Compare the2024 Mazda CX-30VS 2024 Alfa Romeo Tonale

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 Alfa Romeo Tonale 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 Tonale 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 Tonale doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

Both the CX-30 and Tonale have rear cross-traffic warning, but the CX-30 Turbo Premium Plus has Smart Braking Support - Rear Crossing (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Tonale’s Rear Cross-Path Detection doesn’t automatically brake.

Both the CX-30 and the Tonale 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, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors and available around view monitors.

For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, daytime pedestrian crash prevention, and nighttime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the CX-30 its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2023, a rating granted to only 58 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Tonale has not been tested, yet.

Mazda’s powertrain warranty covers the CX-30 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than Alfa Romeo covers the Tonale. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 5 years or 60,000 miles. Coverage on the Tonale ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

There are almost 4 times as many Mazda dealers as there are Alfa Romeo dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the CX-30’s warranty.

A reliable vehicle saves its owner time, money and trouble. Nobody wants to be stranded or have to be without a vehicle while it’s being repaired. Consumer Reports rates the CX-30’s reliability 22 points higher than the Tonale.

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 Alfa Romeo 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, Alfa Romeo is rated below average.

On the EPA test cycle the CX-30 with its standard engine gets better fuel mileage than the Tonale running its gasoline engine (26 city/33 hwy vs. 29 city/29 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 Tonale doesn’t offer a system that can shut down part of the engine.

The CX-30 has 1.5 gallons more fuel capacity than the Tonale (12.7 vs. 11.2 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

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 Tonale; it requires you to depend on roadside assistance and your vehicle will have to be towed.

For better maneuverability, the CX-30’s turning circle is 3.1 feet tighter than the Tonale’s (34.8 feet vs. 37.9 feet).

For greater off-road capability the CX-30 has a 2.4 inches greater minimum ground clearance than the Tonale (8 vs. 5.6 inches), allowing the CX-30 to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The Mazda CX-30 may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 600 to 700 pounds less than the Alfa Romeo Tonale.

The CX-30 is 5.3 inches shorter than the Tonale, making the CX-30 easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The CX-30 has .3 inches more front hip room and .1 inches more rear headroom than the Tonale.

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 Tonale doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

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 Tonale’s mirrors don’t automatically adjust for backing.