Mazda CX-30 vs Tesla Model 3

What's the difference?

VS
Mazda CX-30
Mazda CX-30

$28,998 - $51,256

2024 price

Tesla Model 3
Tesla Model 3

$44,800 - $79,800

2024 price

Summary

2024 Mazda CX-30
2024 Tesla Model 3
Safety Rating

Engine Type
Inline 4, 2.5L

Not Applicable, 0.0L
Fuel Type
Unleaded Petrol

Electric
Fuel Efficiency
6.6L/100km (combined)

0.0L/100km (combined)
Seating
5

5
Dislikes
  • Dated interior
  • Fuel efficiency could be better
  • Bit noisy

  • Looks a bit dull
  • Steering too light
  • Still feels cheap inside
2024 Mazda CX-30 Summary

If you’re in the market for a city- and family-friendly compact SUV, you’re in luck.

The small SUV segment is one of the most heavily populated and hotly contested in the Aussie new-car market and the Mazda CX-30 G25 GT SP FWD is pitched against a seething pack of at least 10 similarly sized, generously specified and highly-credentialed competitors. 

So, stay with us on a mission to determine whether this high-end version of one of Mazda’s best sellers is worthy of a spot on your new-car short list.

 

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2024 Tesla Model 3 Summary

It is highly unusual to drive around in a bed, but that’s what it felt like we were being asked to do with the new and terribly exciting Tesla Model 3 Performance.

Tesla doesn’t do media launches, nor traditional marketing, so everything about this event was predictably peculiar, but when we were told this new car was causing so much excitement that we should pull a sheet over it every time we stopped, to avoid people photographing it, or touching it (“if someone tries, just politely ask them to stop” as we were advised) we hit peak weirdness.

Eventually, they did agree to pull the sheet off one and let us have a look at the most exciting car Tesla has ever made that’s not a Cybertruck

The Performance is the Model 3 Tesla engineers and designers always wanted to make. Clearly, it was going to be called the 'Ludicrous', because some staff kept stuffing up and calling it that. It’s a shame the name wasn’t used, but at least it still gets an 'Insane' mode.

They really wanted to go all out with the original Performance version, but “a guy called Elon” didn’t want to add all the complexity that required at the time - he was focused on quality issues and ramping up production - but this go around he has let them have their heads, and encouraged them to go hog wild.

That means an entirely new power unit at the rear, staggered 20-inch wheels for sportier turn-in, aerodynamic changes for more downforce and less lift, new seats and the fitting of active dampers to a Model 3 for the first time, to help provide proper, track-ready handling.

We set out into the embrace of the adoring Los Angeles public (truly, no city on Earth boasts so many Tesla owners, they are everywhere) to find out if all the fuss is worth it.

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Deep dive comparison

2024 Mazda CX-30 2024 Tesla Model 3

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