Compare the2023 Mazda CX-30VS 2023 Chevrolet Equinox

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Ergonomics

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Mazda CX-30 have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Chevrolet Equinox doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Mazda CX-30 are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The Chevrolet Equinox doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.

The Mazda CX-30 has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Equinox doesn’t offer knee airbags.

The CX-30 has standard Whiplash-Reducing Headrests, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Whiplash-Reducing Headrests system moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Equinox doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The CX-30 Turbo Premium Plus has standard Rear Smart Brake Support that use rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a collision. The Equinox doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the CX-30. But it costs extra on the Equinox.

Both the CX-30 and Equinox offer Rear Cross Traffic Alert, but the CX-30 Turbo Premium Plus has Rear Cross Traffic Braking (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic.

The CX-30’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Equinox doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the CX-30 and the Equinox have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems and around view monitors.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Mazda CX-30 is safer than the Chevrolet Equinox:

	CX-30	Equinox
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	148	159
Leg Forces (l/r)	201/172 lbs.	363/349 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	179	376
Chest Compression	.5 inches	.6 inches

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Mazda CX-30 is safer than the Chevrolet Equinox:

	CX-30	Equinox
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	73	109
Chest Movement	1 inches	1.1 inches
Hip Force	275 lbs.	357 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	197	288
Hip Force	525 lbs.	630 lbs.
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	12 inches	13 inches
HIC	178	377
Spine Acceleration	30 G’s	40 G’s
Hip Force	583 lbs.	730 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Mazda CX-30 is much safer than the Equinox:

	CX-30	Equinox
Overall Evaluation	GOOD	MARGINAL
Structure	GOOD	GOOD
	Driver Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Head Injury Criterion	89	131
Neck Tension	156 lbs.	290 lbs.
Neck Compression	45 lbs.	112 lbs.
Torso	ACCEPTABLE	MARGINAL
Shoulder Deflection	.87 in	1.73 in
Shoulder Force	223 lbs.	312 lbs.
Torso Max Deflection	1.54 in	1.69 in
Pelvis	GOOD	GOOD
Pelvis Force	759 lbs.	781 lbs.
Head Protection	GOOD	GOOD
	Passenger Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Head Injury Criterion	144	733
Head Peak Forces	no contact	101 G’s
Neck Compression	67 lbs.	491 lbs.
Torso	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Shoulder Deflection	.94 in	1.65 in
Shoulder Force	245 lbs.	402 lbs.
Torso Max Deflection	.71 in	1.57 in
Pelvis	GOOD	GOOD
Pelvis Force	379 lbs.	669 lbs.
Head Protection	GOOD	MARGINAL

Instrumented handling tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and analysis of its dimensions indicate that the CX-30 is .9% to 3.8% less likely to roll over than the Equinox.

For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, and daytime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the CX-30 the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2023, a rating granted to only 53 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Equinox last would have qualified as a “Top Safety Pick” in 2017.

Warranty

The CX-30’s corrosion warranty is unlimited miles longer than the Equinox’s (unlimited vs. 100,000 miles).

Reliability

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2023 Auto Issue reports that Mazda vehicles are more reliable than Chevrolet vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Mazda fourth in overall reliability. Chevrolet is ranked 20th.

Engine

The CX-30’s standard 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder produces 16 more horsepower (191 vs. 175) than the Equinox’s 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder. The CX-30’s optional 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 75 more horsepower (250 vs. 175) and 117 lbs.-ft. more torque (320 vs. 203) than the Equinox’s 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder.

As tested in Car and Driver the Mazda CX-30 4 cyl. is faster than the Chevrolet Equinox:

	CX-30	Equinox
Zero to 60 MPH	7.5 sec	8.9 sec
Zero to 100 MPH	20.7 sec	26.8 sec
5 to 60 MPH Rolling Start	7.9 sec	9.6 sec
Quarter Mile	15.8 sec	16.9 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	89 MPH	83 MPH
Top Speed	126 MPH	124 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the CX-30 gets better mileage than the Equinox:

			MPG
CX-30
	AWD	2.5 DOHC 4-cyl.	26 city/33 hwy
Equinox
	FWD	1.5 turbo 4-cyl.	26 city/31 hwy
	AWD	1.5 turbo 4-cyl.	24 city/30 hwy

An engine control system that can shut down some of the engine’s cylinders helps improve the CX-30 (except Turbo)’s fuel efficiency. The Equinox doesn’t offer a system that can shut down part of the engine.

Brakes and Stopping

The CX-30 stops shorter than the Equinox:

	CX-30	Equinox
70 to 0 MPH	177 feet	182 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	133 feet	135 feet	Consumer Reports

Suspension and Handling

The CX-30 has engine speed sensitive variable-assist power steering, for low-effort parking, better control at highway speeds and during hard cornering, and a better feel of the road. The Equinox doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

The CX-30 Premium handles at .84 G’s, while the Equinox LT AWD pulls only .77 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The CX-30 Premium executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Equinox LT AWD (27.4 seconds @ .62 average G’s vs. 28.1 seconds @ .59 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the CX-30’s turning circle is 2.6 feet tighter than the Equinox’s (34.8 feet vs. 37.4 feet). The CX-30’s turning circle is 6.8 feet tighter than the Equinox RS’ (34.8 feet vs. 41.6 feet).

Chassis

The CX-30 is 10.1 inches shorter than the Equinox, making the CX-30 easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

Passenger Space

The CX-30 has .8 inches more front legroom, .4 inches more front hip room and 1.5 inches more rear hip room than the Equinox.

Ergonomics

The CX-30 Premium has a standard heads-up display that projects speed, warning and navigation instruction readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Equinox doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The CX-30’s front and rear power windows all open or close with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside of the car. The Equinox’s passenger windows don’t close automatically.

The CX-30 has a standard locking fuel door with a remote release located convenient to the driver. A locking fuel door helps prevent fuel theft and vandalism, such as sugar in the tank. The Equinox doesn’t offer a locking fuel door.

The CX-30’s rain-sensitive wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically based on the amount of rainfall on the windshield. This allows the driver to concentrate on driving without constantly adjusting the wipers. The Equinox’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

To help drivers see further while navigating curves, the CX-30 Premium has standard adaptive headlights to illuminate around corners automatically by reading vehicle speed and steering wheel angle. The Equinox doesn’t offer cornering lights.