2021 Mazda CX-30 Turbo First Drive Review: Mazda’s Long March Upmarket

 Is the CX-30 Turbo the one to get?

One of our biggest gripes about the Mazda CX-30 has been its powertrain. For a brand intent on being held in consideration with luxury automakers, the standard CX-30 feels far more Honda, Nissan, or Toyota than Acura, Infiniti, or Lexus. Now armed with a more powerful optional engine, the new 2021 Mazda CX-30 Turbo aims to take the tiny Japanese automaker up the ladder into the luxury subcompact SUV ring with the established players.

What's New?

New last year, not a whole lot has changed with the CX-30 aside from the added turbo engine. Slotting between the slightly smaller CX-3 and significantly bigger CX-5 (not to mention alongside the Mazda 3 hatchback), the 2021 CX-30 continues to come standard with a 2.5-liter I-4 that makes 186 hp and 186 lb-ft of torque, routing that power either through a six-speed automatic to the front wheels or through an optional all-wheel-drive system.

Available only with all-wheel drive and a six-speed automatic, the CX-30 Turbo is powered by a 2.5-liter turbocharged I-4 producing 250 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque on premium 93 octane gas, or 226 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque on regular 87 octane fuel. Although Mazda has swapped in a new rear differential, changed the automatic's gear ratios, and retuned the suspension to handle the new turbo-four's torque, horsepower, and extra weight (respectively), it says the changes were made primarily to ensure that CX-30 Turbos didn't drive differently than naturally aspirated CX-30s.

Efficiency doesn't suffer much with the new CX-30 Turbo; the EPA rates the new model at 22/30/25 mpg city/highway/combined, while the naturally aspirated CX-30 AWD achieves 24/31/26 mpg.

How Does The CX-30 Turbo Drive?

There's no way around it—the addition of a turbocharged engine represents a massive improvement to the CX-30 line. One of the biggest gripes we've had about the CX-30 is with the standard powertrain. The base I-4 lacks the low-end grunt of its more modern competitors, and it's paired with a dated, slow-shifting automatic gearbox. This results in a frustrating dance between the driver's right foot and the transmission as the latter hunts around for the small sweet spot in the 2.5-liter engine's powerband.

With a broad powerband, shorter transmission gearing, and most important, peak torque availability at just 2,000 rpm, the CX-30 Turbo is significantly better to drive than the non-turbocharged model. Thanks to the new engine, there's a newfound life in the CX-30. While it'll never be mistaken for the beloved (and long-departed) MazdaSpeed 3, it feels properly quick when you floor it from a stop, even exhibiting some modest torque steer despite the Turbo model's standard all-wheel-drive system.

Driven more sedately, the CX-30 Turbo gets up and off the line quickly and without a fuss, and once it gets up to speed, it hums quietly in the background. Passing power is much improved, too, with enough torque on tap that the CX-30 can lazily accelerate without having to downshift. That's just as well; despite revised gear ratios, the six-speed automatic still has the slow, slushy downshifts and early upshifts that plague naturally aspirated versions of the CX-30. It also has a frustrating tendency to upshift early and downshift late, even when in Sport or Manual drive modes (the latter of which is never truly manual).

Steering, on the other hand, reads as an attempt at a traditional Mazda sporty feel; the steering rack is hot hatch quick, light, but ultimately vague-feeling when you give in and start to push the little CX-30. Sport mode doesn't improve things; it makes the steering oppressively heavy, numbing what little feel and feedback was coming up through the wheel. You'd expect a turbocharged all-wheel-drive Mazda hatch to be fun to drive up a good winding road, but the fact is, this CX-30 lacks the special sauce that all Mazdas used to have.

What About The CX-30'S Interior?

So how's the rest of the CX-30 Turbo package stack up? Well, it's a lot like the rest of the CX-30 lineup. The premium-looking and -feeling cabin goes a long way in distracting from the Mazda's claustrophobic cabin—especially if you're a passenger. The front passenger's seat doesn't raise or lower like the driver's seat does, and the rear seats are tight for adults, with a narrow field of view out of the windows, thanks to the sloping (though attractive) roofline. Cargo space is middle of the pack among mainstream subcompact SUVs, with vehicles like the Kia Seltos and Subaru Crosstrek offering significantly more volume. However, the CX-30 scores well in terms of cargo space against some luxury subcompact SUVs like the Lexus UX and Mercedes-Benz GLA. Even so, we wish the Mazda's rear seats were capable of folding flat.

Although the turbo is a massive improvement over the base naturally aspirated engine, Mazda's decision to tune the CX-30 Turbo to otherwise drive like the standard version was a missed opportunity. Despite the newfound power, the CX-30 Turbo still lacks a cohesive sense of purpose (is it a luxury SUV? A sporty SUV? Or something else entirely?), and the drive experience suffers because of it. The Mazda's suspension, for instance, reads "sport." Like the standard CX-30, the Turbo's suspension is stiffly sprung on most impacts and skittish over rough ones (especially at highway speeds), making it never really feel settled down or confidence-inspiring.

How Much Is The 2021 CX-30 Turbo?

Whereas some mainstream automakers offer turbocharged engine options for a small premium (or in the case of the Seltos, for free), the turbocharged engine is only available on upper-level CX-30s. The cheapest way to get a turbo is in the CX-30 2.5 Turbo trim, which stickers for $31,225. Next up the ladder is the CX-30 2.5 Turbo Premium, which, for $33,625, adds a power liftgate, leather seats, and a muddy-sounding 12-speaker Bose audio system, among other things. The top dog of the CX-30 lineup is the CX-30 2.5 Turbo Premium Plus, which adds features like a 360-degree camera and traffic jam assist and stickers for $35,225.

Is The CX-30 Turbo Better Than The Standard CX-30? Yes, But…

That pricing structure puts the CX-30 in a real tough spot. For mainstream shoppers, the $30,000-$35,000 range will likely make most think twice about a small subcompact crossover, and they instead may find their way into a cheaper CX-30 competitor or a larger compact SUV. Best-case scenario for Mazda, this results in a CX-3 or CX-5 sale. Luxury buyers, on the other hand, likely aren't used to seeing Mazda as a premium brand, and may turn their nose up at the CX-30 Turbo and opt for a Volvo XC40 or BMW X1 for similar money.

And ultimately, that represents the biggest problem for not just the CX-30 Turbo, but the CX-30 lineup as a whole: Mazda's glacial march upmarket from mainstream to a premium brand has resulted in the CX-30 stuck in no man's land—it's too expensive, small, and compromised to compete convincingly against the best mainstream subcompacts like the Seltos or Crosstrek, while it lacks the cachet, pricing structure, and cohesive drive experience of the luxury subcompacts. Where the CX-30 Turbo ends up excelling then is against the bottom tier of both classes, which isn't exactly a recipe for success.

Regardless of how the new CX-30 Turbo stacks up against its luxe and mainstream rivals, there's no denying the new powertrain is a significant improvement to the line—but the CX-30's flaws are too deep to be fixed with just the addition of a new engine.