Mazda CX-30

‘No replacement for displacement’ is the thinking behind this compact crossover hatchback

Volume car makers no longer seem to believe that bigger-capacity combustion engines have any place in smaller cars. Save, perhaps, for one.Always an advocate of a sophisticated, multi-solution approach to decarbonisation, Mazda has been quietly running in the opposite direction to many of its peers when it comes to powertrain strategy. In 2022, it introduced a medium-sized SUV, the Mazda CX-60, with a brand-new, six-cylinder turbo diesel engine. And the same year, when rivals were announcing three-cylinder turbo alternatives, it added a 2.5-litre four-cylinder atmospheric petrol option to its big-selling Mazda CX-5.Now, as part of a continued initiative of ‘engine right-sizing’, it has replaced a 2.0-litre unit with that same 2.5 in the nose of both the Mazda 3 hatchback and the closely related Mazda CX-30 crossover.It’s the latter we’re looking at here, a car that has also just had some minor equipment upgrades for 2025. Can it possibly make sense to continue to ignore forced induction, then, and go large on cubic capacity in a car like this?

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