Mazda CX-60 PHEV test: the brand’s first plug-in hybrid is a spacious, comfortable and luxurious 4×4 SUV for five

It’s amazing that so many years after the brand introduced us to the Ko-Do philosophy in Milan, with the Shinari Concept, Mazda remains true to its principles, both on the outside and under the hood. And if not, take a look at this first test of the Mazda CX-60 PHEV, the brand’s first plug-in hybrid, which is a spacious, comfortable and luxurious 4×4 SUV for five people.

I say this because in that 2010! The foundations were already established for how that radiator grille with a heptagonal grille from which a fluidity of lines would be born that tried to “capture the movement before it occurs, as in a feline on the prowl for its prey” was going to be released by the Mazda 3 and determine everything in the rest of the cars in its catalog for almost a decade. Not bad, right?

I admit that at that time those phrases were somewhat pretentious to me, as was the warning that the Japanese brand was not going to follow the electrification fever so quickly and was going to continue betting on thermal engines until 2025, at least, without rule out its gradual incursion into this field in which many others were already beginning to push very hard.

Well, it’s fun to have experienced all this in the first person and to appreciate in due measure the arrival of the protagonist of this test: the Mazda CX-60 PHEV, the brand’s first plug-in hybrid -and the second model with a zero label- after the launch of the Mazda MX-30 electric SUV – and that we have already had the opportunity to drive around Estoril, in Portugal.

design and interior

From the outside we already knew it, but naturally it has a greater magnetism: it doesn’t seem as big as it really is, with a body that measures 4,745 mm long, 1,890 mm wide and 1,680 mm high, but it is somewhat monolithic, due to to the geometry of its LED lights, its muscular waist and a rear that flees from those coupé lines so fashionable in today’s SUVs.

They tell us there that everything responds to an evolution of the Ko-Do concept in a model whose visual objective is to convey a “noble solidity” based on the Japanese concept of Ma, which is “the serene and majestic beauty of empty space, intertwined with the solidity of a typical SUV architecture, with front engine and rear wheel drive” with torque distribution also on the front axle.

This, by force, has to play in favor of habitability. In fact, like this, without folding down the seats, the trunk is 570 liters including the lower compartment; with them folded, 1,148 liters (and 1,726 liters if the vehicle is loaded from floor to ceiling). The brand says that the tailgate opening has increased to 1,082 mm (35 mm more than in the Mazda CX-5), with a height of 758 mm.

In the rear seats, the Mazda CX-60 offers 1,441 mm for the shoulders, while in front they are 1,504 mm (50 and 44 mm more, respectively, in relation to the CX-5). In total, it is homologated for five seats, but apparently later the possibility of ordering the new CX-60 with seven seats will come.

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Already at the wheel, it must be recognized that the main lines of the dashboard are quite sober, but they exude quality and good finishes. In fact, nothing here is casual and its creators tell us that they want to combine a certain sportiness with elegance, which here is also peppered with robustness, technology and luxury in pleasant but very simple forms.

They may be simple for lovers of the technological displays of other cars with premium aspirations, but three areas for the instrumentation are soon recognizable: 12.3″ TFT-LCD screen behind the steering wheel; Head Up Display on the windshield and central screen for for 12.3″ infotainment and security (also controlled by physical buttons on the transmission tunnel).

Special care has also been taken in the selection of materials, a fact that although it is already noticeable in this pre-series of our test -in Soul Red Crystal, although it will also be available in Jet Black, Deep Crystal Blue, Sonic Silver, Platinum Quartz, Arctic White , Rhodium White, Machine Grey-, we will still have to taste the top finishes.

In fact, in this section it must be taken into account that the access route is called the Prime-line, while the intermediate one is called the Exclusive-line and the two highest, the Takumi and the Homura -both can be completed, in turn , with the optional Driver Assistance, Convenience & Sound, Panoramic sunroof and Comfort packages.

This is how your engine works and these are its benefits

Built on the RWD platform, the Mazda CX-60 will be available mid-year with the 3.3-liter six-cylinder e-Skyactiv Micro-Hybrid Diesel (MHEV) engine, while production of the Micro-Hybrid Gasoline (MHEV) 3.0-litre six-cylinder e-Skyactive X will start in 2023.

But the one that we have already been able to test is the CX-60 PHEV. It is a plug-in hybrid mechanic consisting of a 2.5-cylinder e-Skyactiv gasoline engine plus an electric 129 kW engine -equivalent to 173 CV, which, combined, provide a total power of 327 CV and 500 Nm, a acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.8 seconds and a limited top speed of 200 km/h.

And everything, associated with an 8-speed automatic gearbox and a transmission system that allows this rear-wheel drive SUV to become a 4×4 thanks to the continuous transfer of torque that it can make to the front axle depending on the needs that the circumstances require at all times.

The 17.8 kWh lithium-ion battery allows you an extra push on the go, as well as a range in electric mode of between 63 (combined cycle) and 68 km (urban) if you do not exceed 100 km/h . As the PHEV that it is, it is charged with the rotation of the thermal engine, regenerative braking and with external power (with type 2 from 0-100% in 2 h and 20 min, with a maximum AC power of 7.2 kW).

dynamic behavior

At the wheel it is difficult not to take the ideal position well with the number of settings it offers, in addition to an automatic system that suggests the best parameters, memorizes them and then places them by facial recognition. When you press the starter button, the first thing you notice is a great and intended structural rigidity, which is accentuated by an excessively stiff steering.

That is why at high speeds and on winding roads it can be appreciated, but considering that it is a car that you should be able to get a lot out of in the city, due to its PHEV status and its zero label (63 km go a long way), well it should soften in this regard, at least, in Normal and all-electric (EV) mode of the five it has in total.

In the Sport, the extra response of the engine is barely noticeable in the mountains due to its weight, but it is true that the fact that the all-wheel drive prevails over the rear is a plus in behavior, just like in the Off-Road and Towing (to take it fully loaded or with a trailer), modes in which this optimized distribution of torque between the axles is further supported by traction control.

For the rest, what we have clear after this first test of the Mazda CX-60 PHEV is that it is an eminently spacious and comfortable car for five seats (we’ll see how the seven feel if they finally offer them), somewhat lazy but with Greater skills than expected for off-road and with the extra cost of plug-in hybrids.

Price/Rivals

Its starting price is around 50,000 euros (52,268 euros). This means that it does not intend to compete with other more general and basic C-segment wide SUVs, such as the Renault Arkana, for example, which start at almost half the money, but instead aspires to rub shoulders with others that are much more premium in size. engines, technology, qualities and equipment.

In this way, although with a somewhat more refined and exclusive character than off-road, it could be more similar to the hybrid versions of the Toyota Grandland than to the RAV-4, and, for glamour, engines, dimensions and performance halfway between the Koreans. Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sorento… and the equivalent Audi Q5 or BMW X5, with much higher base prices.