2026 Mazda CX30 Review
2026 Mazda CX-30 Turbo Review
Price: Starts at approximately $34,410 (Turbo Aire Edition) up to $37,900 (Turbo Premium Plus).
Engine: 2.5L SkyActiv-G Dynamic Pressure Turbo 4-Cylinder.
Horsepower: 250 hp (on 93 Octane) / 227 hp (on 87 Octane).
Torque: 320 lb-ft (on 93 Octane) / 310 lb-ft (on 87 Octane).
Fuel Economy: 22 City / 30 Highway / 25 Combined MPG.
Guy who did stuff: Yousef Alvi
You’ll see this oft-repeated statement across most every crossover review: “Americans hate hatchbacks.” Yeah, we don’t. We love hatchbacks, believe it or not... we just love our hatchbacks to be a bit taller. Literally, that’s it. Everything from the actual hatch itself to the size, the "Americanized" version of a hatchback is the exact same as a regular one.
Case in point is this 2026 Mazda CX-30. Underneath, it's a Mazda3 hatchback. That’s it. It shares literally everything from the interior to its drivetrain to its styling with the Mazda3. Just raise the beltline and ride height a tad bit and you got yourself a CX-30.
Everything that makes the Mazda3 such a terrific car is here, but what makes the CX-30 truly special is that its competitors do not have such a "sport-first" option. The RAV4 is a Corolla (not a GR Corolla... just a regular one), the Taos is a Jetta, and the Corolla Cross is, well, exactly what the name says. Even the Honda HR-V, which is fine for getting groceries, feels like a budget appliance in comparison.
All are fine machines in their own regards, but none of them have the premium, near-luxury interior found in the Mazda, the torque monster of an engine, or the inherent sportiness of the platform. Rather, they are all rather "ho-hum" in their mannerisms—focused more on cup holders and cargo nets—while the CX-30 is more of an exclamation point.
For 2026, Mazda hasn't messed with the formula much because they didn't need to. They’ve added a new "Aire Edition" which gives you some cool blacked-out accents and a fresh interior vibe, but the bones remain the same. They did, however, throw in a brake-based limited-slip differential and some revised dampers. Translated from car-nerd to English: it rides a little smoother over the potholes but still carves a corner better than anything else in the segment.
Another appeal to the "not-a-hatchback" CX-30 is the ginormous amount of cargo room. The CX-30 swallows everything from cargo to people and just stands up and asks, "What else you got?" The cargo area is nice and deep, allowing you to fill it to the brim without even touching the rear seats for more room. If you do fold those seats down, you’ve basically got a small van that happens to handle like a sports sedan.
Inside, you’re greeted by a 10.25-inch display that finally includes touch functionality for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto—a small victory for those of us who find rotary knobs a bit "2010." The materials are soft-touch, the stitching is precise, and the layout is so driver-centric you’d think you were sitting in a European luxury car that costs twenty grand more.
The exclamation point to the CX-30 is the torque monster under the hood. It uses Mazda’s venerable 2.5-liter SkyActiv Turbo 4-cylinder and makes a stump-pulling 320 ft-lbs of torque on premium fuel. To put that into perspective, there is nothing in its class—not the Subaru Crosstrek, not the Kia Seltos, and certainly not the Toyota Corolla Cross—that comes even close to the bottom-end oomph of the CX-30.
As a gentle reminder, you don’t feel horsepower... you feel torque. That shove you feel when you plant your foot on the gas from a stop? That’s all torque, baby, and this CX-30 has it in spades. While the competition is busy buzzing their engines to 6,000 RPM just to merge onto the highway, the Mazda just leans into its massive wave of torque and glides past them. It delivers that power at just 2,000 to 2,500 RPM, meaning you don't have to wait for the car to "wake up." It’s always awake.
The reality is that the 2026 Mazda CX-30 is so good that it’s almost unfair to compare it to its "direct" competitors. If you line it up next to a Corolla Cross or an HR-V, the Mazda feels like it’s from a different planet. In truth, the CX-30 has the refinement, the whisper-quiet interior, the bank-vault build quality, and the performance to compare to the likes of the Acura ADX, Lexus NX, and the BMW X1.
Now that is good company to keep. But here is the kicker: the Mazda keeps that company while keeping its price thousands of dollars lower. When you look at similarly equipped models—meaning the ones with the big engines and the nice leather—the price differential is staggering:
Mazda CX-30 Turbo Premium Plus: ~$37,900
Acura ADX (Estimated well-equipped): ~$43,000+
Lexus NX 350 Turbo: ~$45,000+
BMW X1 xDrive28i: ~$42,000+ (and easily $50k with options)
You’re getting 95% of the luxury and 110% of the driving soul for a $5,000 to $12,000 discount. It’s the ultimate automotive "cheat code."
Is it the biggest in its class? No. If you want to carry five adults and a Golden Retriever in the back, buy a CX-50 or a CX-5. But if you want a car that makes the daily commute feel like a Sunday morning blast on a backroad, this is it. It’s the hatchback for people who realized they need a little more ground clearance to survive the urban jungle, but refuse to give up their soul to a boring, beige SUV. The 2026 Mazda CX-30 Turbo isn't just a smart choice; it's the only choice for people who actually like to drive.
Yousef Alvi
