Gilbert’s Garage

Mazda squeezes CX-30 between CX-3 and CX-5

GILBERT’S GARAGE by JOHN GILBERT

Mazda’s new CX-30 compact SUV in now-signature. Soul Red Crystal Metallic is an extra-cost option well worth it. Photos by John Gilbert

Somewhere in the annals of automobile manufacturing there must be a rule that proclaims whenever new technology bursts onto the scene in new vehicles, Mazda is the company that gets to develop or invent it.

How else can you explain the amazing raft of high-tech devices that work with flawless precision on reasonably-priced Mazda vehicles?

I recently got a chance to test-drive a Mazda CX-30 compact SUV, and it had so many advanced technical goodies that I wasn’t sure what all it had.

Always built tight and strong, Mazda has become known by its ad campaign for “Zoom-Zoom” vehicles, which is a tip that the company enjoys turning out vehicles that over-achieve. The CX-30 is merely the latest one. Mazda already has an award-winning compact

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SUV with the CX-5, and it had a smaller, tighter one with the CX-3.

It didn’t seem that there was enough of a gap between the two for another SUV to squeeze in, but Mazda thought differently and plunked the CX-30 right in there. The CX-5 is 179 inches long and the CX-3 measures 168 inches long, while the new CX-30 measures 173 inches in length.

The CX-30 wheelbase is 104.5 inches, 2.1 less than the CX-5.

Nobody ever accused the CX-5 of being too big – the large CX-9 fills that role – although many have challenged the CX-3 for being too small.

I’m quite certain either camp would find the CX-30 just right. It starts at the bargain rate of $21,900, although the test car was loaded up with what Mazda calls its Premium Package, which zooms the sticker up to $28,200 – still a bargain, particularly when you hear its ingredients.

It is fun to drive, quick and agile, and would probably be even quicker with only front-wheel drive. The test car had Mazda’s exceptional all-wheel drive, which may aid handling in the dry and certainly will in the wet or snow.

A couple years ago, Mazda engineers completed a decade of plotting, planning and developing to make its Zoom-Zoom go around corners even better than its standard of excellence in handling.

To over-simplify, the idea of turning abruptly to go around a left turn, for example, common sense tells us we want to stiffen the outside wheel’s suspension and maybe give it an extra dose of power.

Nay nay, says Mazda. Its engineers found exactly the opposite – if you start to turn in to the left and the power is reduced to the outside right front while its suspension is also softened just a bit, both for just a millisecond or two, you as the driver are emboldened that you’ve made the right choice to turn in at that spot.

You never feel anything because it’s too quickly executed, but in fact, if you are a good and competent driver you will notice one astounding difference: You almost never, if not never, have to correct the steering wheel to get you back on the proper turning arc.

You have become a much better driver, without doing anything. The turn-in point is attained with precision, the driver has more

controllability. But it doesn’t take a genius to realize that if you never have to correct, then you definitely never over-correct.

A few years before that 10-year project found its way into all Mazda vehicles, the Hiroshima company’s engineers decided that some companies were advancing with different methods of expertise, whether in combustion, valve-timing, tuning or tolerances. So Mazda’s engineers threw away their quite excellent little engines and started over with a clean sheet of paper, designing all-new methods for building high-tech engines from the ground up. The result was the “Skyactiv” technology, which took advantage of precise valve-timing and operation, and applied various types of high performance and higheconomy tricks.

The engineers knew that getting maximum power and efficiency required high-compression, so they tuned their new 4-cylinder engines to attain 13.1:1 compression ratios. They also knew that if you made economy

I also read a couple of introductory articles on the CX-30, and throughout the entire article there was no mention of the extreme technology that is now commonplace on Mazda engines. The jewel that was delivered to me in Duluth, Minnesota, was wearing the company’s $595 optional Soul Red Chrystal Metallic paint. With proper restraint, I still must gush that I think that is the most superb paint job I’ve ever seen on a factory car. The red has such depth, you can look deep down into it to capture the effect when the sun hits that metallic body. Its engine has been enlarged to 2.5 liters, turning out 186 horsepower at 6,000 RPMs and 186 foot-pounds of torque at 4,000 RPMs. Sadly, to me, the high-revving 2.0 Skyactiv is no longer available on any Mazdas larger than the Mazda3 and CX-3. I’ve heard the corporate claims CX-30 uses slight size increase from CX-3 for added storage. that the larger engine gets almost confidence, perhaps, but the big thing is that when you go around a race track 10 laps, or around two or three different blocks quickly to find a parking place, you shorten your routine from “turn, correct, overcorrect, accelerate,” to merely “turn and go.” My appreciation for Mazda’s G-Vectoring is that I maintain most accidents happen with imprecise steering, when a driver turns, senses he’s turned too far, and corrects to straighten out, which leads to possible over-correction and a challenge to premium fuel, savings would be lost because of the 40-50-cent increase in cost per gallon. So they worked some sort of black magic to design 13.1:1 engines that pulled together all the best techniques and called only for regular fuel. The first upgrade of the Skyactiv is the Skyactiv-X engine, which deploys a spark-controlled compression-ignition technique for still more power and fuel efficiency. Supposedly that will all be introduced on the CX-30 that will be introduced first in Europe as a 2021 CX-30 at the end of calendar 2020. in my tests, the 2.0 gets spectacular mileage and the 2.5 just OK fuel economy. On this test, the CX-30 gave me a high of 27 miles per gallon, and i would expect over 30 with the 2.0. The 2.5 reportedly now offers cylinder deactivation too. But for the first time in my long test-reviewing career, I have so far been unable to get secure information on exactly what equipment and technology is on the 2020 test vehicle. So I tried to put all those details out of my mind and just enjoy the classic sporty interior, with its black seats and

identical fuel economy to the 2.0, but minded buyers buy a car that required Mazda CX-30 makes a stylish impression for a compact SUV.

trim, although I would suggest Mazda relook at the gloss black used so much for trim. Flat black reflects much less and leaves the drivers less-dazzled with style but also less bothered by the glare that can prevent you from making out the switchgear at a glance.

The test CX-30 came with all the safety and performance enhancements, such as dynamic stability with traction control, lane departure warning and assist, blindspot detection, radar controlled adaptive cruise control with stop-start, radar powered liftgate on the hatch – which opens to a large cargo area – and an impressive Bose Centerpoint 2 audio system with 12 speakers.

The seats are firm and comfortable, and the steering wheel not only feels just right in your grip, but the top arc of the wheel perfectly traces the curvature of the cowling over the instrument pod.

As usual, that all adds up to the parts all being tied together in a cohesive package of driving enjoyment, whether pushing is hard through some curves or cruising along the North Shore Drive of Lake Superior. You may not know, or care, about G-Vectoring, or Skyactiv-X engines, but you don’t need to know any of that to wring full driving enjoyment out of the CX-30. But when you take one for a test drive, at least push it hard once around a corner and notice that you didn’t have to correct your steering impulse. It indeed makes you a better driver than you thought you were.

Quote of the week

THE END

“We want to explore. We’re curious people. Look back over history, people have put their lives at stake to go out and explore ... We believe in what we’re doing. Now it’s time to go.” Col. Eileen Collins, who on July 23, 1999, blasted off on space shuttle Columbia as the first woman to command a U.S. space flight. In 2005, NASA tapped Col. Collins to command the space shuttle Discovery’s historic “Return to Flight” mission, NASA’s first manned flight following the loss of space shuttle Columbia in 2003. During her 872 hours logged in space, Collins earned a reputation for coolness under pressure.

Photo of the week

A strange shaft of light shines recently on Lester River. The photographer briefly thought he might about to be abducted by aliens or talked to by God, but reports that nothing happened.

Do you have a photo you want us to consider for this spot? If so, send it to info@readerduluth.com, with details on what it is and why you are nominating it. High resolution photos only, please.