The 2020 Mazda CX-30 is a crossover you’ll actually enjoy driving
This is the 2020 Mazda CX-30, the company's latest subcompact crossover. [credit: Jonathan Gitlin ]
SAN DIEGO-The new Mazda CX-30 is a strange and wonderful thing-a subcompact crossover you'll really enjoy driving. Sitting between the diminutive CX-3 and the heftier CX-5, it is an all-new model for Mazda that shares the same new Skyactiv vehicle architecture as the Mazda 3 we tried out at the start of the year. (It might have been called the CX-4 had that moniker not already been pressed into action for a China-only crossover.)
The CX-30 is not particularly fast. It boasts no sporting pretensions. It's also not really that expensive-the lineup starts at just under $22,000 for a front-wheel-drive spec, and a fully loaded all-wheel drive model with all the doodads still slips in under $30,000 unless you want that eye-catching Soul Red paint. But it has a well-appointed interior that, like the Mazda 3, punches well above its price bracket. You control everything with buttons and knobs and dials-no touchscreens are to be found here. And it yet again confirms that the Hiroshima-based car maker really does know how to imbue its vehicles with jinba ittai-a Japanese expression meaning the horse and rider acting as one. Drive it fast, slow, in traffic, on the freeway, or on your favorite back road-it doesn't matter. It all puts a smile on your face.
Which is crazy-everyone knows that crossovers aren't supposed to be pleasurable to drive, right?
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