Compare the2023 Mazda CX-30VS 2023 Honda Passport

Safety
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Environmental Friendliness
Brakes and Stopping
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
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 Honda Passport doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear 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 Passport 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 Passport 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 Passport doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

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 Passport only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.

Both the CX-30 and Passport have rear cross-traffic warning, 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 Passport doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the CX-30 and the Passport have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, 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 Honda Passport:

	CX-30	Passport
OVERALL STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	148	149
Neck Injury Risk	26.7%	28%
Neck Compression	18 lbs.	36 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
HIC	179	216
Chest Compression	.5 inches	.6 inches
Neck Injury Risk	33.5%	35%
Leg Forces (l/r)	380/386 lbs.	478/436 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 Honda Passport:

	CX-30	Passport
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	73	109
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	197	233
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	12 inches	15 inches
HIC	178	406
Spine Acceleration	30 G’s	45 G’s
Hip Force	583 lbs.	838 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 Passport:

	CX-30	Passport
Overall Evaluation	GOOD	MARGINAL
Structure	GOOD	MARGINAL
	Driver Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Head Injury Criterion	89	206
Neck Tension	156 lbs.	335 lbs.
Pelvis	GOOD	MARGINAL
Pelvis Force	759 lbs.	1339 lbs.
Head Protection	GOOD	GOOD
	Passenger Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Head Injury Criterion	144	206
Neck Tension	89 lbs.	178 lbs.
Torso	GOOD	MARGINAL
Shoulder Force	245 lbs.	335 lbs.
Torso Max Deflection	.71 in	2.05 in
Torso Deflection Rate	11 MPH	12 MPH
Pelvis	GOOD	GOOD
Pelvis Force	379 lbs.	759 lbs.
Head Protection	GOOD	GOOD

Instrumented handling tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and analysis of its dimensions indicate that the CX-30 is 1.4% to 2.7% less likely to roll over than the Passport.

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 Passport last would have qualified as a “Top Safety Pick” in 2017.

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 Passport’s camshafts. If the Passport’s belt breaks, the engine could be severely damaged when the pistons hit the opened valves.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Mazda vehicles are better in initial quality than Honda vehicles. With 3 fewer problems per 100 vehicles, JD Power ranks Mazda higher than Honda.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Mazda vehicles are more reliable than Honda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Mazda above average in long-term dependability. With 13 more problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, Honda is rated below average.

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

Engine

The CX-30’s optional 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 58 lbs.-ft. more torque (320 vs. 262) than the Passport’s 3.5 SOHC V6.

Fuel Economy and Range

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

			MPG
CX-30
	AWD	2.5 turbo 4-cyl.	22 city/30 hwy
		2.5 DOHC 4-cyl.	26 city/33 hwy
Passport
	AWD	3.5 SOHC V6	19 city/24 hwy

Environmental Friendliness

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Mazda CX-30 higher (5 to 7 out of 10) than the Honda Passport (3). This means the CX-30 produces up to 24.5 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Passport every 15,000 miles.

Brakes and Stopping

The CX-30 stops much shorter than the Passport:

	CX-30	Passport
70 to 0 MPH	177 feet	181 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	119 feet	135 feet	Motor Trend

Suspension and Handling

The CX-30 Premium handles at .84 G’s, while the Passport Elite pulls only .78 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 Passport Elite (27.4 seconds @ .62 average G’s vs. 28.1 seconds @ .62 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the CX-30’s turning circle is 4.5 feet tighter than the Passport AWD’s (34.8 feet vs. 39.3 feet).

Chassis

The Mazda CX-30 may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 750 to 800 pounds less than the Honda Passport.

The CX-30 is 1 foot, 4.1 inches shorter than the Passport, making the CX-30 easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The CX-30 is 7.9 inches narrower than the Passport, making the CX-30 easier to handle and maneuver in traffic.

The CX-30 is 10.5 inches shorter in height than the Passport, making the CX-30 much easier to wash and garage and drive (lower center of gravity).

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 Passport doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The CX-30’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Passport’s parking brake has to be released manually.

The CX-30’s front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Passport’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

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 Passport’s standard intermittent wipers change speed with vehicle speed, but can’t turn on and off or change speed based on changing rainfall.

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 Passport doesn’t offer cornering lights.

The CX-30’s power mirror controls are mounted on the armrest for easy access. The Passport’s power mirror controls are on the dash where they are possibly hidden by the steering wheel and are awkward to manipulate.

Recommendations

The Mazda CX-30 outsold the Honda Passport by 28% during 2022.