2023 Mazda CX-30 vs Mazda CX-5

What's the difference?

I’m glad we checked in on our old friend, the Mazda CX-30. Despite being a car with two wheels planted in the future, and two firmly planted in the past, it manages to hold the line against many of its newer rivals, both on the cheaper and higher-tech end of the spectrum.

What you see really is what you get with this Mazda; it’s lovely to drive, looks fantastic, and punches above its weight when it comes to cabin ambiance. While what’s under the bonnet might no longer be in vogue, driving this car again has only reinforced its standing as small SUV royalty.

Despite being far from the most modern option on the market, I'm surprised to see how well the CX-5 is holding up, particularly compared to more recently launched rivals when it comes to driving dynamics and cabin ambiance.

In fact, this car still feels so up to the task it's hard to believe Mazda is already moving its styling upwards and onwards with spiritual successors on the way like the CX-50 and CX-60.

For now, it's hard to go wrong in the CX-5 range, and actually, the Touring Active is the value pick of the bunch if you're willing to do away with certain small luxuries which this design feels like it should have.

While the Haval Jolions of the world look ready to hit up the McDonald’s drive thru with their youthful flair, and cars like the Toyota Corolla Cross want to save money and dine at home with their conservative appearance, the Mazda CX-30 looks dressed to impress, as though it should be seen at the valet stand of your nearest Michelin-star restaurant.

A few years of age or not, the design of this car is still spectacular at this price, placing it right at the forefront of looks for the mainstream small SUV segment.

The delicate panel work, signature big grille, and large wheels at this Astina grade match nicely with the minimalist light fittings which themselves come complete with a soft-fade effect for the indicators.

It’s attention to detail like this which makes the CX-30 look like it belongs in a price-bracket above, and demands rivals pay attention.

The interior meets expectations, too, which is no small feat given some cars in this space prove it’s one thing to look great, and quite another to match it with a truly premium feel.

Mazda has done a fantastic job in the cabin which feels the part with an abundance of soft-touch materials, a dark, modern colour scheme, and an overall vibe which is ageing well even compared to more recently launched rivals.

I would go so far as to say, at the Astina grade the CX-30 feels more like it should be competing with Lexus, certainly punching above the mark, even at its mid-$40K price-point.

What has always sold the CX-5 is its understated but upmarket-looking design. Even after all these years it oozes cool with its big trend-setting and deeply three-dimensional honeycomb grille, tasteful chrome highlights, and sleek light fittings, which of course are all elements now emulated by other brands.

The recent update brought with it new shapely LED lights front and rear, a tweaked face, new wheel designs and some updated features for the interior.

Meanwhile, this Touring Active grade scores some bright green touches inside and out, as well as additional silver trim pieces and gunmetal wheels.

Inside it's still hard to believe Mazda manages to make a car look and feel this good at the price. It's not hard to imagine someone test driving a Toyota RAV4 and subsequently being blown away by the premium look and feel of the CX-5.

The Lego brick neon green highlights in the interior of the Touring active, which form part of the vent surrounds and work their way into the seat trim, bring an unusually youthful flair to the usually serious Mazda cabin, but they won't be for everyone.

Other highlights include a tasteful smattering of silver trim, a blend of soft-touch materials in the dash and doors, and a more subtle approach to multimedia than many other brands, with low-set screens far from the driver.

It looks good and feels good, but is it practical? While the CX-30 is larger than its smaller CX-3 sibling, it still leaves space to be desired, especially compared to some other segment-bending small SUVs it competes with.

The front seat is not where the bad news starts though. It feels spacious enough inside for a couple, with large seats, plenty of space separating the front two occupants, and plenty of comfort on offer with padded armrests on both sides.

There are big bottle holders in the doors and in a flip-open bay in the console (wouldn’t want to interrupt this design… ), and there’s additional storage once you slide and flip open the armrest.

To keep things tidy, your USB and 12V power connections are also located in the console bay. No need for messy cables, and there’s a little divider, too.

On the downside here, there’s a chunk of dead space under the climate unit, which looks like it could be filled with a shelf or, better yet, wireless charger. As it is, it’s just a plastic panel with a small bay underneath which barely fits a phone.

Adjustability is great for the driver, with a reach- and tilt-adjustable steering wheel, and high belt-line offering a sporty hatch-like feel, which I instantly felt comfortable with.

The rear seat isn’t as impressive. While the fancy seat trim and soft-touch points mostly continue, some of the padding in the doors has been replaced with hard plastic, and there’s a raise in the floor to facilitate all-wheel drive on some variants which eats into the centre occupant’s foot space.

Behind my own seating position, my knees have a tiny amount of room, and so does my head, at 182cm tall. Technically, I fit, but it’s close, and feels it.

Rear occupants get a padded drop-down armrest with two bottle holders, an extra two surprisingly large ones in the doors, but no power outlets. There are two adjustable air vents on the back of the centre console.

The coupe-like design also has a cost when it comes to boot space. There’s 317-litres (VDA) of space available, although we could only fit the CarsGuide luggage set when the parcel shelf was removed.

The space is suitable for a couple on a weekend adventure, but a bit tight if you have more requirements, like a pram-age child, for example.

There is an under-floor space which houses a space-saver spare wheel and part of the Bose sound system.

As one of Australia's most popular mid-size SUVs, you'd hope the CX-5 is up to family duties, and the good news is it mostly aces the brief.

Up front, there's plenty of room for adults, with a good amount of adjustability, and great visibility despite a relatively high belt-line and dash.

The seats in this Touring Active grade are manual adjust only, which may be a downside for some, while the blended seat trim of ‘Maztex' synthetic leather and suede isn't my preference.

I'm more in favour of a basic cloth seat, which will be much easier to clean and will probably wear better, or the lovely real leather seats which appear on higher grades.

Nicely-sized bottle holders appear in the doors and centre console, and the latest update also brings a wireless charger under the climate unit, to match the wireless phone mirroring.

On the topic of phone mirroring, Mazda has taken the commitment to dial-operated systems to a fault.

The multimedia screen, perched atop the dash, is not a touch unit, and is instead operated only with the centre dial.

This dial is fine for operating Mazda's relatively straightforward software, but is downright clumsy when it comes to flicking through menus on Apple CarPlay, in particular.

Still, I appreciate the very straightforward climate panel, which consists of physical buttons and dials for all of its controls. Far preferable to the trendy touch panel, or worse, multimedia-screen interfaces on some rivals.

The rear doors open nice and wide, making it easy to fit child seats, and room back there is more than sufficient for adults in the outer two rear seats, as well.

I had plenty of legroom and headroom behind my own driving position at 182cm tall.

The quality trims continue in the doors, and there's a large bottle holder in each one, alongside a further two in the drop-down armrest.

Interestingly, this part also has a flip-open tray with two USB 2.0 connectors, a tidy way to get power to the rear passengers, but one which can't be used if the middle seat is occupied.

There are no additional outlets on the back of the centre console, although there is a set of air vents back there.

The boot measures in at 438 litres, which is not on the larger end for the mid-size SUV space, and may cause some families to run into issues, particularly if they need to carry a pram on top of regular luggage.

As it is though, it fit our CarsGuide demo luggage set with minimal room to spare. There is a space-saver spare wheel under the floor.

Since it arrived Down Under in 2022, the updated CX-5, thanks in large part to its ongoing popularity, is available in a long list of confusingly labelled variants.

To be precise, there are now 11 different versions of this SUV, two basic front-wheel drive variants, and nine all-wheel drive models with three different engine options.

Confused? Me too. To cut to the chase with the Touring Active, though, it's the third cheapest all-wheel drive version, featuring the least powerful of the three engine options.

For roughly the same money you can get into a base model Toyota RAV4 GX all-wheel drive hybrid, or mid-grade all-wheel drive versions of the Hyundai Tucson (Elite) or Kia Sportage (SX+), although I would argue none of those options have quite the visual appeal of our Mazda.

Standard equipment on the Touring Active grade includes 17-inch gunmetal alloy wheels, ‘Maztex' synthetic leather and suede interior trim, a new-for-the-update 10.25-inch multimedia screen with dial control (more on that later), a semi-digital instrument cluster, updated navigation system, and wireless phone charging to match the wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

There's also dual-zone climate, and re-designed LED light fittings front and rear.

Despite the swish look, there are things missing here. For example, my partner was surprised the seats were manually adjusted in a car which looks this nice inside, and I have to agree.

Plus, you have to spend significantly more to get into a version with the turbocharged engine. There's also no sunroof at this grade, nor is there a powered tailgate.

This is where the Mazda is really showing its age. G25 variants are powered by a 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine, which isn’t turbocharged, nor is it assisted at the wheels by electric motors in a hybrid arrangement.

It’s punchy enough to keep the pace with most of its turbo rivals, putting out 139kW/252Nm, and some will love the fact it’s paired with a traditional torque converter automatic instead of a rubbery continuously variable or glitchy dual-clutch set-up, but it’s certainly not for the eco-conscious.

Not only is it a relatively large displacement engine, but aside from a start-stop system there’s little to mitigate your emissions. In fact, this unit only complies with Euro 5 emissions regulations, well behind the pace today.

For such a contemporary looking car, things feel a little dated when it comes to engine tech.

Rather than employing a fancy hybrid or downsized turbo unit with a tricky transmission, Mazda relies on a regular 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine, mated to a traditional six-speed torque converter automatic transmission.

The engine produces 140kW/252Nm, hardly on the high end for the segment, and it needs to drive all four wheels.

If this doesn't sound like enough punch for you, there's also a 2.2-litre four-cylinder diesel engine (140kW/450Nm) available on the Touring Active grade, but it carries a roughly $3000 premium.

Some bad news, of course, comes at the fuel pump. The official claim for this relatively large engine is a bit bold, at 6.8L/100km on the ADR combined cycle, but if you’re using it for mainly urban duties as we did for this review I wouldn’t be surprised to see figures more in the region between 8.0 and 9.0L/100km.

As it stands, our car produced an average of 7.8L/100km, which is better than expected, but still painful in the era of hybrids and fuel-sipping turbos, especially when fuel is close to $2.00 a litre in most capital cities.

Mercifully, the lack of complexity from this engine does mean you can put bog-standard 91 RON unleaded in the tank.

As you'd imagine, a 2.5-litre engine with no electrical or turbocharged assistance can punish you at the fuel pump.

While the hybrid RAV4 has managed to bring fuel efficiency as low as 4.8L/100km to the mid-size SUV space, our Mazda has a comparatively high official combined efficiency of 7.4L/100km.

After 400km of driving in real-world suburban conditions, my test car consumed 9.0L/100km, decidedly higher again.

Thankfully, the CX-5's relatively low-tech engine is capable of consuming entry-level 91 unleaded. It is only compliant with Euro 5 emissions standards, and has a 58-litre fuel tank.

Using the official economy figure, driving range comes in at just over 780km.

The CX-30 is awesome to drive. In a sea of lacklustre small SUVs, it’s instantly easy to connect with this Mazda. Yes, the engine and transmission here aren’t the most recent additions to the landscape, but they are predictable, smooth, and easy to deal with.

In fact, one thing Mazda is particularly good at is making its entire range feel homogenous in terms of the drive experience, maintaining the great dynamics which the brand has become synonymous with.

The touchpoints continue to be fantastic on the move. The steering feels light and easy to turn at low speeds, but becomes purposeful and full of feel at higher speeds.

The direct feedback on offer from the rack and the firm springs up front give a great handle on what the front wheels are doing.

The overall feel is firm and reactive, ready for action, and while not everyone will love the hard edge to the suspension, it helps the car feel springy and agile in the corners.

You can feel the Mazda 3 DNA on full display when you’re driving this car in haste, and it’s a kind of dynamism which most rivals can’t match, even if the Mazda’s drivetrain is feeling a little low-tech.

You certainly don’t need to worry about the six-speed transmission, which is a smooth-shifting unit.

There’s no glitchy behaviour on hills or from a stop like you might get in a dual-clutch, or rubbery surging under acceleration often delivered by a CVT, just the feeling of the car riding each gear out, and shifting between clearly defined ratios.

Drivers of older vehicles especially will appreciate its instantly familiar feel.

Ergonomically, it’s pretty straightforward, with the one major downside being the dial set-up. We like physical controls rather than touch controls, but Mazda has taken this to the extreme by not making the main multimedia screen a touch unit.

Instead, you’re forced to negotiate with phone mirroring software using a rotary dial, which is at best clumsy, and at worst distracting.

It’s also a tad difficult to see over this car’s high beltline, making it hard to tell where the corners are, front and rear, and a common Mazda problem is the wing mirrors which seem to have a zoom factor on them. Why? It limits your view into the lanes next to you.

Thankfully the active safety suite spends most of its time in the background and unlike some more recent offerings in the small SUV space, not interfering with the excellent drive experience.

The lane keep software is light handed, and the driver monitoring tech is more basic, which is honestly all you should need.

Overall then, the CX-30 is predictable, familiar, and has a fantastic quality to its handling which fits the Mazda brand promise.

Aside from a few blemishes then, it’s one of the best cars to drive in the segment, just don’t expect it to feel as cutting-edge as it could.

If you've driven any Mazda in the last decade or so, this latest CX-5 won't throw up any surprises. The drive experience adheres to the sporty, firm and purposeful ethos which Mazda has cultivated over a long period of time.

This is defined by nice accurate steering, an overall light and springy feel for the car, and a firm ride.

While the engine has to push harder than some in this class to move along its mid-size bulk and the demands of all-wheel drive, it's still a comparatively fun family SUV to drive.

Especially when compared with the comfortable-but-tame RAV4, and perhaps overly tech-y turbocharged dual-clutch versions of the Tucson and Sportage.

In this way, the Mazda's old-sounding powertrain may be an advantage. In particular, the six-speed automatic transmission is smooth and predictable, great for family buyers and won't throw up any surprises, particularly for those coming out of older vehicles equipped with similar components.

For its most recent CX-5 update, Mazda has tweaked the suspension further, which has thankfully gone a long way to taking the edge off the once too-hard ride.

It's still a firm and reactive SUV, though, amongst the more entertaining to drive in the segment.

There are no optional pieces of safety equipment in the CX-5 range, and thankfully the active systems are minimally invasive for the driver, too, letting the drive experience shine further.

Standard equipment includes auto emergency braking (works high speed going forward, and low speed in reverse), lane keep assist with lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring with rear-cross traffic alert, traffic sign recognition, as well as adaptive cruise control and front and rear parking sensors.

As a bonus, there's a nice high-def reversing camera, although you'll have to spend more for the 360-degree version, and a tyre pressure monitoring sensor, too.

The CX-5 has five airbags, dual ISOFIX and three top-tether mounting points across the rear row, and maintains a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating from when this generation launched back in 2017.

As with all Mazdas, the ownership proposition is pretty straightforward. There’s five years of warranty, five years of roadside assist, and five years of capped price servicing.

Service costs are pretty tame, too, with our front-drive G25 Astina working out to an average of $360 per year for the first five years.

You’ll need to visit a workshop once every 10,000km or 12 months, whichever comes first.

Mazda keeps things simple here with five years of warranty, five years of roadside assist, and a five-year capped price service program.

For the latest update, the service intervals have been pushed out from 10,000km to 15,000km and 12 months, and the average cost works out to be $423 per year for the 2.5-litre petrol engine option as tested.

This is not the cheapest servicing in the segment, but it's not unusually expensive, either.