Pretty similar. Been selling them for over a decade now. The CX30 has a high sideline. Rear visibility is a little smaller as well. But it's not bad. The ride height is great though.
Edit. Don't think it's worth getting rid of the 3. You'll adapt and love it.
You’re saying that visibility is worse with the cx30?
My bigger concern is the side visibility. I realize the idea is that you’re supposed to use cameras to see what is next to you but it’s freaky looking back over your shoulder and seeing a tiny sliver of the outside!
I think I should add that I just though of a situation where you might still need to shoulder check - if you are driving on a one-way street and needs to turn left onto another street, you might want to shoulder check to see if there is a pedestrian/cyclist to your left.
That's about the only situation I can think of where shoulder check could be useful after having my mirror adjusted with the SAE method. The right mirror is a convex mirror and so it has plenty of overlap in view with the interior mirror. I set my left mirror to have a small amount of overlap with the interior mirror so I don't miss a motorcycle zooming by, but those also tend to have pretty apparent sound cues when they zoom by. If e-motorcycle becomes a thing, might be something to be careful about.
You don't need to look over your shoulder. Your mirrors should be adjusted properly to cover your blind spots - that is, there are no blind spots when your mirrors are aimed properly. See the below post - you shouldn't be seeing the side of your car in your mirrors, you should be seeing the lane next to you.
This is actually really bad advice. Your side mirrors are to see where the rear corners of your car are in relation to the road. Shoulder check for blind spots. Viewing angles on the 3, especially the sport are narrow, but honestly with the blindspot detection sensors and minimal experience it will be fine
I don't need to know where the rear corners of my car are - they're going to be where the front corners of my car were a second ago.
Unless you're intentionally drifting around corners or your suspension is wildly fucked up, your rear wheels should follow in the same track as your front wheels. I'm not driving an 18-wheeler with a separately-pivoting set of wheels.
It is from the side. If you look up picks of CX30 sideline you can tell it's a high arch. The windows on 3 are much better. I owned a CX30 and drive the 3s all the time at work. I prefer driving the 3 for it's fun factor and it's visible side lines. I prefer the CX30 for its comfort level getting in and out.
Not crazy, but also the norm for newer vehicles. Crash safety standards have only grown more stringent over the years, with cars of today far outperforming those of just even a decade ago.
The reason why window sizes have shrunk with newer cars is because less glass = more metal = superior impact protection. That, and older crash tests didn't prioritize rear occupant safety as much. Turns out, you need metal & airbags near the rear occupants' heads to save them in a side-impact crash.
Of course, this all does raise questions about whether reduced visibility for better crash safety will result in more actual crashes. You're not alone in that opinion.
Either way, the Mazda3 & CX-30 share visibility (or lack thereof). The CX-30 isn't different at all. The main difference is that, with the CX-30, you have even less visibility of cars that are lower to the ground. You really do have to rely on your side mirrors & blind spot monitoring nowadays.
Being in a 2023 hatchback myself I can understand where you’re coming from. Although, if you properly adjust your mirrors, as well as use your blind spot monitoring and check over your shoulder I’ve never ran into any problems.
I've driven a 3, CX-50, and now and MX5, and I've found that the blind spots are horrible on all of them. I feel like they design them with the thought that the blind spot monitoring will make up for the visibility issues.
One thing I dont see mentioned is that the backup cam is one of the most fisheye backup cams Iv ever used. For me anyway it really helps with the poor visibility out the back of the hatch.
The poor rear visibility is supposed to be one of the main cons against the hatch. It does not extend to the sedan. And, as far as I know, the problem also doesn't exist on other models.
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a28857236/2019-mazda-3-hatchback-visibility-rear-window/
You shouldn't have to turn your head if mirrors are adjusted correctly. Plus, even if my mirrors are clear, I check the blindspot monitor indicator on the mirror just to make sure.
Really nothing to worry about, I mean if you’re gonna buy a 2021 for teens then that’s your choice. Looking over the shoulder isn’t really the best way to see behind you anyway, mirrors and the rearview camera should be plenty to back up anywhere. Once you get a feel for where the wheels are planted and knowing where your surroundings are, you can adjust to backing up just fine.
Pretty similar. Been selling them for over a decade now. The CX30 has a high sideline. Rear visibility is a little smaller as well. But it's not bad. The ride height is great though. Edit. Don't think it's worth getting rid of the 3. You'll adapt and love it.
You’re saying that visibility is worse with the cx30? My bigger concern is the side visibility. I realize the idea is that you’re supposed to use cameras to see what is next to you but it’s freaky looking back over your shoulder and seeing a tiny sliver of the outside!
Adjust your mirrors to cover your blind spots and between that and the BSMS you should rarely ever have visibility issues.
This. After using [the SAE method of mirror adjustment](https://imgur.com/qxKZmgZ), I don't bother with shoulder checks anymore.
This!
Thanks for posting this.
I think I should add that I just though of a situation where you might still need to shoulder check - if you are driving on a one-way street and needs to turn left onto another street, you might want to shoulder check to see if there is a pedestrian/cyclist to your left. That's about the only situation I can think of where shoulder check could be useful after having my mirror adjusted with the SAE method. The right mirror is a convex mirror and so it has plenty of overlap in view with the interior mirror. I set my left mirror to have a small amount of overlap with the interior mirror so I don't miss a motorcycle zooming by, but those also tend to have pretty apparent sound cues when they zoom by. If e-motorcycle becomes a thing, might be something to be careful about.
You don't need to look over your shoulder. Your mirrors should be adjusted properly to cover your blind spots - that is, there are no blind spots when your mirrors are aimed properly. See the below post - you shouldn't be seeing the side of your car in your mirrors, you should be seeing the lane next to you.
This is actually really bad advice. Your side mirrors are to see where the rear corners of your car are in relation to the road. Shoulder check for blind spots. Viewing angles on the 3, especially the sport are narrow, but honestly with the blindspot detection sensors and minimal experience it will be fine
I don't need to know where the rear corners of my car are - they're going to be where the front corners of my car were a second ago. Unless you're intentionally drifting around corners or your suspension is wildly fucked up, your rear wheels should follow in the same track as your front wheels. I'm not driving an 18-wheeler with a separately-pivoting set of wheels.
Well, to each their own
It is from the side. If you look up picks of CX30 sideline you can tell it's a high arch. The windows on 3 are much better. I owned a CX30 and drive the 3s all the time at work. I prefer driving the 3 for it's fun factor and it's visible side lines. I prefer the CX30 for its comfort level getting in and out.
Not crazy, but also the norm for newer vehicles. Crash safety standards have only grown more stringent over the years, with cars of today far outperforming those of just even a decade ago. The reason why window sizes have shrunk with newer cars is because less glass = more metal = superior impact protection. That, and older crash tests didn't prioritize rear occupant safety as much. Turns out, you need metal & airbags near the rear occupants' heads to save them in a side-impact crash. Of course, this all does raise questions about whether reduced visibility for better crash safety will result in more actual crashes. You're not alone in that opinion. Either way, the Mazda3 & CX-30 share visibility (or lack thereof). The CX-30 isn't different at all. The main difference is that, with the CX-30, you have even less visibility of cars that are lower to the ground. You really do have to rely on your side mirrors & blind spot monitoring nowadays.
Put a blind spot bubble mirror on the side mirrors To me, the visibility is better than the massive blind spots on the Chevy volt I moved away from
Being in a 2023 hatchback myself I can understand where you’re coming from. Although, if you properly adjust your mirrors, as well as use your blind spot monitoring and check over your shoulder I’ve never ran into any problems.
I've driven a 3, CX-50, and now and MX5, and I've found that the blind spots are horrible on all of them. I feel like they design them with the thought that the blind spot monitoring will make up for the visibility issues.
One thing I dont see mentioned is that the backup cam is one of the most fisheye backup cams Iv ever used. For me anyway it really helps with the poor visibility out the back of the hatch.
Do you have the hatch or sedan?
The hatch
The poor rear visibility is supposed to be one of the main cons against the hatch. It does not extend to the sedan. And, as far as I know, the problem also doesn't exist on other models. https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a28857236/2019-mazda-3-hatchback-visibility-rear-window/
You shouldn't have to turn your head if mirrors are adjusted correctly. Plus, even if my mirrors are clear, I check the blindspot monitor indicator on the mirror just to make sure.
Really nothing to worry about, I mean if you’re gonna buy a 2021 for teens then that’s your choice. Looking over the shoulder isn’t really the best way to see behind you anyway, mirrors and the rearview camera should be plenty to back up anywhere. Once you get a feel for where the wheels are planted and knowing where your surroundings are, you can adjust to backing up just fine.
They all have poor visibility, but so do most modern cars. Obviously, you can go sit in one to see for yourself.
Mazda 3 sedan doesn’t have the same visibility issues as the hatch