Mazda CX-30 Red

Petrol power is the order of the day for the CX-30, with no diesel or hybrid versions offered. Instead there’s a choice of two non-turbo 2.0-litre petrol options. The cheaper of the two is called Skyactiv-G. It has 122 horsepower, which isn’t an awful lot to play with. Outright performance is okay, but this engine needs to be worked quite hard to get the most out of it. The other option is a new engine called Skyactiv-X, which has 180 horsepower and a lot of unconventional engineering inside it. Mazda claims it offers the performance and fuel economy of a diesel at the price of a petrol, but that’s overstating it. It does give more oomph at low revs than the Skyactiv-G, and stronger performance outright, but it’s not as gutsy as the smaller turbocharged engines used by many rivals. Both engines come either with an excellent six-speed manual gearbox or a six-speed automatic, which is also pretty good. Skyactiv-X models are available with four-wheel drive as an option.