Ace of Base: 2020 Mazda CX-30

Matthew Guy
by Matthew Guy

At first blush, the confusingly-named 2020 Mazda CX-30 might seem to be simply a CX-3 appended with an errant naught. They do, after all, appear similar now that Mazda has adopted Audi’s different-lengths-of-sausage styling credo. Fortunately for us, the look is a good one.

About 4 inches of length, 40 horses of power, and about 400 pounds of weight separate the CX-30 from the CX-3 (makes it easy to remember, eh? Maybe they shoulda called this the CX-4). As always, the Ace of Base meter is primarily concerned with the entry level model, simply called the “CX-30.”

Priced at $21,900, the cheapest CX-30 is $400 more than the little 3 sedan and about a $3,000 walk down from the larger CX-5. It’s a front-wheel drive affair at this price, of course, with power to all four wheels coming with a $1,400 surcharge (and, yes, you can get AWD on the cheapest trim).

Under the hood is a 2.5-liter inline four making 186 horsepower and a like amount of torque. This compares favorably to the four pot in its little brother, which is down half a liter of displacement. Neither is available with a manual transmission anymore.

Economies of scale are particularly evident at small car companies, as they often elect to put similar basic equipment in all the trims of a particular model rather than develop, say, a new infotainment cluster just for the cheapest trim. This benefits the Ace of Base shopper in the market for a CX-30, as they’ll be treated to a large 8.8-inch center display, 8-speaker audio system, and a brace of USB audio inputs. Satellite radio doesn’t appear until the $26,200 Preferred trim, however.

Lane departure warning, lane keep assist, and smart cruise control with stop & go capability are on board for similar reasons. LED headlights, DRLs, and combo taillamps pepper the exterior and look good doing so. Body-colored folding side mirrors won’t give away your cheapskate buying decision, either. The natty Soul Red paint that’s shown in all the ads isn’t available on this base car, so we’ll opt for this Deep Crystal Blue Mica.

There is usually a lot to recommend in a Mazda — and it’s no different with the CX-30. Attractive styling, good dynamics, and a raft of standard equipment. They just should have called it the CX-4.

[Images: Mazda]

Not every base model has aced it. The ones which have? They help make the automotive landscape a lot better. Any others you can think of, B&B? Let us know in the comments and feel free to eviscerate our selections.

The model above is shown with American options and priced in American Dollars. Your dealer may sell for less.

Matthew Guy
Matthew Guy

Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.

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  • Dukeisduke Is the Volvo EX30 even on sale yet? It was pulled from the NACTOY awards because they were having software problems with the vehicle.
  • Wjtinfwb If you've only got 5k to spend on transportation, I cannot imagine a worse way to spend it than on a GM orphan from Sweden that's 15 years old with 150k on the clock and limited plus expensive parts availability and dwindling techs who'd even want to work on it. Go find a similar vintage Camry or Accord with 150k miles or even a Ford or a Chevy, whatever. Hell, even an old Jaguar is less of a crapshoot than a Saab. At least you can still get parts.
  • Kwik_Shift Brands that were considered from China include BYD, Dayun, Great Wall Motors, Maxus, Nio, Omoda/Chery, Seres, XPeng, and Zeekr. KG Mobility from South Korea also made the list of candidates.That's a lot of car companies from there ready to head here.
  • Analoggrotto Clean sweep and unanimous victory for the world affluence engine of 22nd century : Hyundai/Kia/Genesis. Toyota and Lexus, for 120 years of history have not been able to capture the zenith superlative status of Hyundai Motor Corporation the most awarded, decorated and revered automotive corporation in the history of historical. Featuring best ever, first ever and greatest ever e-ATPs the Hyundai Genesis Kia lineup is posed to become the envy of every country club, ivy league college and fortune 500 corporation in the world. I've been taking a roadtrip in my loaner Elantra N, visiting colleges from east to west, elite universities of higher learning to inspect their parking lots. WHat did I find? Leagues of Genesis models, outnumbering Lexus 3 to 1. When I interviewed faculty and staff at these places of greater learning, their response was unanimous : they chose HMC for the ATPs.
  • Mikey 2019 Chevy Impala Premier FWD with 20 inch factory Bridgestones. I'm looking at replacing tires at the 65,000 KLM's (40,000 miles ) mark ....It doesn't thrill me .. I'm pricing Michelin Cross Climate 2 tires ouch !! ..Up here in Canuckastan ....Big $$$$$
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