Mazda CX-30

GOODBYE

£28,875 OTR/£29,425 as tested/£353pcm

WHY IT’S HERE

What’s it like to live with a SkyActiv engine?

DRIVER

Sam Philip

DESPITE THE INEXORABLE RISE OF EVS, DESPITE THE EXPONENTIAL improvement in battery tech, it’ll still be a long time before an electric car is the best solution for every driver in the world, all the time.

Which is why we dearly, dearly wanted Mazda’s compression ignition SkyActive X engine to live up to its billing. That billing, specifically, being ‘a petrol engine with the economy of a diesel’.

So is SkyActive X a game changer for petrol? After living with it for six months, nestled within the nose of a top-spec CX-30, the verdict is: nearly, not quite. In over 5,000 miles of driving, we averaged a jot below 40mpg: plenty respectable for a 180-odd horsepower petrol engine in a five-seat crossover, but (in our mitts at least) less frugal, in strict miles-per-gallon terms, than a small modern diesel.

Still, Mazda should be commended for plunging so much effort into developing an all-new petrol technology, rather than going the tried-andtested route. I never noticed I was driving an engine with spark-free compression: SkyActive X drives like a conventional turbo-free petrol engine. It is, all in, a very pleasant piece of machinery to operate.

As, indeed, is the CX-30 as a whole. Mazdas have long demonstrated a pleasing lightness of touch, and the CX-30 is, by the standards of family crossovers at least, a fizzy little thing. Which is why, if you like the sound of the CX-30, you should check out the Mazda 3, too. A little cheaper, a little more economical, same interior (including that uncomplicated infotainment unit), same very-clever-but-not-quite-as-economical-asyou-hoped engine, even neater handling and barely less space in the rear.

But let’s be honest, we’ve been bleating on for years that you’re probably better off with a hatch than a crossover, and has anyone ever listened? Have they heck.