{"id":3515,"date":"2020-02-12T19:09:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-12T19:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.carpages.ca\/blog\/?p=3515"},"modified":"2020-06-12T19:37:58","modified_gmt":"2020-06-12T19:37:58","slug":"introducing-mazdas-2020-cx-30-gt-awd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carpages.ca\/blog\/introducing-mazdas-2020-cx-30-gt-awd\/","title":{"rendered":"Introducing Mazda\u2019s 2020 CX-30 GT AWD"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SUVs are taking over the world.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It certainly seems that way. The prognosis for the longevity of the humble sedan gets less rosy with each year and buyers continue to thumb their noses at the superior handling, equally practical and more fuel-efficient vehicle type than their higher riding counterparts. If it sounds like we\u2019re a bit chafed at this shift in consumer trends, it\u2019s because we are. That said, the masses have spoken, and automakers are in the business of selling cars and not submitting to the panderings of the\nenthusiast community. Enter precociously scrappy Mazda, the small underdog of the industry who clings unwaveringly to the idea that everything it builds- SUVs and crossovers included- must be fun to drive. They simply cannot afford to spend vast sums of money developing another platform, but they recognized a profit-motivated need to pad their lineup of SUV-type offerings. The answer appeared simply by glancing across the showroom floor. The new(ish) Mazda3 is now available with all-wheel drive- why not use that continually excellent starting point as a means to a new model?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fine, but why not\ncall it the CX-4?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Marie Kondo would\napprove of that nomenclature because it would fit in oh-so-perfectly neatly\nwith the rest of their CX lineup. However, Mazda sells a car exclusive to the Chinese\nmarket with that model name and says that it\u2019s different enough that they wanted\nto avoid confusion. OK, we can live with CX-30. Someone might want to tell Mazda\nthat the 3 itself was called the Axela overseas back when it debuted\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It looks like a\nMazda3 with its trousers hiked up.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a but more to\nit than that. While the CX-30 is very heavily based on the 3, there are some significant\ndifferences; the most obvious is that the resemblance is undeniable, they are\nnot styled identically, and that doesn\u2019t even include the cladding you see on\nthe lower part of the body. We\u2019ve described the 3\u2019s styling as \u2018sensuous\u2019, and while\nthe CX-30 is by no means hard to behold we wouldn\u2019t call it that. The increased\nsuspension height and ground clearance is the other major change, and while that\nmakes a substantial visual distinction between the two, there are some side\nbenefits. The ride is softer and more comfortable, and it makes ingress and egress\nmuch easier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can it be assumed\nthat the CX-30 is equally as decadent and the Mazda3 inside?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Decadent\u2019 isn\u2019t typically\nan adjective you\u2019d use to talk about cars at the price point, but it is wholly\nappropriate where these cars are concerned. The brand\u2019s entire lineup feature\ncockpits that would make cars costing thousands more squirm in embarrassment.\nHow Mazda manages to pull this off without losing money on each car they build\nis a mystery to us, so we try not to think about it and just surrender to enjoy\nthe surroundings. All touchpoints are elegantly simple and high quality, and\neven the way the knobs and switches move with an oiled slickness imparts a\nfeeling of luxury that eludes so many other cars. The fact that Mazda even\nresorts to knobs and switches is something to be celebrated, because very few\nbrands understand that these user interfaces have worked perfectly well throughout\nmost of automotive history\u2026well, at least before the obsession with\ntouchscreens and glass displays have become all the rage. The learning curve to\nmaster the CX-30\u2019s controls isn\u2019t steep at all, and Apple CarPlay and Android\nAuto are standard kit too. Somehow through it all, they also managed to make the\nsound system sound incredible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The higher ride height\nmust make handling a chore.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The CX-30 handles like\nnothing you would expect of something in this segment, which is to say it\nhandles with poise and precision. On the other hand, it does lose some degree\nof sharpness that we love so much in the 3. What the CX-30 brings to the table\nfrom a driving experience perspective will be more than enough to please the vast\nmajority of owners. Since sampling Mazda\u2019s iActiv AWD system has eluded us\nuntil now, we can tell you that it works much better than the Haldex type\nsystems which detect slip and then clumsily send a glut of power to the axle in\nneed. It takes a proactive approach of divvying up the power in inclement conditions\nand the electronic brains are sharp enough to make shuffling the engines output\naround rather seamless. Like all its Mazda brethren, the CX-30 employs G-Vectoring\nControl Plus- a subtle electronic algorithm that cuts power or brushes the\nbrakes ever so slightly to make sure the car is tracing the exact line you intended.\nYou\u2019ll likely never notice it, but a good sign of a technology that makes you a\nbetter driver is transparency, and at that GVC Plus excels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What might go wrong?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Did we mention that\nthat Mazda3 exits? We did? Oh. Well, it does, and it\u2019s an excellent car that\ncan be had with AWD. There\u2019s also the CX-30\u2019s tight back seat, that the Heads\nUp Displays default is to \u2018on\u2019 and not the opposite, and why can\u2019t we have access\nto either turbocharged engine in the lineup, diesel or otherwise? Other than that,\neverything\u2019s peachy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Should I buy a Mazda\nCX-30?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Yes, dear crossover\nshopper, do yourself a favor and avoid the skull drudgery of buying something boring\nthat seems to typify this segment: buy a CX-30. Or you could buy a Mazda3. We\u2019re\nsure Mazda won\u2019t particularly mind which one you choose. Plus, everyone loves a\nwinner, and the Mazda3 just took home 2020 AJAC Car of the Year honors. Because\nthe two are so closely related, you might say that the CX-30 shares in those\naccolades. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2020 Mazda CX-30 GT\nAWD- Specifications<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n