 Turbo convincingly straddle the mainstream and luxury segments?
Premium’s in the Name
If you’re only considering vehicles that are similar in size, yes. The Mazda’s cabin materials and quality are a step above what you’ll find in a Honda, Toyota, Jeep, or similar. So are its dynamic moves, which are best summarized as a less athletic take on BMW’s ride and handling balance—a suspension firm enough to deliver secure body control and flat-enough cornering without sacrificing everyday comfort. In the Mazda CX-30 Turbo, bumps are rounded off quietly and in a refined way, provided the surface isn’t too rowdy. Overly wavy, washboard, or pockmarked surfaces can bounce the Mazda around, as if the little SUV is running out of suspension travel. Even when the chassis gets upset, the noises emanating from below are muffled.
Other noises are less muffled—namely wind and tire noise, which can elevate to typical small-car levels at highway speeds. It’s on par for this segment, but the volume feels like a letdown in the otherwise substantial-seeming CX-30 with its leather-lined interior.
The turbo engine is a must for any buyer keen on winning the stoplight grand prix, or who lives in cities where point-and-squirt quickness is necessary. Its 250 hp and 320 lb-ft of torque only apply when you fill it with premium fuel, however (on regular, it makes 227 hp); on one hand, the option to put in regular is nice, but most small mainstream SUVs don’t require premium fuel in the first place. In any event, this CX-30 is among the most powerful vehicles this size, luxury or otherwise. Still, it wasn’t the quickest turbo model we’ve tested, reaching 60 mph in a zippy 6.3 seconds before clearing the quarter mile in 14.8 seconds at 95.3 mph. An earlier CX-30 Turbo we tested in 2021 did 5.8 seconds and 14.3 seconds in the same sprints.
As we’ve noted previously, the Mazda CX-30’s turbo engine doesn’t make itself known at everyday speeds. If you were to drive a CX-30 Turbo and a non-turbo example back-to-back without dipping too far into the throttle in either, you’d have trouble telling which one was more powerful. The turbo’s extra muscle only comes on at higher engine speeds, when you really press the gas. Again, this lends the powertrain a premium feel, as it never surges unexpectedly or behaves excitedly like, say, the turbocharged Hyundai Kona, a key CX-30 competitor. The transmission likewise prioritizes smoothness over athleticism, though the Sport drive mode directs the gearbox to hold lower gears religiously—even in a straight line.
Those are key points, because the Kona isn’t as smooth as the Mazda, and it also needs an additional 1.4 seconds to reach 60 mph. The two turbocharged small SUVs are about equal otherwise, with the CX-30 stopping 3 feet shorter from 60 mph (in 115 feet), and although the CX-30’s 0.81 g (average) skidpad grip lags the Kona’s 0.83 g, it out-hustled the Hyundai in our figure-eight test (26.9 seconds at 0.67 g average, compared to 27.2 seconds at 0.62 g). Again, the Mazda isn’t overtly sporty, but it delivers above-average driver confidence and steers well through corners.
Price Games
It's worth bringing up the Kona for another reason: It, too, is surprisingly expensive in its range-topping form and carries many of the same drawbacks. The Kona Limited version we tested earlier this year ran nearly $35,000. Its cabin is nearly as tight-feeling as the Mazda’s—we shoehorned a convertible car seat into both, though it was easier through the Hyundai’s seemingly taller and larger door opening—which is a big reason it’d be tough not to cross-shop either with a similarly priced, less opulently equipped but larger compact SUV like Mazda’s own CX-5 or a Hyundai Tucson, Honda CR-V, or Toyota RAV4. Or consider entry-level alternatives from luxury makes—the GLA-Class, X1, or Lexus UX.
The 2024 Mazda CX-30 Turbo may have one foot in the mainstream door and one in the luxury opening, but it’s merely good at some things and the master of none (as we noted following a yearlong test with a non-turbo example). That it offers less cargo space than you’d get in a similarly sized Mazda 3 hatchback and suffers from Mazda’s irritating infotainment setup that only lets you use the screen as a touchscreen when stopped (though for 2024, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto phone mirroring can be touch-controlled even in motion), means you better be into all that style, because functionality takes second chair.
If we may lob one more complaint at that screen—it’s gorgeous, but Mazda only fills a fraction of the display space with anything of value, leaving most of it inky black, and the onscreen text and fonts are inexplicably small and hard to read. At least the control knob on the center console, which you must use almost all the time instead of touch inputs, works with a nice action, and Mazda’s menu structure is relatively straightforward to navigate.
For shoppers considering a mainstream small SUV, other options deliver better value and roomier packaging, if not the CX-30 Turbo’s off-the-line speed. Mazda therefore has a better shot at picking off would-be subcompact luxury SUV buyers who would otherwise buy a stripped-down luxury model of similar size but who are intrigued by the CX-30’s looks and features. In other words, the 2024 Mazda CX-30 Turbo isn’t good enough to justify reaching on your budget to get, but it remains nearly good enough to make people with bigger budgets think twice about paying more for a luxury badge.
A lifelong car enthusiast, I stumbled into this line of work essentially by accident after discovering a job posting for an intern position at Car and Driver while at college. My start may have been a compelling alternative to working in a University of Michigan dining hall, but a decade and a half later, here I am reviewing cars; judging our Car, Truck, and Performance Vehicle of the Year contests; and shaping MotorTrend’s daily coverage of the automotive industry.
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