Update: 1. I can confirm the steering wheel heating, or like thereof, was not tied to the climate control. 2. Ambient lighting actually has three different settings, low medium and high. During the review it was set on medium.
Agree about the MDX. My review: The fiercest competitor to the new CX-90 is Acura’s MDX. It drives well and looks sharp. They trade points back and forth. Example: MDX has car-like steering/pedal feel while CX-90 displays Mazda’s design philosophy of road feedback and heavier steering/pedals. Do you want to drive a nicer Honda? Then buy the MDX. Do you want more of a driver’s car? Then buy the Mazda. I felt very confident while driving the CX-90 with it’s rear-wheel biased AWD, even in rain. The Acura seats are absolutely fantastic, the most comfortable out there. I seriously can’t gush enough over the MDX seats. Oh, and both front seats get identical treatment. The passenger isn’t relegated to second class adjustments, lol. The Mazda seats look nicer but are quite a bit firmer. We’ll see how my bottom end handles a long trip but after two hours I was ready to get out of my CX-90 for a bit. With the seat firmness addressed, the Mazda is still more refined overall. Despite the firmer seats, the overall ride is a little softer (and quieter) than the Acura . MDX has wind noise and floor vibration not present in the CX-90. I believe this is due to Mazda’s better suspension and noise damping control than the Advanced package Acura. The MDX Type S has air ride suspension but we did not test this trim back to back against the Mazda. Why not compare top trim to top trim? The MDX costs $15k more than a similarly dressed CX-90. I bought the very top trim Mazda for the bottom engine priced Acura. More pro’s and con’s: my Mazda has ventilated second row seats which are lacking in almost all competitors. The MDX has a removable second row console that converts between seat/armrest/removable. It’s a great design that everyone should copy. CX-90 has air conditioning vents and USB-C chargers in the third row that the Acura lacks. I can become accustomed to either entertainment control but the Mazda control ring is better than the Acura trackpad. Most of all, one must go up to the $75k Acura Type S to get decent sound. The non-S trim sound is horrific. I couldn’t listen to such bloated junk. Seriously, “she sounds hideous.” Even Mazda’s Bose sounded like even spectral response in comparison. With all the Bose 3D spatial mess turned off the CX-90 is fairly true to name, “linear.” I can live with it for a while. The dash is another area where Mazda simplicity shines. The MDX steering wheel and dash controls are much busier. In contrast I can quickly find what I need in the Mazda, which ranks high on my driving safety factor.
Just a comment on the heated steering. In their new infotainment system, there is an option to link your heated steering / seats to the climate control. The climate control was set in the 70's which may be the reason you weren't getting the full output of the heated steering wheel.
There is a physical kick down switch directly under the accelerator pedal which ONLY works when you "pedal to metal" car will kick back or kick down a gear when your activate this switch. Mazdas in 70s and 80s always had accelerator kick down switches. Great review and CX-90 looks superb at night. i-stop (engine off) only works when you brake firmly to a stop. If you release Brake Pedal engine will Start again. Rest of world has had this Mazda system for past decade, but new to North America Mazda. On i-Stop if you brake Lightly to a Stop then i-Stop will not work. Not difficult to get used to, infact it teaches you to be more gentle on the brakes and a better ride for your guests in your car. Plus brake pads last longer.
Thanks for the details Kirk. I am eager for the CX70 to come out. I noticed that these products come well equipped where you don't have to spend a lot of extra money. I was waiting for a luxury NX350h. I gave up after this CX line came out. But with that NX, by the time I added triple beam, ML and the extra stuff the dealers add the price was close to 57K. I built a CX Turbo S Premium and there really aren't many extras that you have to add. It already comes with the Bose, the pano roof. The price for the next to last of the top trim is around 57K. When you compare what the luxury NX gives you to the CX, it seems there is no contest. An ecvt sound versus that inline 6 sound. Rear wheel biased vs front wheel drive. The Interior seems better than the NX. I imagine that when the CX70 comes out, we might be able to get the top trim for under 53K. The only thing is we will give up the mpg savings , but I think we would be much happier enjoying our daily drives provided that the reliability competes with Lexus.
@@KirkKreifels I was considering the plug-in hybrid but then I read a study of how expensive the electricity is in the Northeast where I live and someone that owns a phev said that they spent $3.20 to charge for 25 mile range. And at the gas pump he paid $3.28 for one gallon of gas. If the electric price and the gas price are going to be close is it worth it to get a plug-in hybrid and continuously deal with the hassle of charging? Not to mention how much more it will cost when it comes to repairs. No I don't know this to be a fact. I have not heard specific details or reviews of how much it actually cost in the United States to charge a vehicle versus its gas consumption counterpart. I am really curious 🧐
I agree with Kirk. I love our CX90 Turbo S Premium Plus. Transmission can fill rough at times, I'm experimenting with everything such as I-Stop off. I don't feel like it is a deal killer. Our Highlander Hybrid is definitely smoother but CVT at highway speed is not as good as this 8 Speed. I do like having I Stop on the highway driving as it is pretty smooth then going downhills, coasting behind traffic, etc. Interior is flat out amazing, beats the Palisade's hands down. I had a Calligraphy. It is definitely on the sporty side so don't expect it to drive like a Lexus. It is amazing in the corners for a 3 row SUV.
Generally, I am of the knowledge that usually, Mazda transmissions take about 800 or so miles before it smooths out. I have a mazda 3, and this has been my experience.
Sorry but the Honda and Korean looks ugly compared to CX-90, infact there is no comparison. Every review I have seen on CX-90 the writer has raved about the car, particularly fit and finish and car ride and handling, yes CX-90 might be a few cubic feet smaller but should not be a deal breaker. In the end you don't buy any car based on trunk space, it is physics.
No Lexus RX is a good buy😂. Not even the 350h If you have to get a hybrid get a Prius or Camry hybrid. PHEV or performance or both get a Volvo or Lincoln or Jeep
@@DJProVenturesIt’s a shame. Why couldn’t they tune it like the Bmw/Audi ZF8’s? Smooth when you want and can get more aggressive when you want. Torque converter locks up very quickly after you start moving and the shifts are quick.
Never seen a night review before. This should definitely become a normal thing. Mazda has one of the best looking interiors with this brown leather, if not the best Great job
I agree with your comment about the good looks of the brown leather (Mazda calls it Tan Napa Leather).... but buyer beware - the tan napa leather interior IS NOT available on any CX-90 except the most expensive Turbo S Premium Plus. So basically buyers have to pay $7,000 to get the Tan interior (with awesome 2-tone steering wheel) assuming they were happy with a Turbo Premium price point but want the Tan! Of course you get a lot more content too. I wanted a CX-90 with the new Inline 6 but would have been happy with the 280hp version. I liked the Greige (gray/Beige) interior too....but the wife really liked the Tan, so instead of a Turbo Prem in Greige at $54,000, we bought a Turbo S PP in Tan at $61,000.....yikes, $7,000 for a brown interior! (dont get me wrong, I LOVE all the added luxury features at $61K, and the more power...but still, Mazda please give us the wild Tan interior at less than 60K)
@MadLadsAnonymous Great question! I would think so, but not sure. The video I got the info on form factor from is a Mazda dealer in Alabama and I'm sure he dashed some wishes of a smaller CX-70 vehicle for a bunch of folks, but apparently that was from Mazda Corporate. If true it would make sense they offer the Phev, but why give it a whole new model number if the only change is a third-row delete? 🤷♂️
Beautiful vehicle. My wife and I may replace our 2017 CX-9 with this, but I'll wait a few years. I've heard that the new 8 speed AT can be a bit rough at times. Same thing with the CX-60. Hopefully Mazda irons that out with a software update. My dream is this new inline 6 going into a Mazda6 sedan or wagon. Bring it back to the states, Mazda!
A.B......I own a CX-90. now with 1,000miles. Dont be worried about the 8spd - it is a very good transmission. The "roughness" some reviewers have mentioned is NOT in the tranny...but rather in the 48volt motor's workability as it functions and integrates at initial movement of this large SUV. AND even then, I noticed it only when creeping forward and getting into the throttle slowly. If you enjoy being quicker away from a stop or stoplight (like if you like getting ahead of traffic) you will never even notice ANY roughness in the tranny. The perceived roughness is in the electric motor's integration into the flywheel. Hopefully THAT IS a 'software update'.
@@peterchen607 ....Dont worry, the new 8spd is great. Read my above comment carefully. Also to help with your decision let me say: a used CX-9 is a better deal (more value and content/features/luxury) for your money. But the new CX-90 is a better car, as in better engine/transmission, better driver, better mileage. IF I didnt lose my CX-9 Signature to a truck collision, I wouldnt have ever considered a $61,000 CX-90 and I would be happily driving my great CX-9!
Thank you for the review, pointing out some downsides that other reviewers have missed! I'll be honest as someone who isn't really a fan of the route Mazda's been chasing time and again: SUVs, I have to say I hate how I like this so much. When it 1st debuted, I had low expectations. But after seeing a number of auto reviewers like yourself, & when it's in the right color (love the white exterior beige interior, blue exter. beige inter. would go nicely to me too), the vehicle really has presence. Coupled with the inline 6 + mild hybrid system, it makes me want one to have in my driveway. Thank you for the points about the heated steering & i-stop function. The heating steering wheel's effectiveness is something I'm disappointed about considering the price they're putting on the vehicle to get such. They still have a long ways to go for inter. lighting to me. The i-stop feature is something I have never liked in modern vehicles. Basically the typical engine stop/startup when at a stop. That works thru a car's starter to me till its dead, silently killing it so that would be immediately off if owned by me. As far as appearance, as I've said definitely looks a bit imposing, BMW like (not doubt they tried following one of their models for reference piece). Could use exhaust outlets, probably right off the bat offered a carbon edition or fully black rims at least for a start as optional. The rims are nice to me. Overall very good.
Regarding interior lighting, my 2014 Lincoln MKX had awesome ambient lighting with selectable colors. This is weak by comparison, the Acura MDX kind of went the to the opposite extreme. I guess it's going to boil down to exterior color & sound system performance. It's got everything else 👍🏻
My cousin has just bought one I was very iffy about until he took me on a trip with him. I was surprised at how fun an good it was, Mazda really got me thinking at trading my Rav4 inn for one just gone wait an see if some more models coming out
Love the night review! I'm awaiting the CX-70 release as I do not need a 3 row SUV. I have a CX5 Carbon Edition with the turbo 2.5 and LOVE the way it handles, rides, and drives. Mazda knows what they are doing. Excellent vehicles.
I wish the glove box area had lights that light up at night other than that beautiful vehicle, especially being a rear wheel drive base Vehicle 🇺🇸🇺🇸💪💪😃😃👍👍👍👍
very excited as mine is sitting at port in Vancouver. I ordered a GT-P which is the performance 6 version in Canada..Hope to get in the next 2 weeks. Have had a CX9 for 10 years so I think the CX90 will be an awesome vehicle.
Just purchased a ‘24 Turbo S Premium Plus in pearl white/ivory/light wood interior. I think it is one of the best looking SUV out there. I love the ride just wish it had more torque off the line. With 340/369 advertised I would love to see the true dyno numbers soon. Also i would love to see the acceleration performance numbers.
Congrats on your top trim purchase! I also have a Turbo S PP, but the Tan interior. I really like YOUR light wood accents better! But we couldnt accept the Ivory leather. Your chrome accents and better looking real wood trim are both fantastic looking and I wish Mazda didnt completely change those 2 items when choosing Tan. I even asked the dealer IF my interior wood was real vs an applique! He swore it was real wood, but I am still not certain, ha!
Had a CX-30 loaner for a week, test drove CX-90 and CX-50. In terms of fun to drive, I'd rank CX-90 as funnest, followed by CX-5, CX-50, CX-30. The CX-90 was amazingly addictive to drive, nice feeling the engine close to you and longitudinal. The CX-50 was good but fwd based and cheap torsion beam rear. CX-5 is same but skinner and independent rear suspension. CX-30 was luxurious but felt very understeery, felt like engine weight was in front of front drive axle
great idea to do a review at night. i didn't even consider how many things are missed in typical reviews. nice of you to point out the downsides too, albeit very diplomatically. hopefully you cop a free car one day :) so yeah, as a window shopper and a dreamer, this is one of my favourite vehicles at the moment. out of what is available in australia, there are no vehicles that compete at this price point with most of the features i currently admire. granted, one of the must-haves is an inline six and chinese brands are excluded but sitll. the only two in its size class are both land rovers, which may have added features and capabilities but is one willing to exchange those for reliability, especially that most of the capabilities will be associated with off-roading? not to mention that they're both between 30 and 50 percent more expensive than mazda's top spec model. if one goes down a size class, there's the appealing ineos grenadier but if its rear cargo space is anything like the cx-60's in terms of fitting a long enough mattress in there for me then it fails the 'ideal' test. i've yet to investigate this. it's only a max of 32% more costly than the top cx-90 with a base model offering at only 14% more, incidentally about the same price as the base LR defender 110 p400. if they don't fit a tall sleeper then the base cx-60 is something to consider at just over half their price. then with the change, buy some sort of trailer caravan and perhaps a portable tiny house. waiting to see which vehicles stellantis' straight six is being dropped into. no doubt, untrustworthy stuff but hey, for people who buy new vehicles and sell then as the warranty runs out, these vehicles may be trouble-free, despite being first-year models. it's going to be more watch watching how the cx-90 and the mazda inline six gets developed. i love how they went with 3.3 litres because the magic 500cc per pot ideal is only really valid for NA donks and now all of the others are potentially behind the curve. there's no replacement for displacement apparently and i hope this rings true for tha mazdawgs in the not too distant future. poice
Mazda has really upped its game in the interior. I was super skeptical when a few years back they said theyd move their cars into the near luxo territory. Mazda is winning me over. Always loved mazdas driving dynamics.
I’ve been waiting for the CX-70. But if the rumors are true that it will be the same length as the 90, then it’s too big for me. I’ll go with the Genesis GV-70.
Yeah, I am not sure about CX-70 being same size as CX-90. I believe it will be same width as CX-90 but overall length shorter more inline with Europe/Australia CX-60. CX-70 is a 2 row. Australia gets CX-90 in August. CX-60 next week.
That lingering seat belt nanny chime would drive me crazy after a while. I always put my seat belt on after starting the engine. It's kind of a shame that they don't have 8 seats on the higher trims. I would rather have bench seating over captain chairs or at least give us an option like the Pilot and MDX.
My local dealer had 3 on the lot. 2 got sold and 1 left is marked up to 70k! It’s not even the PHEV and the highest trim. Like the vehicle but can’t stand dealers anymore.
For that price you're better off ordering one across the country and shipping to you. But you shouldn't have to go far to find a better deal. I am contracted for one at slightly below MSRP (Palisades Mazda, Nyack NY)
Mazda’s have a 95% throttle pedal (100% throttle at max), then if you press it harder passed that notch you feel in the pedal (to 100%) it’ll kick down. So if you have it in high gear then floor it (kickdown) it’ll drop a gear for maximum acceleration. If you don’t want it to drop a gear, just hit the throttle to the notch (at 95%). That is still technically full throttle Also that reverb you’re hearing is actually the transmission.
I guess the only reason they designed the shifter like this is because Mazda thought "well every luxury brand has a unique shifter design, so let's do it"
I’m considering the CX-90 or the new Honda Pilot. I love the driving dynamics and luxury features of the CX-90, but I love the looks of the Pilot. Such a tough choice.
Honda is still marking up new Pilots in my area (NYC) by about $3K over MSRP. Actually received a slight discounted offer on the 90. Check dealer pricing in your area and decide if the pricing works for you.
I know the video you are talking about and I assumed he is mistaken. The CX60 and 70 are supposed to be pretty close to the same. And at this point we know the 60 and the 90 have pretty different lengths. So I assume the 70 will also be different than the 90.
I love everything about the cx90 but anybody else underwhelmed by the 3.3 6 cylinder turbo only making 280 and 340hp?? 4 cylinder hybrids making more than that
Have you heard for sure that the CX-70 will be shorter than the CX-90? A Mazda dealer on RU-vid said maybe it will be the same length, just not have the 3rd row. That would be spectacular for me!
The CX-90 is a beautiful addition to Mazda. We have a 2016 CX-9 Signature and the reason we bought it apart the interior, was the led strip in grill and the fog lights. The whole front end looks very appealing and luxurious. Still waiting for my local dealer to get these in stock but does anyone know if the CX-90 comes with fog lights and that led strip in the grill?
I think the CX-70 will have the same engine options as the CX-90. The non-turbo is the PHEV model since it uses the 2.5L NA engine paired with electric motors.
@@PhillyFan20 my understanding is there's also a non turbo 6 cylinder. Yes, the cx90 and the 70 are very similar vehicles the 90 is slightly bigger with 3 rows options. I am under the impression that both have identical available drive trains.
G.G. There is no "non turbo inline 6". There is the Inline 6 Turbo S (340hp) and the Inline 6 Turbo (280hp). There is no Mazda literature or any rumors about Mazda making this 3.3L Inline 6 without a turbo. Just sayin'.
I love both for different reasons. However I have only driven the T8 models of the XC90 recently so I can't directly compare. CX90 is far less buggy with the software that's for sure.
When you talk about a “2 stage throttle”, that’s just kickdown. Not unusual, a lot of cars have that. When you floor it and don’t press the kickdown button, that is still full throttle. Kickdown just goes to the lowest possible gear, it doesn’t make any difference in how much the throttle opens
Refinement in regards to drivetrain smoothness and predictability. Lexus has it beat even in the 500h which isn't perfectly smooth at low RPM and low-speed tight turns. CX90 4-5k rpm is reverby and shaky WOT. I-Stop can't ever make up its mind. And the mpg calculator is crazy as I'll explain in the other review. In regards to fit and finish, it's Lexus grade if not better. In regards to materials, Lexus grade if not better.
@@curiosityredpill7030 Yeah every feature is just perfect or amazing. Actually one starts to loose attention/not trust the review review, since everything is just amazing. LOL. I was actually surprised the mention of the rough drive train. I know to keeping getting press cars one has "overlook" a few things, but this review was over the top.
i-stop is not hard to master, if you brake hard to a stop it turns off engine, if you brake lightly engine does not turn off. As for making up its mind I have no idea what you are talking about, obviously if you lift your foot off the brake pedal then engine starts. How else do you expect it to work.
MDX Type S has a better stereo (ELS) massaging seats better ambient lighting, air ride, bigger brakes, is a tick faster, etc. It also costs $70k. Comes down to what the buyer wants.
The small 48V mild Hybrid elec motor is there NOT for performance or acceleration, but to integrate between the engine and tranny to provide 1-2mpg better fuel economy. I am getting 26city, 29hwy thru my first 3 tanks of gas (premium at this point, but I will move to regular gas after a year). That is insanely good fuel mileage for a 6pax 6cyl SUV! Mine is a turbo s pp.
I am going to guess that the traditional mounting off the straight v6 gives the tires more room to turn thus improving the turning radius. Same is true with my 06 4runner which far a fantastic turning radius.
Kirk: do you think the reverb noise you experienced under acceleration is from the engine or transmission or do you think it is a resource fro the cabin?
Power brake does not make sense on this vehicle since it does not have a torque converter, it uses electronically controlled clutch packs. Most likely it doesn’t make any difference on the vehicle performance.
Kirk, as of right now, what are your thoughts on Mazda’s new 8-speed tranny? Some reviewers (Matt Maran, Thomas Majchrzak & others) call it clunky and not refined for low-speed & congested traffic conditions.
