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 Sportage doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the CX-30 are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Sportage doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
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 Sportage 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 Sportage 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 Sportage 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 Sportage.
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 Sportage 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.
The CX-30 has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the Sportage’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the CX-30 has standard Rear Cross Traffic Alert and Smart Braking Support - Rear Crossing on the Turbo Premium Plus automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. Kia charges extra for rear cross-path warning on the Sportage.
The CX-30 has standard E911 Automatic Emergency Notification, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The Sportage doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.
Both the CX-30 and the Sportage 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, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and driver alert 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 Kia Sportage:
|
CX-30 |
Sportage |
OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
148 |
207 |
Neck Compression |
18 lbs. |
72 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
179 |
222 |
Chest Compression |
.5 inches |
.6 inches |
Neck Injury Risk |
33.5% |
42% |
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 Sportage:
|
CX-30 |
Sportage |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
73 |
87 |
Hip Force |
275 lbs. |
327 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
197 |
239 |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
12 inches |
13 inches |
HIC |
178 |
301 |
Spine Acceleration |
30 G’s |
43 G’s |
Hip Force |
583 lbs. |
873 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 Sportage:
|
CX-30 |
Sportage |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
Structure |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
|
Driver Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
89 |
209 |
Neck Tension |
156 lbs. |
335 lbs. |
Torso |
ACCEPTABLE |
ACCEPTABLE |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
POOR |
Pelvis Force |
759 lbs. |
1874 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
|
Passenger Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
144 |
302 |
Neck Compression |
67 lbs. |
112 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
Shoulder Deflection |
.94 in |
2.2 in |
Shoulder Force |
245 lbs. |
379 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
.71 in |
2.13 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
11 MPH |
14 MPH |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Pelvis Force |
379 lbs. |
446 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
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 72 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Sportage last would have qualified as a “Top Safety Pick” in 2022.