Cupra Formentor vs Mazda CX-30

What's the difference?

The Cupra Formentor VZe Tribe Edition offers some great luxury features and is coupled with a plug-in hybrid powertrain that should entice those wanting something more efficient than the standard petrol grade. It's peak efficiency is only available with a fair amount of charging commitment, though, and the driving comfort isn’t always the best but its fun and looks hot. The price point also makes it appealing compared to its rivals.

About to enter its fifth year in market the Mazda CX-30 is holding up well and this GT SP FWD grade delivers solid value relative to its key competitors, of which there are many. It’s also space-efficient, practical and performs well with top-shelf safety, decent refinement and good dynamic ability.

Alternately, it’s crying out for a hybrid powertrain to improve fuel efficiency, the interior form and function is starting to date and while it meets the market the ownership promise could be sharper. But this little SUV is still worthy of a spot on your new-car short list.

The Cupra Formentor sounds like a Transformers name and if it were one, it’d be a Decepticon, for sure. It’s way too sharply styled and sexy to be a good guy. 

The special-edition model sees it paired with black and copper 19-inch alloy wheels and every design aspect doubles down on its sports-car presence from the crisp pleating across the body, to the twin exhausts and shapely grille. And this sporty presence is what its rivals lack.

Head inside and you'll notice the biggest change from the standard VZe model are the sport bucket seats in the front and the blue leather upholstery that has been liberally applied across the cabin.

The dashboard features gorgeous copper accents and contrasting stitching while being headlined with large tech screens that immediately catch your eye.

The interior has a killer design but it's not one you'd call plush as the edges and surfaces are as sharp as they look.

Mazda continues to follow a disciplined design path with everything from the MX-5 sports car to the BT-50 dual-cab ute sharing key attributes like the brand’s signature trapezoidal grille, simple flowing lines and sleek head- and tail-lights, all wrapped up with a subtle hint of chrome here and there.

Car-spotters with the GT SP on their checklist should look out for 18-inch black metallic rims as well as black exterior trim, including the mirror caps. 

Inside, the CX-30 maintains Mazda’s restrained approach with smooth surfaces integrated across the multi-layer dash and primo leather-trimmed seats.

That said, this car is starting to show its age with the multimedia screen plonked on the top of the dash (in typical Mazda fashion) and a largely conventional instrument cluster.

Yes, the main dial is configurable courtesy of a central 7.0-inch TFT screen, but next to more recent arrivals boasting sleek, often twinned, flat screen displays the CX-30 looks and feels out of touch. 

Functionally, there’s a sensible mix of digital controls and physical buttons (points for audio volume and ventilation dials!), but… the multimedia screen can only be accessed by a rotary controller in the centre console once the car is mobile (it works as a touchscreen when you’re stationary).

Some say touchscreens take your eyes off the road so the controller makes sense, but with a sequential app like Spotify it can take a lot of twirls to get to where you want to go, which upsets concentration and takes your eyes off the road, anyway. I’d prefer the relative ease of a quick press on a screen.

Aside from all that, the materials used are high quality with soft-touch surfaces across key contact points and hard plastics confined to high-wear areas. 

For something that leans more towards a sports car than SUV in its styling, the cabin is still fairly practical when it comes to space and access.

Front occupants enjoy the best of each, though, and it's easy enough for a taller driver to get into a comfortable position.

The rear row offers excellent headroom but the legroom may be cramped for a tall passenger. It's best to think of the car as a four-seater as the middle armrest won't go down when there is a car seat installed.

In terms of seat comfort, fatigue will set in early on a long trip for front rowers as they are decidedly hard under the butt but the padding is a lot better in the rear row.

Overall, storage options and amenities are great throughout the car with the tri-zone climate control, heated front seats and steering wheel functions giving a premium cabin experience.

The glove box is extra large and can easily fit a small handbag and a manual while the middle console is on the small side. There are four cupholders and drink bottle holders (4/4) but the front cupholders need to be spaced out more to accommodate two cups properly. A few loose coffee lids were had!

In the rear you also get two map pockets and the boot has 345L of capacity available which is on the tiny side for a medium SUV! However, the wide boot aperture tricks you into thinking it’s bigger and the powered tailgate is always a handy feature.

Technology looks great but the multimedia system is finicky to use and one that takes a while to get used to. At first it's difficult to recognise what you have to touch to access the different menus available but the screen is responsive and the graphics are clear.

The built-in satellite navigation is easy to use, and the Tribe Edition also has wired/wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, four USB-C ports, a wireless charging pad and a 12-volt socket.

At just under 4.4m long, close to 1.8m wide and little over 1.5m tall (with a 2655mm wheelbase) the CX-30 is in the middle of the pack it competes with in terms of key dimensions.

And space up front is more than adequate, with an impressive feeling of roominess for a relatively small SUV.

For storage, there’s a large lidded box (which doubles as an armrest) between the front seats as well as a pair of cupholders in front of the gear-shifter with a bay for wireless device charging ahead of that.

The glove box is big, there are bins in the doors with room for decent size bottles and a drop-down tray for sunglasses sits overhead.

Move to the rear and the amount of space on offer is surprisingly generous. Sitting behind the driver’s seat, set for my 183cm position, I have plenty of head and legroom, although three full-size adults across the back seat will be an uncomfortable proposition for anything other than short trips. A trio of up to mid-teenage kids will be fine.

Adjustable air vents at the back of the front centre console are a welcome inclusion for back-seaters and storage runs to a map pocket (weirdly, on the back of the front seat only), a pair of cupholders in the fold-down centre armrest and bins in the doors with room for smaller bottles.

In-cabin power and connectivity includes two USB-C outlets and a 12-volt socket in the front centre storage box. No USBs specifically for those in the rear, which is a miss for road trips and no 12V in the boot which can be handy when camping or picnicking.  

Speaking of the boot, cargo volume with the rear seat upright is okay for the class at 317 litres, which expands to a healthy 1479L with the 60/40 split-folding backrest lowered. For comparison the Kia Seltos coughs up 433L with the rear seat upright.

The space is illuminated, there are tie-down anchors to help secure loose loads and there’s a space-saver spare sitting under the floor.

And if you’re keen on towing a tinnie or similar you’re good to go for a 1200kg braked trailer (600kg unbraked).

The Mazda CX-30 G25 GT SP FWD weighs in at $43,140, before on-road costs and our test example features the optional ‘Vision Pack’, the details of which we’ll get to shortly, raising the price $1300 to $44,440. 

Alternate options around that price point include the Hyundai Kona Premium N Line 2WD ($42,500), Kia Seltos GT-Line FWD ($41,850), Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross Exceed 2WD ($40,990), Honda HR-V e:HEV L 2WD ($42,900, drive-away), Nissan Qashqai ST-L FWD ($42,690), Peugeot 2008 GT FWD ($44,490), Renault Arkana Techno FWD ($41,000), Suzuki S-Cross Plus FWD ($41,490), Toyota C-HR 2WD GXL Hybrid ($42,990) and Volkswagen T-Roc Style FWD ($40,590).

That’s quite the automotive smorgasbord, the resulting price and specification cage fight meaning every included feature counts and the Mazda heads into battle with some significant weapons in hand.

Specifically, dual-zone climate control, a head-up display, a 10.25-inch ‘widescreen’ multimedia display, 7.0-inch driver’s multi-information display, 12-speaker Bose audio (with digital radio), wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, ‘Burgundy’ leather seat trim, heated front seats, leather trim on the gearshift and heated steering wheel, wireless phone charging, power-adjustable driver’s seat (with memories), a glass power tilt and slide sunroof and a power tailgate.   

There’s also adaptive auto LED headlights, 18-inch black metallic alloy wheels, radar cruise control (with stop/go), a reversing camera, auto-fold (and tilt) heated exterior mirrors and keyless entry and start. 

It’s an impressive and competitive equipment list for a small SUV under $45K, even before we get to the performance and safety tech covered later in the review.

The VZe Tribe Edition is a plug-in hybrid that has an electric motor that produces up to 85kW/330Nm. This is paired with a 1.4L four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine. Together, they produce outputs of up to 180kW and 400Nm.

However, once the lithium-ion battery is depleted, those figures drop to 110kW/250Nm and you notice the difference on the open road. 

The Tribe has a smooth six-speed automatic transmission and can do a 0-100km/h sprint in 7.0-seconds. Not crazy fast but still fun.

The CX-30 GT SP is powered by a 2.5-litre, naturally aspirated, four-cylinder petrol engine producing maximum power of 139kW at 6000rpm and peak torque of 252Nm at 4000rpm.

It’s a proven all-alloy unit featuring direct-injection as well as variable intake and exhaust valve timing with drive going to the front wheels via a six-speed auto transmission. 

The AWD version of the GT SP adds an electromagnetic multi-plate clutch pack (managed by a multitude of sensors) to selectively engage the rear wheels, as well. But its engine and transmission combination is identical to this FWD model’s.

Like all plug-in hybrids, you get the best efficiency if you recharge the Tribe often. If you want to get close to the official combined (urban/extra-urban) fuel cycle figure of 1.9L/100km you need to charge it every single time you use it.

Following this procedure over 347km of a mix of open and city driving, saw the real-world usage pop out at 2.3L/100km, which is outstanding.

However, the second half of the week saw 336km travelled and no recharge and the real-world usage stepped up considerably to 6.0L.

With its 40L fuel tank, you have a theoretical driving range of up to 2105km but expect less in real-world conditions. Worth noting Cupra recommends a minimum 95 RON unleaded petrol for this model.

The Tribe has a lithium-ion battery with a usable 10.9kWh capacity and the claimed pure EV range is up to 58km, as well as, a claimed 14.1kWh energy consumption figure.

Over my week with it, the consumption hovered around 22.8kWh/100km when cruising on the highway going 100km/h.

The CX-30 GT SP FWD’s official fuel consumption figure on the combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle is 6.6L/100km, the 2.5-litre atmo four-cylinder engine emitting 154g/km of C02 in the process.

It features fuel-saving stop-start and cylinder deactivation functions as standard and over a combination of city, suburban and some freeway running we saw an average of 8.4L/100km, which is average for an SUV in this class. A comparable hybrid package would easily better this result.

Based on the car’s 51-litre fuel tank theoretical range between refills is 772km, which drops to just over 600km using our real-world test consumption number. But the good news is this CX-30 runs happily on cheaper 91 RON ‘standard’ fuel.

The VZe Tribe Edition is happiest in the city and when you have a full battery. This is when it feels the most responsive with its power delivery. In the city, it’s quick and sure-footed. 

However, once that battery hits empty and you’re on the open road, the power is there but it stops feeling as fun.

The firm steering keeps it nimble and the driver's cockpit makes you feel well connected with what the car is doing but the ride comfort is like the design, not what you'd call plush.

The suspension is firm and you feel every bump in the road. Road and wind noise are also pretty high and in general, you feel a bit weary at the end of longer trips.

The visibility is good despite having narrow windows but a car seat or passenger in the back seat compromises the rear view vision. 

The Formentor shines in a tight car park with its 10.7m turning circle and compact proportions. The 360-degree view camera system is also most welcome but the quality of the feed is reflective of the grade level.

It’s rare in 2024 to find a small SUV that doesn’t have at least one turbocharger attached to its engine, the CX-30’s 2.5-litre ‘atmo’ four being one of those increasingly scarce examples.

But Mazda’s been laser-focused on extracting maximum power and efficiency from its non-turbo petrol engines for yonks and this one stands up well.

It doesn’t have the low-down punch a turbo typically delivers but maximum pulling power arrives at a useable 4000rpm and it’s eager enough for easy city and suburban running as well as confident freeway cruising.

Although Mazda doesn’t quote an official number you can expect a sprint from 0-100km/h in around 8.5 seconds, which is quick for the class.

Worth noting engine noise and a raspy exhaust note make their presence felt under acceleration and the throttle isn’t as refined as it could be. Not a huge deal, but a slight jerkiness is evident on initial, especially moderate, acceleration.

The six-speed auto is smooth and fuss-free, the steering wheel paddle shifters on hand if you need to intervene and select a specific ratio. ‘Sport’ mode peps things up, causing the transmission to shift down earlier and up later. But it’s aggressive in that it often holds onto a gear for too long and you find yourself diving back to the default normal setting.

Tipping the scales at just under 1.5 tonnes, the CX-30 is underpinned by a MacPherson strut front, torsion beam rear suspension and ride comfort on typically pock-marked urban surfaces is average for the category. That is, a bit jittery over bumps and corrugations but there’s no bone-jarring going on here.

Steering feel and response is good and the grippy steering wheel helps with a connection to the front tyres. Speaking of which, the standard rubber is high-performance (215/55) Dunlop SP Sport Maxx 050 which is  grippy and commendably quiet. 

Push on into a corner and the CX-30 remains balanced and predictable with body roll well under control. Torque vectoring, by engine and physical braking, is also onboard to reel things in if you overstep the mark.

Braking is by discs all around, vented at the front and solid at the rear, and they wash off speed effectively with a satisfyingly progressive pedal action.

Vision is good, which combined with the CX-30’s compact dimensions and 10.6m turning circle, means parking is easy. Especially when you factor in the hi-res reversing camera and front and rear parking sensors. 

The CX-30 carries a maximum five-star ANCAP assessment from early 2020 when the car was introduced locally.

It scored a stunning 99 per cent in the adult occupant protection category and an impressive 88 per cent for child occupant protection.

Active (crash-avoidance) tech includes AEB (operating from 4.0-160km/h) as well as lane keep assist, lane departure warning, traffic sign recognition, intelligent speed assistance, blind-spot monitoring, front and rear parking sensors, rear cross-traffic alert, a reversing camera and tyre pressure monitoring.

Mazda’s ‘Vision Pack’ is also standard which includes a 360-degree camera view, ‘Cruising & Traffic Support’, driver fatigue monitoring and front cross-traffic alert.

The airbag count runs to seven - dual front and front side, full-length side curtains and driver’s knee.

There are three top tether points for child seats across the second row with ISOFIX anchors on the two outer positions.

The Formentor has a five-year/unlimited km warranty but it’s becoming more common to see longer warranty periods being offered now.

You can pre-purchase a three- or five-year servicing program. The three-year program costs a flat $990, averaging $330 per service. The five-year option averages costs $1990, averaging $398 per service which is reasonable for the class.

Servicing intervals are good at every 12-months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.

Mazda covers the CX-30 with a five-year/unlimited km warranty which is the norm in the mainstream market, and it’s worth noting a growing number of competitors are now at six, seven or even 10 years, although the latter are typically conditional on authorised dealer servicing. Roadside assistance is provided for the duration of the warranty.

Service is recommended every 12 months or 15,000km and Mazda’s ‘Service Select’ program sets maintenance pricing out to seven years, the lowest over that period being $352 and the highest $626, for an annual average of $459, which is reasonable but not exceptional for the category.

For comparison, a similarly specified Toyota C-HR averages $330 per workshop visit over the same period.