Mazda CX-30 AWD , is it going for Crosstrek

scalman

scalman

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Lithuania
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2006
Car Model
2006 3.0R 5EAT Sportshift VDC/VTD LPG
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5eat Sportshift
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so new 2020 model vs crosstrek have some more power , some more torque , and it has some offroad mode , similar to subarus x mode i guess. looks good too, i like mazdas look.


would be cool to see later can it be like lifted and with some AT tires how would it perform.

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The transmission is what makes a Subaru what it is so I think that the Mazda can't beat it on slippery surfaces.
 
I think on just slippery it will do good but on harder ones not so much maybe if overheats, though new subarus are not so well on harder off road as older ones anyway.
Does new crosstreks not overheats if you like would torture them like spin wheels for long time and such. ?
 
You're right about older Subarus being better offroad and Subaru losing its soul building main stream crossovers/suv's.
 
Pretty much all of these variants are awd on demand aren't they? Don't hear of many of the competition that are full-time awd, even in forester size.
jf1sf5 said:
You're right about older Subarus being better offroad and Subaru losing its soul building main stream crossovers/suv's.
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My opinion on Subaru's off-road ability is that it's always been a side-effect Subaru wasn't really looking for and just happened to invent the category.
Subaru has always been about safety, which is why their implementation of Eye-sight nailed it and has forced the competition to play catch up again.
 
still people doing more serious off road stuff in older foresters not crosstreks anyway, dont think they work same good as those older subarus. at least there are no videos about that. test drives that are 10 min long in off road doesnt count for nothing , most AWd cars could do that short 10 min test , so thats not showing how good they are. so for those soft stuff i think those AWD systems could work , and they all not same, like nissan xtrail sytem is worst i guess.
and i just believe in what i see myself, so we need proof how those systems works and we kind dont have them, untill russians wont test those for real in deep mud and stuff lol.
 
Thanks @scalman for posting this. I was about to post the CX-5, which the CX-30 shares the platform with, after test-driving it. The CX-5 marketed itself as a Forester competition off-road. It didn't work and I believe this is why they released the CX-30 to try to take on the XV off-road. I think Mazda is testing it's waters, trying to get a slice of that pie.

Mazda uses their own AWD system across all of their AWD vehicles. After testing the CX-5, I can say that it is nowhere near the capability of the Forester because of the following reasons.
  • On-demand AWD system: This is its biggest weakness as with the other competitors. It is on demand meaning at higher speeds, you only use front wheel drive. The rear wheels will only get torque if the front wheels get to spin. I was able to get the front wheels to spin when I cleared a negative camber roundabout and the front-right left wheels already lost traction that easily. The rear diff got activated rather quickly but it was still uncomfortable. While it may work in low-speed obstacles, it won't when you drive higher speeds on loose surfaces. I am uncomfortable with its AWD system but maybe because I am spoiled by Subaru's AWD system which is AWD all the time.
  • Suspension articulation: It doesn't have much. It is a CUV but it lifts wheels rather easily, as mentioned above. What more if it's a CX-30 which is just a lifted Mazda 3. You can see on the videos that the wheels do not droop that much when lifted. Even Subaru Legacies/Liberties have longer suspension droop!
  • Ground clearance: The belly pan is plastic that is lined with some sort of cloth. This is to reduce turbulence underneath and it is effective. Even if it's removed, the overhangs are much lower than that of the Subarus. They are just too low. This is a trend among CUVs. They have high sills but the underneath is just full of overhangs so they may look like they have high ground clearance but in fact they don't. Subarus have components tucked close to the floor pan as much as possible. Even the plastics they use to create low-pressure zones are tucked up.
  • Visibility: Poor at the rear
I wouldn't put my hopes up on the CX-30. It does not look like it's built for it. People will still buy it thinking it will be somewhere near the XV's performance because of the so-called marketing.

I think the newer non-Subaru CUVs are just there because people want to ride higher. They are just on-road cars in disguise. When asked which CUV among the competition is a good alternative to an XV or a Forester off-road, I would say that there is none and if one really wants to do something better than what a Subaru does off-road, they'd be better off with a 4x4 ladder-frame SUV.

Ben Up North said:
My opinion on Subaru's off-road ability is that it's always been a side-effect Subaru wasn't really looking for and just happened to invent the category.
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I agree. The first-gen RAV4 has good articulation but then why did the SF prevail on this off-road segment? It's the active AWD. Audis have active AWD as well but they are priced way up and tuning them to do things off-road and off-track will require so much resources.
 
Just so many new foresters never go anywhere near offroad maybe gravel most but its same with most prado's as well. So depends what your needs are and mpg, fuel saving is important i guess too.
 
scalman said:
Just so many new foresters never go anywhere near offroad maybe gravel most but its same with most prado's as well. So depends what your needs are and mpg, fuel saving is important i guess too.
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True. Just like most newer SUVs are never taken off-road. I guess it's the trend now, haha, or perhaps they don't want to scratch their vehicles while they're brand new.

We see some newer CVT Subarus on YT and in the US but oftentimes, they are driven by people who are relatively new to the dirt so no matter how built their vehicles are they still tend to break them rather quickly. When they stall, they step on the gas while in D, belt slips, burn their fluid, heat up the components and destroy them. They also don't change fluids often. The belt has to tighten first before the ECU gives the most torque to the drivetrain and it can only be done in manual mode.

Add-on: With reference to Subaru's Lineartronic CVT vs Mazda's 6-speed, there is night and day difference with power delivery. They have the almost the same engine hp but when moving, the SK will just glide to whatever speed and one can feel the torque converter lockup all the way. It's just too smooth! Mazda's 6-speed would hunt from 4th to 6th when on the freeway and it can pretty annoying. From a standstill, the Mazda would accelerate quicker because of direct gears. The CVT performs heaps better when kickdown is done while the vehicle is already moving. The idea is that on- and off-road, the belt must tighten first before power can be applied freely to the drivetrain and Subaru did that by applying virtual gears to the CVT.
 
They managed to get a couple of CX-3s across the Simpson Desert.......

www.carsales.com.au

Simpson by soft-roader - carsales.com.au

Australia’s Simpson Desert is one of the most inhospitable places on earth. Can it be crossed in a pair of popular family crossovers?
www.carsales.com.au www.carsales.com.au

I think they were a tad out of their depth when you consider the number of people on this forum who have done this trip with stock Outbacks and Foresters.
 
Tweaksta said:
I think they were a tad out of their depth when you consider the number of people on this forum who have done this trip with stock Outbacks and Foresters.
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True. They call it marketing.

Also, they have a support (proper 4x4) vehicle and that's a different story. I would like to know how the vehicle would fare with solo off-road touring like I and many people in this forum do with their stock Subarus.
 
Well its enough car to drive to camping place , maybe thats most ppl need. Ground clearance outback has largest clearance i think of all similar cars so nothing else will match that. Depends on tracks. Its not solo offroading car
 
It will be good enough as they already did in the article. To be fair, solo touring is more of the confidence of the operator/operators to go alone rather than the capability of the vehicle. They equipped the Mazdas with BFGs and doing so immediately makes the operator/operators feel sure-footed in such terrains.

At the moment, we see competitors and journalists going after Subaru because they are in the spotlight after the Global Financial Crisis. Subaru sales increased exponentially after 2009/2010, making it outsell many brands in many different markets. They are going after the Forester just because of the SUV build, which many manufacturers already have, and the XV for compact unibody design. The XV drove their sales for quite a while but the real Goldilocks is the Outback which is the all-time bestseller. No one's going after it except for Benz, Volvos and Audis, which are already 3x the price.

Again, vs the XV or the Subarus, I will gladly choose any of the Subarus vs the relatives just because I am spoiled by the active AWD which is good in low and and high speed road and loose surface driving. I haven't driven anything quite like it yet. The on-road off-road balance is just sublime. The more hardcore offroadability follows and can be done with mods but the basic vehicle itself, it's really hard to fault symmetrical active AWD. Cheers.
 
Here's a good comparison from an open-minded journalist.

The trail is relatively light but its good enough for testing, I think.
 
Just watching it now..
Crosstrek is getting the 2.5! Pity no turbo (afaik)
Honda is leaving Oz, which is kinda sad, not that they're anything in the offroading game (at least in car format).
 
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maybe it will get new x mode dual mode too. subaru should make some upgrades to more offroady options , dual mode is good start but i bet they could do even better, imagine if low gear would appear on subaru auto gearbox.
 
that trail button on mazdas worked pretty good. wish someone could maybe lift it 1-2cm and put slightly larger tires and test then. maybe its as good as subaru x mode who knows.
i love mazdas styling, i had 323f 1.5 95' model and it was little rocket with that small engine was flying on road. loved interior of it.
 
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