midcorner bump steer; blame that on the
platform-donating Mazda 3 replacing its
traditional independent rear suspension
with a proletarian torsion beam. And
brake feel? How about having to put your
foot nearly to the firewall for anything
more than a routine stop, as Buyer’s Guide
director Zach Gale found.
Mazda has long stood out for the driving
experience, but Evans said he struggled to
find any “Mazdaness” in it. “I am shocked
at how stiffly it rides. Since it’s not excep-
tionally sporty, I don’t know why it needs
to ride like this.” Perhaps MotorTrend en
Español managing editor Miguel Cortina
said it best: “Mazda has lost half of its
‘zoom-zoom.’ Now it’s just, ‘zoom.’”
With its logical layout, the Seltos’
straightforward and intuitive cabin
and infotainment system lets you
focus your attention on the road.Here’s the downside: The Mazda CX-30’s
back seat is a penalty box.Clearly the most stylish of this tested
trio, the Mazda CX-30’s elegant-for-
its-price interior plays to those who
focus on what’s inside the jewel box.For all of its Camaro-meets-doorstop
looks, the Trailblazer is no dragster. Sure,
it gets up to 40 mph pretty snappily, but
above that, “the engine just doesn’t have
any guts, making passing a test in plan-
ning,” features editor Christian Seabaugh
said. On the plus side, he noted, “The nine-
speed swaps cogs quickly, which, coupled
with short ratios, makes the most of what
the inline-three has.” Nevertheless, its
0-60-mph acceleration of 9.3 seconds was
the slowest of the batch. And that’s with
the “big ” engine.
Cortina was not a fan of the Trailblazer’s
ride. “Driving over broken pavement
or ruts, the body shakes like a soaked
Chihuahua,” he said. Senior featureseditor Jonny Lieberman found the steering
“floppy without being sloppy, if that makes
any sense.” Brake modulation and brake
feel are pretty spongy after some initial
very firm bite at parking lot speeds. As for
winding roads, the Trailblazer exhibited
the most body roll and squealed its tires the
easiest. In other words, it doesn’t walk the
Camaro-look talk.
Because mere dozens of people will ever
take these vehicles off-roading in a way
that would challenge anything more than
a Toyota Camry, we didn’t test for off-road
capability. However, we note the Seltos
was alone in offering an all-wheel-drive
mode switch for slippery conditions that
locks the torque at a 50/50 front/rear split.
Meanwhile, the Trailblazer defaults to
front-drive mode and requires you to push
a button to even engage all four wheels. “I
promise you will not blaze any trails in this
thing,” Yekikian said.The Trailblazer’s exterior styling has plenty
of character for a segment where a milk
carton is the default design. If you simplyMazda CX-30
Kia Seltos
38 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2021