Compare the2023 Mazda CX-30VS 2023 Kia Niro

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 Niro 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 Niro doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.

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 Niro doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

The CX-30 has all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Niro doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.

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 Niro 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 the Niro have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver 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, driver alert monitors, available blind spot warning systems and rear cross-path warning.

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 Niro has not been tested, yet.

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

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.

The CX-30’s standard 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder produces 52 more horsepower (191 vs. 139) than the Niro’s 1.6 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid. The CX-30’s optional 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 111 more horsepower (250 vs. 139) and 125 lbs.-ft. more torque (320 vs. 195) than the Niro’s 1.6 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid.

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

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 Niro doesn’t offer a system that can shut down part of the engine.

The CX-30 has 1.6 gallons more fuel capacity than the Niro (12.7 vs. 11.1 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

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

The CX-30 stops shorter than the Niro:

For better traction, the CX-30 has larger tires than the Niro (215/65R16 vs. 205/60R16).

The CX-30 has a standard space-saver spare tire so you can replace a flat tire and drive to have the flat repaired or replaced. A spare tire isn’t available on the Niro; it requires you to depend on roadside assistance and your vehicle will have to be towed.

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 Niro doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

The CX-30 Premium executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Niro SX (27.4 seconds @ .62 average G’s vs. 27.9 seconds @ .59 average G’s).

The CX-30 has .2 inches more front legroom, 9.2 inches more front hip room and .2 inches more rear hip room than the Niro.

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 Niro’s standard passenger windows don’t open or close automatically. With the Niro SX’s power windows, only the front windows open or 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 Niro’s standard 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 Niro’s 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 Niro doesn’t offer cornering lights.

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 Niro offers an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

The Mazda CX-30 outsold the Kia Niro by 84% during 2022.