Compare the2023 Mazda CX-30VS 2023 Kia Seltos

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Suspension and Handling
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
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 Kia Seltos 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 Seltos 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 Seltos doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

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

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 Seltos only offers a rear monitor.

Both the CX-30 and the Seltos have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact 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, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors, available blind spot warning systems and rear cross-path warning.

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 Kia Seltos:

	CX-30	Seltos
OVERALL STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Neck Stress	216 lbs.	237 lbs.
Neck Compression	18 lbs.	23 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	201/172 lbs.	460/429 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
HIC	179	405
Chest Compression	.5 inches	.6 inches
Neck Injury Risk	33.5%	41%
Neck Compression	85 lbs.	171 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 Kia Seltos:

	CX-30	Seltos
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	73	109
Chest Movement	1 inches	1.2 inches
Hip Force	275 lbs.	428 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	197	234
Spine Acceleration	60 G’s	70 G’s
Hip Force	525 lbs.	754 lbs.
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	12 inches	13 inches
HIC	178	225
Spine Acceleration	30 G’s	33 G’s

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

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 Seltos last would have qualified as a “Top Safety Pick” in 2022.

Warranty

The CX-30’s 5 year corrosion warranty has no mileage limitations, but the corrosion warranty on the Seltos runs out after 100,000 miles.

Reliability

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2023 Auto Issue reports that Mazda vehicles are more reliable than Kia vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Mazda fourth in overall reliability. Kia is ranked 9th.

Engine

The CX-30’s standard 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder produces 45 more horsepower (191 vs. 146) and 54 lbs.-ft. more torque (186 vs. 132) than the Seltos’ standard 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder. The CX-30’s 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder produces 16 more horsepower (191 vs. 175) than the Seltos Nightfall/SX’s standard 1.6 turbo 4-cylinder. The CX-30’s optional 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 75 more horsepower (250 vs. 175) and 125 lbs.-ft. more torque (320 vs. 195) than the Seltos Nightfall/SX’s standard 1.6 turbo 4-cylinder.

As tested in Motor Trend the Mazda CX-30 4 cyl. is faster than the Kia Seltos 4 cyl.:

	CX-30	Seltos
Zero to 60 MPH	7.8 sec	8.3 sec
Quarter Mile	16 sec	16.5 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	88.3 MPH	85.5 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

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

			MPG
CX-30
	AWD	2.5 DOHC 4-cyl.	26 city/33 hwy
Seltos
	AWD	2.0 DOHC 4-cyl.	27 city/31 hwy
		1.6 turbo 4-cyl.	25 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 Seltos doesn’t offer a system that can shut down part of the engine.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the CX-30’s standard brake rotors are larger than those on the Seltos:

	CX-30	Seltos
Front Rotors	11.6 inches	11 inches
Rear Rotors	10.4 inches	10.3 inches
Opt Rear Rotors	11.9 inches

In an emergency stopping situation, many drivers don’t press the brakes with enough force to stop the vehicle in the shortest distance. The CX-30 has a standard brake assist system to detect emergency braking situations (by how hard and how quickly the brake pedal is pressed) and then automatically apply maximum braking immediately in order to help prevent a collision. The Seltos doesn’t offer a brake assist feature.

The CX-30 stops shorter than the Seltos:

	CX-30	Seltos
60 to 0 MPH	119 feet	122 feet	Motor Trend

Suspension and Handling

The CX-30 Premium handles at .83 G’s, while the Seltos S pulls only .77 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The CX-30 Premium executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.4 seconds quicker than the Seltos S (27.4 seconds @ .62 average G’s vs. 28.8 seconds @ .56 average G’s).

Passenger Space

The CX-30 has .3 inches more front legroom, 1.1 inches more front hip room, .1 inches more front shoulder room and .4 inches more rear hip room than the Seltos.

Cargo Capacity

To make loading and unloading groceries and cargo easier, especially for short adults, the CX-30 Premium has a standard power liftgate, which opens and closes automatically by pressing a button. The Seltos doesn’t offer a power liftgate.

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 Seltos 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 Seltos 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 Seltos has a lever-type parking brake that has to be strenuously raised to engage properly. It has to be lifted up more and a button depressed to release it.

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 Seltos’ standard power window switches have to be held the entire time to close them fully. Only its driver’s window opens 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 Seltos’ 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 Seltos’ standard projector halogen headlights and light instantly. LED lights also 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 Seltos 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 Seltos’ 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 Seltos offers an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

On extremely cold winter days, the CX-30 Turbo’s standard heated steering wheel provides comfort, allowing the driver to steer safely and comfortably before the vehicle heater warms up. The Seltos doesn’t offer a heated steering wheel.

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 Seltos doesn’t offer dual zone air conditioning.

Both the CX-30 and the Seltos 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 Seltos doesn’t offer rear air conditioning vents, only heat vents.