2021 Mazda CX-30 Turbo First Drive Review — Drive, Break, Fix, Repeat

New Mazda CX-30 Turbo will give many would-be Audi Q3 buyers reason to pause.

Misses

Cramped back seat
Clunky infotainment system
Costs as much as CX-5

Hits

Refined interior
Adept handling
Potent powertrain

2021 Mazda CX-30 Turbo drive review Drivebreakfixrepeat.com Jake Stumph Racing

This is Mazda’s twilight dawn. Much like the astronomical shift of the moon falling for the sun to rise, Mazda, too, is amidst a philosophical shift. Once known for making dependable, quirky but charming alternatives to stalwart choices like the ubiquitous Honda Civics and Toyota Corollas of the world, Mazda is now several years into a transition plan to push the brand upmarket, and the results have been incredible.

Led by the mid-size Mazda CX-5 SUV, the brand moved an impressive 279,076 vehicles in the United States in 2020, a bump over 2019, which is no small feat given the challenges faced by consumers and brands alike in one of the most turbulent years in modern history.

2021 Mazda CX-30 Turbo AWD drive review Drivebreakfixrepeat.com Jake Stumph Racing

Those sale figures were rallied by the introduction of the 2020 Mazda CX-30 SUV, which slots in one size below the CX-5 in the hotly contested compact SUV segment. Now Mazda’s second best selling vehicle, the CX-30 rightfully received a lot of attention upon debut for its competitive pricing, eye-catching looks and solid driving dynamics.

Priced from just $23,000 it’s no wonder CX-30 immediately began stealing away would-be buyers from vehicles like the similarly-priced but otherwise dissimilar Toyota C-HR. But Mazda isn’t resting on its laurels, after all, they have a fancy new engine that the world needs to know about, and unless Toyota straps a massive turbo onto that C-HR it doesn’t stand a chance.

For 2021 Mazda has debuted the aptly named CX-30 Turbo, and forget Toyota or Honda, Mazda is going after Audi and BMW, and they mean business.

The base price swells to $31,125, including the mandatory $1,175 destination charge, but AWD is now standard, which is a good thing because putting the turbocharged power down to the ground is going to require some traction.

Now powered by a 2.5-liter turbo four-cylinder, the CX-30 Turbo produces 227 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque on 87 octane and an impressive 250 horses and 320 lb-ft of torque on premium fuel. That’s almost twice as much torque as the standard CX-30. MPG figures of 22 city and 30 freeway are right on the money, as DBFR saw a real world figure of 23.7 after a few days behind the wheel.

The other changes for the Turbo model are more subtle, with black 18-inch wheels, black mirror caps, slightly larger exhaust tips and a small “Turbo” badge on the back being the only giveaways. Beyond that, Mazda explicitly said that they made small, imperceptible changes to the suspension tuning to accommodate for the extra weight and power of the Turbo engine so that the end product drives exactly like the regular CX-30. Don’t change what ain’t broke was the message.

That’s no hardship, however, as the CX-30 offers one of the finest driving experiences in the compact SUV segment, irrespective of the competition. on a winding road, the CX-30 belies it’s off-road-ready looking body cladding and stilt-like ride height, somehow handling with the agility of a Mazda3 hatchback. The difference is that now drivers can squeeze the accelerator coming out of the corners, or while merging onto the interstate, and get the satisfying shove in the back as the turbocharger comes onto boost and whooshes the CX-30 forward.

Working together with that engine is a smooth shifting 6-speed automatic, which keeps the engine nice and hushed at low revs around town. After all, with 320 lb-ft of torque on tap, the CX-30 will happily trundle along at 1,500 RPM with occupants in quiet solitude, free from any of the outside world’s racket thanks to the highly insulated, and acoustically tuned cabin.

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That last bit is no hyperbole, with Mazda sending over infographics and data about things like the speaker positioning and body design with the end result being an interior that is far beyond the usual Japanese competition. Features on this $35,895 Premium Plus model, like heated leather seats, a heated steering wheel, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and many active and passive safety aides, like rear cross-traffic collision braking, radar-guided cruise control, and lane keep assist make for an excellent luxury vehicle in both available content and execution. This is every bit as good as an Audi Q3, full-stop.

Mazda openly admits to benchmarking the Audi Q3 as well as, specifically, the BMW X2 28i and X2 M35i and blows them out of the water on value. A CX-30 Turbo with every conceivable option costs less than $37,000. You can’t even buy a BMW X2 for that amount of money and getting an Audi Q3 comparable to a loaded CX-30 will cost $42,000, and it still won’t be as powerful.

By the numbers, Mazda has blown its benchmarks out of the water, but instead has found an unlikely rival: the CX-5. The price uptick associated with the CX-30 Turbo means it more or less costs the same as the larger CX-5 Turbo, and while the CX-30 is the slightly sharper drive, the CX-5 feels more luxurious and actually has a back seat made for adult-sized occupants. Under the skin, the two vehicles share a lot of the same hardware, too.