Ian Crawford tests the 2019 Mazda CX-9 with pricing, specs, ride and handling, safety, verdict and everything the over-50 driver needs to know.
Summary: Further refinements to noise, vibration and harshness, suspension and steering, plus new inclusions will put the new big Mazda on plenty of over-50s shopping lists.
2019 Mazda CX-9 SUV
Pricing: $44,990 (Sport, FWD) to $66,490 (Azami LE, AWD) plus on road costs (sounds like a lot for a Mazda, but actually good value)
Warranty: Five years, unlimited kilometres (that leaves just Nissan as the only major company sticking with a three year warranty)
Safety: five-star ANCAP (35.87 points out of a possible 37 points)
Engine: 2488cc turbo intercooled petrol four-cylinder
Power: 170kW @ 5000rpm
Torque: 420Nm @ 2000rpm (coming close to diesel figures)
Transmission: six-speed sequential sports shift automatic
Drive: 4×4 on-demand with electronic differential lock
Body: 5075mm (L), 1969mm (W), 1747 (H)
Tyre size: 255/50 R20
Boot capacity: 230 litres (all seats upright), 1641 litres (second and third rows folded)
Weight: 2000kg
Turning circle: 11.8 metres
Towing: 3500kg (braked)
Spare: space saver temporary (really not good enough, but becoming common)
Fuel tank: 74 litres
Thirst: 8.8L/100km (AWD, combined, 91 RON unleaded)
seniordriver consumption: 11.2L/100km (definitely not close to diesel figures)
[review]
THE SECOND-GENERATION of Mazda’s big CX-9 seven-seat SUV has been one of the segment’s most upgraded cars since its launch back in July 2016.
The biggest improvement that year was the dropping of the fairly ordinary and thirsty V6 petrol engine and its replacement by a super-slick 2.5-litre turbocharged unit with torque that gives some turbodiesels a run for their money.
There were also significant noise, vibration and harshness, or NVH, improvements and overall, the car was a vast step forward from its predecessor.
This time, even more work has gone into further refining the car’s NVH credentials, the suspension and steering have been revised and, for the first time in a Mazda model, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto have been blended into the MZD Connect infotainment system.
A latecomer to the large SUV party.
Mazda dragged its feet somewhat in developing a large SUV and when the first-generation CX-9 finally first saw the light of day in 2007, I well remember its national media launch.
My most vivid memory was a 22 L/100km fuel consumption figure for the naturally aspirated V6 on one leg of the drive program and the other was how noisy the cabin was. It wasn’t an auspicious introduction.
For the latest version, there were extensive upgrades in August 2017 and then in September last year, there were still more and they’ve all contributed to making the CX-9 one of the classiest, most-refined, safest- and best-equipped players in the large SUV arena.
Listening to customer complaints.
To Mazda’s credit, the company – unlike some of its competition – takes notice of customer, dealer and motoring-media criticism and has a history of doing something about it.
For instance, NVH has not been one of the brand’s strong points in recent years but the latest iteration of the big SUV confirms how much work has gone into the current-generation CX-9, even in its short two-year existence.
The company’s long-standing three-year/100,000km warranty was also widely criticised by the motoring media as not keeping up with current expectations. Mazda listened and a few months back it went from three to five years, with unlimited kilometres.
A new range-topping variant.
Along with the upgrades of September 2018, a new range-topping variant – the Azami LE – was added to the existing Sport, Touring, GT and Azami family.
All except the new Azami LE are available in both front- and all-wheel-drive.
For this review, we went for the one with the lot – the luxurious Azami LE. After the Azami (30 percent), Mazda expects the GT will command 27 percent of total CX-9 sales, with Touring coming in at 25 percent with Sport and Azami LE doing just 10 percent and 8 percent respectively.
What does it cost?
The front-wheel drive Sport opens the batting at $44,990, followed by the front-wheel drive Touring at $51,390, the $59,390 front-wheel drive GT, the $60,990 front-wheel drive Azami and the all-wheel drive-only Azami LE tops things off at $66,490.
All-wheel drive adds $4000 to the non-LE variants.
Generous standard equipment.
Across the range, the CX-9 family’s standard-kit menus are extremely generous, but the LE’s shopping list really does make seriously impressive reading.
Goodies include a windscreen-projected active driving display, a tyre-pressure monitoring system, Mazda’s MZD Connect infotainment system, an eight-inch colour touch screen, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, satellite navigation, a classy-looking frameless internal rear-vision mirror, power windows and exterior mirrors and front fog lights.
Also standard is leather trim, rain-sensing wipers, remote keyless entry, and a premium Bose 294 watt audio system with 12 speakers including a sub-woofer, a DAB+ digital radio, three-zone climate-control air-conditioning, 20-inch alloy wheels shod with 255/50 tyres, a slide-and-tilt sunroof and a remote powered tailgate.
The electronic driver-aids menu is equally impressive, with radar cruise control with a stop-and-go function, smart brake support, lane-departure warning, a lane-keep-assist system, traffic-sign recognition, high-beam control, smart city brake support (forward and reverse), blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and driver-attention alert.
The list goes on and includes front-seat ventilation, a 360-degree view monitor, an instrument-panel-mounted seven-inch multi-information metre display, a heated steering wheel and a windscreen de-icer. During our fortnight with the LE, we (and the car) had to contend with several 40-degree-plus days and those ventilated seats were just wonderful.
The usual classy Mazda interior.
While all Mazdas are blessed with pretty classy interiors, the LE takes things to a whole new luxurious level.
The front seats are beautifully shaped and supportive with plenty of bolstering and the driver’s seat has a two-position memory function and 10-way power adjustment.
Combined with a height- and reach-adjustable multi-function heated leather-wrapped steering wheel, the result is the perfect driving position can be dialled up in just a matter of seconds.
For the 2017/2018 Christmas/New Year period last year, I spent two weeks in Victoria in the front-wheel-drive CX-9 Touring and an extensive mix of city, suburban and country roads as well as freeways contributed to a thorough test program and made for an interesting comparison this year in the new Azami LE.
Our various drives included a trip from Melbourne to Benalla and other trips from Melbourne to Euroa and from Melbourne to Terip Terip, on the Strathbogie Ranges, west of Alexandra and south of Euroa.
For 27 years we ran a 129-hectare sheep and cattle property at Terip Terip, about two hours north of Melbourne, so it’s an area we know well.
It offers drivers a wide selection of road conditions – good-and-bad bitumen (much of it dangerously narrow) and gravel roads that for much of the time would welcome the sight of a grader.
While most of the time it’s hard to pick the difference between the FWD CX-9s and their all-wheel drive siblings, the Azami LE’s AWD system and its sure-footedness certainly stood out on some of these pretty ordinary country gravel roads.
The big Mazda rides on a MacPherson strut front suspension system and a multi-link rear set-up and stopping power is delivered via 320mm x 28mm ventilated front discs and 325mm x 11mm solid discs at the rear.
Suspension upgrades include reduced damper friction, new urethane top mounts for the rear dampers and new rebound springs for the front-and-rear dampers.
More refinement has been achieved by the adoption of new vertical-spring characteristics for the engine mounts.
A full complement of safety equipment, too.
The CX-9 continues to boast a five-star ANCAP safety rating and in fact it scored an impressive 35.87 out of a possible 37 points during its 2017 test program.
Standard safety kit includes dual front, front-side and full-length curtain airbags, ABS brakes and electronic stability control, rear-parking sensors with a rear-vision camera and rear cross-traffic alert, radar cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, sub-80km/h autonomous emergency braking (for the first time) that includes pedestrian detection. It also works in reverse.
A big SUV with plenty of space.
There’s no doubting that the CX-9 is a hugely practical seven-seat family SUV. Pop the second and third row of seats out of the way and you have delivery van-like capability.
With the third-row seats upright, there’s still 230 litres of luggage space. Fold them flat and this rises to 810 litres.
Drop the seat backs of both the second and third row seats and this becomes a cavernous 1641litres with a cargo length of 2158mm and a width of 1489mm. Fitting pushbikes, golf clubs, Ikea flat packs, walking frames and any amount of other luggage in here will be no problem at all.
As well, there are plenty of cup holders, door pockets, a console bin and a good-sized glove box for a family’s bits and pieces.
Plenty to like. Some things, not so much.
All cars have things we motoring journalists like and they all have things we’re not so enthused about.
In the case of the Azami LE (and all its CX-9 siblings), at last there is a five-year warranty and it’s hard not to like all that lovely torque.
The surefootedness the AWD system delivers on gravel and wet roads adds enormously to driver confidence and it’s good that Apple CarPlay and Android Auto now standard.
Another huge plus is the spectacular level of standard kit found in the LE and while $66,490 (plus on roads) might sound a lot for a Mazda, it’s actually remarkable value for money.
On the negative side, space-saver spares are not really at home in Australian conditions, the MZD Connect still too fiddly, there are no third-row air vents (something that really should be fitted to all seven-seat SUVs sold in Australia), the third-row pews really only suitable for kids (although this is hardly a failing exclusive to the Mazda) and an 11.8-metre turning circle can be a frustration around town.
Summary.
Not content to sit on its laurels, Mazda has come up with a beautifully built and finished range-topping SUV with an interior that wouldn’t be out of place on something with a fancy European badge.
It is spectacularly equipped and extremely safe.
While the exceptional 420Nm of torque is diesel-like, its good-for-a-petrol-engine fuel consumption can’t match it with a turbo-diesel.
I wrote in last year’s review of the FWD Touring, the CX-9 “… like a good wine, has improved with age.”
That still holds true but a year on, the wine is now even better.
* Toyota has announced that it, too, is now offering a five year warranty on all new vehicles, unlimited kilometres for private vehicles and capped to 160,000km for commercial vehicles. Volkswagen and Subaru introduced a five year warranty for vehicles sold after 1 January, 2019