Mazda small SUV range gets dirty wheels with AWD

Mazda has added All-Wheel-Drive to the CX30 small SUV, with mixed results

THE small and medium SUV markets are absolutely booming at the moment, with new models arriving on a regular basis, making it a challenge for manufacturers to get eyes on the existing range.

This means the odd rarity can slip under the radar, and that includes Mazda's CX-30 small car, which can be specified with All-Wheel-Drive - if you are brave enough.

From a size perspective, the CX30 sits between Mazda's 2 and 3 hatches

ALTHOUGH badged as a CX-30, in terms of physical size, it is more of a 25, bigger than the 2 small hatch, but smaller than the much-loved Mazda 3 hatch.

Featuring Mazda's preferred design language of a long bonnet with the passenger space in the rear half of the car, the CX-30 is a pretty enough design, with smoothly flowing lines, with no hard edges in evidence.

The other 'family' trait is the vertical drop radiator grille, the bonnet is almost guillotined off to mark the front edge of the car, with a slight downward curve to the bonnet just after the leading edge of the front wheels.

The headlights are clearly delineated in the design, running off the grille's top edges, almost like laid back rabbit ears, although that is probably not the effect the designer was going for...

Otherwise, the CX-30 is a nice enough car, a little unobtrusive in terms of looking a lot like everything else in the parking lot, while it is not unpleasant, it does mean the design does have a bit of a 'me too' feel.

On the upside, Mazda's build quality is as good as ever, this is one area that has always been a positive, there is a feeling of solidity that other small cars don't always match, even in the base versions.

Door and window seals are effective at shutting out the world around you, while some might say it isolates you from your surroundings, I say, in congested city surroundings, it is nice to not be sucking other people's exhaust fumes.

The CX30 is a very well-equipped and welcoming cabin, in line with normal Mazda practice

INSIDE, the CX-30 is above average, just like in body construction, Mazda has always been a step ahead of its competitors in terms of materials, yes, they are generally seen as a 'premium' brand, but that reputation was earned by doing things right when others were happy with 'near enough is good enough'.

Although a small car, which meant tight spaces for tall drivers, the seats are comfortable, we did some long drives over some challenging roads (more on that later!), and I found I could generally relax into the drive.

Yes, there is always my old favourite whinge, longer seat bases would always be appreciated, but in the context of this car's physical dimensions, Mazda did the best they could, and the quality of the materials was in keeping with the feel of the car.

While everything pretty much worked as expected, you pushed a button or flicked a switch and the window opened or air-con turned on, the Mazda audio interface is probably the car's biggest frustration.

In its day, Mazda's rotary controller was cutting edge, but technology has moved on since then.

When the rotary dial controller, mounted at the base of the centre console near the driver's thigh, first arrived about 15 years ago, it was a real 'wow' moment, it was one of the first to be placed separate to the entertainment unit, and only required the driver or passenger to drop their hand down, and everything was at your command.

However, over time, the competition has not only caught up but now overtaken Mazda, which seems to have rested on its laurels from all those years ago.

Where now, a quick tap on the screen brings choices to light in brilliant living colour, the CX-30 still needs you to reach down, find which control you want, rotate the selector to the preferred option, and then scroll through the various commands until you get what you were looking for.

I acknowledge, this is a very 'first world' complaint, I think back (gosh, was it really that long ago???) to some of my early cars, and even having a factory radio was a bit of a treat, even if it was a single-speaker AM unit, so perhaps I shouldn't be so precious...

The head unit also had some connection issues with Apple CarPlay, on more than one occasion it just lost my phone while driving, which is a problem when it was running guidance and music, as well as access to messaging and telephone.

The co-pilot had to restart the system and reconnect the phone, again, not a massive task, but annoying when similar systems in other cars are able to run without problem.

It could simply be the audio unit required a software update, which happens at scheduled servicing through the dealer network, but when it happened more than once, it became a frustration.

Mazda is still one of the best at making an instrument cluster into a work of art, and the CX30 is no exception

Back to the positives, the CX-30 dash is well laid out and easy to read, with functions including telephone, audio, the multi-function dash and cruise control also driver-controllable, via thumb buttons on the steering wheel.

I found the seat-to-wheel relationship was good, it didn't feel awkward or misaligned, while I would have liked a bit more under-dash legroom, the physical limitations of the cabin preclude this from happening.

Unfortunately, the CX-30 also inherits a seemingly built-in blind spot, in common with its larger siblings, especially around the base of the left-side A pillar and the door-mounted mirror pod.

With other CX models facing the same blind spot issues, it makes you wonder if this is caused by conversion from left-hand drive, this would not be the first time 'left to right' changes have created challenges in less-numerous RHD variants.

In the CX-30, this is exacerbated by the smaller cabin, with tall drivers pushed back toward the B pillar, so not only is there restricted vision to the left front, but the B pillar is square in your line of sight when you turn your head to check before changing lanes.

Forward vision is good, you do have a wide field of view, the only time it gets a little hairy is parking against low obstacle like bollards, below the bonnet line, which is where the 360-degree view and parking sensors do help.

Overall, the cabin is a nice place to spend some time, high quality materials combine with good workmanship (sorry, workpersonship is too clunky!) to give the interior that lift above the every day.

The CX30 worked well on and off the road

AS IN other areas, the CX-30's on-road performance is a bit of a mixed bag, with some highlights that are frustratingly tempered by things that just don't go as planned.

Under the bonnet, the All Wheel Drive versions get a 2.5-litre petrol four, which can run on 91 Octane fuel, or E10 blends, straight from the factory, producing 139 kilowatts and 252 Newton-metres, however it needs every one of them to get all four wheels turning from a standing start.

This is probably the biggest single problem for the CX-30, it is trying to be something that ultimately is not a good fit for it.

The CX30 AWD uses a 2.5-litre four cylinder producing a decent 139 kilowatts

Dynamically, it is a reasonable offering, it stops and turns nicely, and once it is moving, the CX-30 rolls along nicely, but it does need some encouragement to get started.

Standing starts give the feeling of needing to overcome hydraulic inertia in the auto transmission, and this is exacerbated by the AWD, with all four wheels needing a push along.

While I am a fan of Mazda's i-stop, they were one of the first to perfect engine shutdown and restart technology, in this situation, with the lag before the car starts moving, the i-stop feels as though it is holding the car up even more.

The result of this is many drivers are likely to turn the system off, negating its fuel-saving characteristics, which defeats the purpose of having it.

The bottom line is a car that isn't really happy in stop-start traffic, with a thirst to match, compared to its front-wheel-drive siblings.

While Subaru, especially, has made a virtue of all-wheel-drive in all conditions, Mazda's offerings feel as though they are lagging behind, you notice the extra weight of the system, especially when it comes to accelerating, there is a definite delay between putting your foot down and any significant change in speed.

The steering is well-weighted at all speeds, not floaty, while Mazda always had accurate steering systems, they have maintained that level of feel and accuracy in the transition to electric power steering.

The upside was despite a slightly raised ride height, the CX-30 handles well, no body roll to upset the car or passengers in normal driving, as with everything, push super hard and yes, you will find both body roll and understeer, but that is not what the CX-30 was designed for.

Unfortunately the back end feels too stiffly sprung, even with a full load on board it was very jumpy over speed bumps, and when we took a planned off-road excursion, it really suffered with the bumps and corrugations.

When I say off-road, it was gazetted roads, around the Mt Mee area, visiting the Broadwater day use area, a nice spot for a picnic and swim on a warm day, with the freshwater creek running down from the surrounding ranges.

Kicking off at The Gantry (no, this is not a paid travelogue, just our route for the day), we lowered the tyre pressures and headed the long way to Broadwater, over some rutted, rocky and bumpy roads, with a few deeper ruts that needed a little more care and pre-planning.

I mentioned the tyre pressure reduction because that proved to be the key to our day, taking them down to about 23psi allowed the road-biased tyres to 'bag' and get a grip on the surface, without risking punctures or blowouts.

Driving at or just below the posted limits of 40km/h, and slowing down for the deeper ruts, we had no significant issues in traversing the rougher sections, with one exception.

This was a bit of driver error, I misread the road, and found us facing a step-sided rut about 50cm deep, while this wasn't a problem for larger and higher-riding utes and wagons, it meant we had to stop and plan a way through.

With a bit of help from a passing ute, the driver providing guidance without feeling the need to lecture me on not taking 'toy' cars off-road - thank you, kind stranger - we walked the CX-30 over the gully without even scraping the undertray, and continued on our way.

A couple of quick points about this, one, always look well ahead, two, don't be worried about driving slowly, you do much less damage, even in big 'off-roaders' and three, be prepared to stop and check, don't be pressured into pushing on and potentially damaging your car and ruining your day.

That little obstacle behind us, we continued on, took in some amazing scenery, and had a nice lunch and then a swim, before heading home.

Just for fun, there were a couple of causeway creek crossings, which the CX-30 took in its stride, proving that it was a little engine that could!

Having said that, I don't see many owners lining up to take their cars for that sort of trip, unfortunately I think they may be intimidated by the road conditions, and choose to go elsewhere.

This is sad on two counts, firstly, they are missing out on some fantastic places within an hour of Brisbane, but also, they have bought an AWD, and are paying the weight and fuel consumption penalties, but they are not enjoying the benefits.

While the relatively low ground clearance may put some people off, as we showed, with a little bit of forethought and reduced tyre pressures, we had no real dramas, and had a great day out.

WELL, would I? No, not for me personally, it was a bit too small all-round, and the need to push hard in stop-start traffic was frustrating, as well as the higher fuel burn.

The CX-30 is not a bad car, although it would be nice if the designers could do something about the blind spot around the left-side A Pillar, that can be a real drama, especially around pedestrian crossings.

I just think in this case, the two-wheel-drive option may be the one most people go for, because it is less thirsty, and the majority of owners are not going to try and go 'off-road', even to places like Mt Mee, sadly.

Mazda fans, and there are plenty, will support the car, and fair enough, but if you are new to the brand, go have a look and see how it feels to you.