Mazda CX-60 review and buyer’s guide
If you thought the world was going fully electric, Mazda just revived the big inline six-cylinder. Has the CX-60 successfully combined performance, batteries and SUV-luxury to beat Lexus, Mercedes and BMW? Let’s find out…
Mazda has expanded its ever-growing SUV line-up with the new CX-60, designed to lure buyers away from the established, prestige German brands when buying their next medium five-seat luxury family vehicle.
But can it hope to compete against the luxury giants like Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi? Or does it just need to eclipse anything Lexus has done in recent years to put the Mazda brand among distinguished company? Let’s find out…
CX-60, confusingly, sits somewhere between the CX-5 and CX-9, but above the CX-8 yet below the CX-90. Following? Thought not. So what is it then and should it be on your shortlist?
The CX-60 has been launched to fill an invisible gap between the CX-5, CX-8 and CX-9, offering a more premium demeanour than all three, while remaining in the mid-size SUV class, and in five-seat configuration only.
Officially, it competes in the premium mid-size SUV class with vehicles such as the BMW X3 and Genesis GV70. Right now, it is the only Mazda that sits in a premium segment, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries anyway.
It brings in a number of firsts for Mazda in Australia, including a brand new ‘large product group’ platform, which incorporates a longitudinal engine configuration (I’ll explain why that’s important later) and some interesting new inline-six engines. It also debuts a 2.5-litre four-cylinder plug-in hybrid option.
Range diversity
It’s a great lineup, spanning between three main engines and three trim levels (Evolve, GT, Azami). And all are completely interchangeable. In other words, you can get the flagship plug-in hybrid (PHEV) engine in base Evolve trim, or get the entry 3.3-litre turbo-petrol inline-six with the top-spec Azami trim.
Image: Mazda Australia website
This is quite thoughtful of Mazda because it doesn’t matter what end of the market you’re in, you can mix and match packages to suit your needs and budget. The mid-level GT could be the obvious pick, from a glance, with somewhat attainable pricing (remembering it is a premium vehicle, apparently) and a good level of features.
In each model grade, the first letter denotes the powertrain, so ‘G’ stands for ‘gasoline’, the ‘D’ stands for ‘diesel’ and the ‘P’ denotes ‘plug-in hybrid’.
What does the CX-60 come with and is it really a 'luxury' vehicle?
No matter which one you go for, all come with a wide-screen multimedia display (10.25 inches in Evolve, 12.3 inches on GT and Azami) incorporating the company’s traditional Mazda Connect operating system, supporting both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
It’s an easy system to operate, with simple four-axis scrolling and page swipes, and you can use the handy dial on the console to navigate your way around while keeping your eyes on the road.
A 7.0-inch TFT display provides all of the driver information, except on the PHEV models Mazda upgrades to a 12.3-inch cluster display. This is likely due to the hybrid needing more display area to exhibit various powertrain information, such as battery level and recharging status and so on.
Being a premium model, it’s good to know typically premium creature comforts are not omitted, such as leather and suede-like trim, LED headlights, and dual-zone climate control – all standard kit on all models. But, you’ll find the CX-60 also comes standard with plenty of extra frills that are often optional extras on the premium European rivals.
A 360-degree parking camera, for example, comes standard on all. I think it's an important innovation as it provides a clear and complete view of your surroundings. This is perfect for busy family lifestyles, as you can keep an eye on not just the kids playing around the driveway but also their miscellaneous equipment that’s inevitably scattered around the home.
Other highlights? A powered tailgate, 150W AC power socket in the back seat area with an Australian outlet plug type (yep, as standard), and some advanced safety assist systems such as turn-across traffic alert, and automatic high-beam assist which is ideal if you regularly drive on country roads at night.
Stepping up to the GT adds the bigger 12.3-inch media screen, but also some proper luxury items like power steering column adjustment with heating for the wheel, a big sunroof, 20-inch wheels, and heated front and rear seats.
At the top end, the Azami adds Nappa leather, fully adaptive cruise control, cooling front seats, and unique 20-inch wheels and front bumper bar styling. Unless you live next door to the Jones’, there is no major reason you'd need to go for the Azami in my opinion.
Mazda is offering a number of optional packs with the CX-60. This is very much in sync with what the common European luxury brands do. There’s the SP pack that adds fashionable dark highlights for the body, and the Luxury pack that includes heated front seats and a luxury trim (for Evolve only), and then the Takumi pack which is also perfect for showing off to those pesky Jones’.
In all honesty though, the Takumi pack does introduce some awesome white Maple wood highlights and white Nappa leather, as well as a rather exquisite cloth dash featuring exposed ‘Kakenui’ stitching. It’s really quite nice.
On the subject of luxury, just be aware that you’ll pay Luxury Car Tax on a CX-60, as you would any Lexus, BMW, Genesis et al.
Powertrain party box
Mazda has done the complete opposite to what most manufacturers are doing at the moment; launching some big-capacity combustion engines. And very interesting ones at that. A 3.3-litre inline-six, all-new, is available in petrol or diesel form, both turbocharged.
Click here if you want to understand why inline sixes are so perfect >> in a technical sense.
That’s a pretty big six-cylinder by today’s standards. Even the German brands peak at around 3.0 litres. This is actually quite typical of Mazda to offer reasonably big-capacity units. For instance, the existing 2.5-litre four-cylinder is much bigger than the field of 2.0-litre units out there.
The facts and figures on these new engines are very appealing. In diesel form, called the D50e, the new unit develops 187kW and 550Nm. Performance is very respectable, especially with all of that torque, but fuel economy is outstanding.
Mazda says the diesel offers the lowest official consumption average of any other vehicle in its class (excluding hybrids), with a rating of just 4.9L/100km. That’s incredible for this size engine and for its outputs - and we have the nature of it being a more energy-dense hydrocarbon fuel to thank for that. (It’s why diesel fuel isn’t going away in Australia >>)
The petrol version, called the G40e, develops a punchier 209kW and 450Nm. Fuel consumption is reasonably low, considering the engine size and power, with an official rating of 7.4L/100km. For some perspective, the BMW X3 M40i in the same class, albeit much more powerful (285kW) is rated at 8.9L/100km. And that’s an efficient package.
If keeping your outright fuel bills as low as possible is a primary goal, then you need to take a look at the PHEV. Pairing the company’s 2.5-litre four-cylinder with an electric motor assist system results in an impressive 241kW and an official consumption rating of just 2.1L/100km. So how does that compared to other PHEVs in the market?
Mazda has given CX-60 a 17.8kWh battery, which is 12 per cent smaller than the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and therefore offers less range, because battery size is proportional to motive power and available distance.
Outlander PHEV has a rather large 20kWh battery pack on board, sandwiched down below between the 56-litre fuel tank (happy to take 91 RON where the CX-60 PHEV must take 95 premium).
The Outlander’s battery is connected to two motors, one at the front putting out a maximum 85kW and one at the rear doing a maximum of 100kW. So all up, including the 98kW from its 2.4 petrol engine, you’re getting a total 185kW of peak power and it takes about 10 hours to charge from de facto empty (26 per cent state of charge) to full.
So the CX-60 is relying much more heavily on its more powerful four-cylinder combustion engine for its performance edge over the Outlander’s bigger battery, and it shows in the power-to-weight ratios. Outlander PHEV Exceed Touring: 86 kW/t. CX-60 Azami: 120 kW/t. Why? Well, Outlander PHEV does weigh more thanks to its row 3 seating, but only 6kg more.
The real performance gulf between CX-60 and Outlander PHEVs is the use of direct injection in the Mazda versus multi-point injection in the Mitsubishi. Multi-point is an engineering hack to improve fuel economy where DI is optimised for performance. The Outlander quotes 1.5 litres per 100km on the combined fuel test cycle, where Mazda cites 2.5L. Same goes for the emissions: 49 grams per kilometre to the Mazda, 35 to the Mitsubishi.
Kia Sorento PHEV also uses multi-point injection, but on its 1.6 turbo-petrol powertrain for a combined 195kW peak power. The CX-60 PHEV produces 30 per cent more power than the Outlander, and 23 per cent more than the Sorento.
This is where Mazda has taken a different path to ‘going hybrid’. The CX-60 will do 0-100km/h in, according to Mazda, 5.8 seconds.
That 'Large Product' chassis
So, the reason for the new large product platform is to accommodate the inline-six engines. Although Mazda likes to say the chassis is designed with rear-wheel drive characteristics in mind, in reality, straight six engines simply only work if they are mounted longways (although there have been some front-wheel drive inline-sixes in the past).
Think of it this way; if you can buy a big house then you’ll often get a big block of land that comes with it. You're winning, no matter which came first.
With a ‘RWD’ style of powertrain orientation it means the driving dynamics are very nice. It steers with the sensation of being pushed along from behind rather than scampering and pulled from the front.
Conventional mid-size SUVs are not usually known for supporting spirited driving sessions, but the CX-60 seems to enjoy making turns and certainly provides superior driving dynamics over the CX-5, CX-8 and CX-9.
The ride comfort is soft compared with some European rivals, but the breadth of suspension stroke seems to work well on our crappy backroads. There is some minor body roll as a result. Jumping into the PHEV, it's easy to notice the extra weight (about 150kg) and it does impact the ride slightly. It can crash and boom a bit on poorly-maintained surfaces, more than the other engine options.
The pick?
Despite great efforts from Mazda to introduce a plug-in hybrid in Australia, where electrified vehicles are usually not a priority at the production level, the PHEV setup is not as refined as some other systems currently on the market.
It’s a bit noisy and a bit clunky when transitioning between electric modes and petrol modes, and we’re a bit skeptical about its 2.1L/100km official rating. Keep in mind though these official averages are tested under strict conditions. Conditions that include driving journeys lasting no more than 20 minutes.
Since the PHEV can be driven on electric power alone for around 76km, a big chunk of that official testing procedure is going to be achieved under fully electric driving. Once the petrol engine kicks in, expect to see higher consumption rates in the real world.
The G40e does seem like a tempting option. Perhaps the most tempting. It sounds good and goes very well indeed. However, the D50e diesel really stands out with its strong torque and class-leading fuel economy. It is a bit noisy and rattly when cold but it soon warms up and quietens down.
With the diesel engine and in GT trim, you’ve got yourself a sound package. Interestingly, the diesel offers the lowest braked towing capacity of the trio, at 2000kg, against 2500kg in the G40e and PHEV (due to a higher kerb weight in the diesel).
Should you buy one?
The CX-60 is pitched as a premium alternative to the CX-5. It is basically for graduates of the CX-5 range who might be considering moving to a typical premium brand. Mazda is no doubt hoping to catch some of those buyers just before they walk out the door.
After a thorough inspection, it does present an excellent case. The build quality and refinement are equal to or at least close to the premium alternatives; the powertrain options are all very appealing and interesting in their own way; and the driving dynamics are at least on par with the entry-level rivals from Audi and Lexus.
If all of this sounds good to you, then yes, it could be the perfect fit. Keep in mind the CX-90 will launch in Australia under a similar philosophy and with almost identical engines, only in a large seven-seat format.
The CX-60 also received a five-star ANCAP safety rating based on data gathered by EuroNCAP in its 2022 testing. You can download the full CX-60 technical scorecard here >>
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The concerns with buying a Mazda CX-60
This is Mazda’s first crack at a proper plug-in hybrid.
They did a mediocre job on their so-called ‘mild’ hybrid back in 2020, and mild was an overstatement, but only because the marketing department got a bit self-indulgent. It was nice to see Mazda’s engineers actually innovating in things like the SkyActiv-X M hybrid powertrains, unlike the sulk-fest going on at Nissan these days. (FYI, Nissan’s ePower hybrid tech was a cynical gimmick as well, but went much harder on the marketing rhetoric.)
Mazda’s first crack at a hybrid was more like an alternator with a 24-volt battery, the kind of science experiment you expect Year 12 STEM students to know at an intimate level. There was no electrical contribution to the drivetrain, and it was done to the 2.0-litre engine, not the 2.5 which would’ve actually made performance gains for all the R&D pain.
Based on this slow start and the fact Hyundai, Kia, Mitsubishi, BMW, and even Mercedes have beaten Mazda to the plug-in punch, you might be inclined to think this late-to-the-party CX-60 will be some cynical marketing exercise wrapped in virtue.
Well, no. It’s actually a legitimately good set-up.
The concern for you should be how reliable is this vehicle and its new powertrains going to be.
To invest in a fairly large capacity inline six-cylinder engine program means Mazda is not betting its future on eco cars. It’s still classifying combustion, and diesel in particular, as a long-term financial viability. So have they done the the sufficient R&D to make the 3.3 inline six reliable?
This is where the waiting game should be played. Such a new powertrain, as we’ve learned from the LandCruiser 300, has the potential for either disastrous feedback once it enters the market, or small updates or remedies as the fleet racks up the kilometres in-service.
Having said that, recent history should indicate that Mazda did an excellent job with its 2.5-litre turbo petrol four-cylinder and naturally aspirated (non-turbo) SkyActiv engines in CX-9, CX-9 and CX-5. The 2.2-litre diesel did develop an oil dilution issue which was picked up, addressed and fixed in-service through service campaigns via the dealer network. It’s hard to see Mazda continue to pursue the benefits of a diesel if it hadn’t solved that dilution problem with this new 3.3 inline six diesel.
While Mazda is bouyed by a small percentage of Toyota ownership, it is not dominated by Toyota in the way Subaru has become, so it’s safe to say a lot of the beancounter-driven decisions at Mazda have not matasticised the way they have in products like Outback, Forester and WRX over the last five years.
What that means is Mazda has taken a bold and calculated decision to not only develop wholly new and profoundly desirable powertrains for the likes of CX-60, but also for use in other vehicles in the future - making a clear trajectory for the brand over the next 10 years.
It shows you that Mazda is innovating. It’s taking bold steps, it’s evolving and adapting, it’s refusing to be overrun by hyper-woke green virtues and recognises the legitimacy of having both a plug-in hybrid, and a diesel and petrol inline six. Diesel fuel offers 30 per cent more potential energy than the equivalent amount of petrol, which is why it’s ideal for use in bigger vehicles with heavier-duty applications. That’s not to dismiss the need to reduce emissions in built-up areas for the sake of human health, either.
This vehicle should also be a signpost to other carmakers, as well as consumers, that owning a so-called eco-car doesn’t necessarily have to be boring. The Outlander PHEV with its multi-point engine just doesn’t have the sparkle that Mazda’s direct-injection has when you give the long peddle a jab exiting a bend. You pay for that performance, unreservedly, but at least it’s an option if your budget stretches closer to $80K.
Why this is important is that it shows you the brand is not moping around the office like Nissan and pumping out fake all-new Pathfinders with dinosaur V6 petrol engines. Mazda is giving the market options, while also taking aim at the more prestige brands, knowing they also have the reliability to match their styling and technical developments.
I would strongly suggest waiting at least six months, preferably 12 months, for stock to hit the road and wait to see if any early technical gremlins show themselves in the CX-60, and then have a think about which powertrain, model grade and pricetag is going to suit your needs.
Toyota RAV4 is the best-selling medium SUV in Australia, offering good resale value and envious fuel economy. If you need an enormous boot and a simple, functional family vehicle, RAV4 is hard to beat.