Useful on the inside

TRIO PUSH HARD ON FUNCTIONALITY

Seltos 1. SPEAK UP

The Bose door speakers on the Seltos divided opinion. Some thought the angular grilles looked predented, while others thought they looked like a stealth fighter.

2. ALL OF THE LIGHTS

Kia’s Sound Mood Lighting on this GT-Line activates ambient lighting to reflect the mood and pace of the audio. It’ll impress the kids but you’ll tire of it pretty quickly.

3. BABY GOT BACK

The back seats of the GT-Line are equipped with air vents, a fold-down armrest with cup holders and a USB port. Step down one trim grade and all that disappears.

CX-30 1. DO NOT TOUCH

The Mazda Connect infotainment is controlled by the rotary dial. Non-touchscreen works well within Mazda’s ecosystem but CarPlay and Android Auto can be irksome.

2. SAY IT LOUD

Premium Bose amplifier sits in the centre of the space saver spare and drives through a dozen speakers. Sound fidelity assisted by Bose’s AudioPilot noise compensation tech.

3. BOOT CAMP

Without the space-saver spare that the Astina gets, there’s an underfloor aperture that lifts total boot space to 430 litres. Or you could just leave the spare at home. We wouldn’t.

C-HR 1. SLOW LANE

Inclusion of CarPlay and Android Auto allows users to bypass Toyota’s fiddly infotainment system. It’s a shame that none of it can yet be accessed wirelessly.

2. BUTTON UP

Kia and Mazda do steering wheel controls really well. Toyota doesn’t. Lopsided C-HR buttons will annoy neat freaks but once learned, functionality is generally good.

3. BRAKE CHECK

We had an issue with the brakes on our first test C-HR. A clamp bent in the pedal assembly during maximum braking pressure, causing the pedal action to become sticky.