Compare the2023 Mazda CX-30VS 2023 Chevrolet Trailblazer

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

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 Trailblazer doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

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 Trailblazer 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 Trailblazer 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 Trailblazer.

The CX-30 Turbo Premium Plus has a standard 360° View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Trailblazer only offers a rear monitor and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the front or sides.

Both the CX-30 and Trailblazer 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 Trailblazer doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the CX-30 and the Trailblazer have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and available blind spot warning systems.

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 Trailblazer:

	CX-30	Trailblazer
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	148	185
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
HIC	179	401
Leg Forces (l/r)	380/386 lbs.	409/383 lbs.

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 Trailblazer:

	CX-30	Trailblazer
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	73	91
Chest Movement	1 inches	1.1 inches
Hip Force	275 lbs.	459 lbs.
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	12 inches	13 inches
HIC	178	337
Spine Acceleration	30 G’s	38 G’s
Hip Force	583 lbs.	591 lbs.

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

Instrumented handling tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and analysis of its dimensions indicate that the CX-30 is 2.4% to 3.8% less likely to roll over than the Trailblazer.

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 Trailblazer has not been fully tested, yet.

Warranty

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

Reliability

A hardened steel chain, with no maintenance needs, drives the camshafts in the CX-30’s engine. A rubber cam drive belt that needs periodic replacement drives the Trailblazer’s camshafts. If the Trailblazer’s belt breaks, the engine could be severely damaged when the pistons hit the opened valves.

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 54 more horsepower (191 vs. 137) and 24 lbs.-ft. more torque (186 vs. 162) than the Trailblazer’s standard 1.2 turbo 3-cylinder. The CX-30’s 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder produces 36 more horsepower (191 vs. 155) and 12 lbs.-ft. more torque (186 vs. 174) than the Trailblazer’s optional 1.3 turbo 3-cylinder. The CX-30’s optional 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 95 more horsepower (250 vs. 155) and 146 lbs.-ft. more torque (320 vs. 174) than the Trailblazer’s optional 1.3 turbo 3-cylinder.

As tested in Motor Trend the Mazda CX-30 4 cyl. is faster than the Chevrolet Trailblazer 1.3 turbo 3-cylinder:

	CX-30	Trailblazer
Zero to 60 MPH	7.8 sec	9.3 sec
Quarter Mile	16 sec	17 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	88.3 MPH	80.5 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the CX-30 with its standard engine gets better fuel mileage than the Trailblazer 1.3 turbo 3-cylinder 9-speed Auto AWD (26 city/33 hwy vs. 26 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 Trailblazer doesn’t offer a system that can shut down part of the engine.

Brakes and Stopping

The CX-30 stops shorter than the Trailblazer:

	CX-30	Trailblazer
60 to 0 MPH	119 feet	121 feet	Motor Trend

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 Trailblazer doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

The CX-30 Premium handles at .83 G’s, while the Trailblazer RS AWD pulls only .80 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The CX-30 Premium executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Trailblazer RS AWD (27.4 seconds @ .62 average G’s vs. 28.3 seconds @ .57 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the CX-30’s turning circle is 2 feet tighter than the Trailblazer’s (34.8 feet vs. 36.8 feet).

Passenger Space

The CX-30 has .8 inches more front legroom, 2.3 inches more front hip room, .2 inches more front shoulder room and 7.5 inches more rear hip room than the Trailblazer.

Ergonomics

When two different drivers share the CX-30 Preferred/Carbon/Premium, the memory seats and mirrors make it convenient for both. Each keyless remote activates different, customized memories for the driver’s seat position and outside mirror angle. The Trailblazer doesn’t offer a memory system.

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 Trailblazer 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 Trailblazer’s passenger windows don’t close automatically.

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 Trailblazer’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

The CX-30’s LED headlights produce a whiter, brighter light (up to 3x) using five times less power than the Trailblazer’s standard halogen headlights. LED lights also light instantly and last over twenty times longer than halogen.

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 Trailblazer doesn’t offer cornering lights.

When the CX-30 Preferred/Carbon/Premium is put in reverse, both rearview mirrors tilt from their original position. This gives the driver a better view of the curb during parallel parking maneuvers. Shifting out of reverse puts the mirrors into their original positions. The Trailblazer’s mirrors don’t automatically adjust for backing.

The CX-30’s optional rear and side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Trailblazer offers an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

The CX-30 Select/Preferred/Carbon/Turbo/Premium’s standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. The Trailblazer doesn’t offer dual zone air conditioning.

Both the CX-30 and the Trailblazer offer rear vents. For greater rear passenger comfort, the CX-30 Select/Preferred/Carbon/Premium has standard rear air conditioning vents to keep rear occupants cool in summer or warm in winter. The Trailblazer doesn’t offer rear air conditioning vents, only heat vents.

The CX-30 Premium’s standard GPS navigation system has a real-time traffic update feature that plots alternative routes to automatically bypass traffic problems. (Service not available in all areas.) The Trailblazer’s available navigation system doesn’t offer real-time traffic updates.

Recommendations

Motor Trend performed a comparison test in its April 2021 issue and they ranked the Mazda CX-30 Premium higher than the Chevrolet Trailblazer RS AWD.