By Henry Payne
(The Detroit News/TNS) — The Mazda CX-70 SUV is big. Big length at nearly 17 feet. Big weight of 4,863 pounds. Big 21-inch wheels. Big panoramic roof. Big as sibling CX-90 because CX-70 just means it has two rows compared to the 90’s three. Bigger than any other vehicle the Japanese brand has produced.
Yet CX-70 still thinks it’s a wee Miata sportscar.
Braking into a clover-leaf turn, the two-and-a-half-tonner rotated with minimal body roll. The big, leather-wrapped wheel in my hands felt rooted to the ground — encouraging me to feed more throttle until the tires began to squeal in protest. On exit, the silky, inline-6 engine roared with delight as I merged into traffic. Yup, it’s a Mazda.
Mazda’s latest ute has big ambitions to go with its big proportions. From its roots as a ZOOM ZOOM! sportscar and sedan company, Mazda has transitioned to a premium SUV maker with twin offerings in the compact and midsize segments, not unlike European luxury brands. The CX-5 and CX-50 anchor the high-volume compact segment while CX-70 and CX-90 double up in the midsize segment.
As with its offerings in the subcompact (CX-30), and compact car (Mazda3) segments, the CX-70 (as well as the three-row CX-90) offers one of the industry’s best values. Along with that Miata DNA in the handling department, the CX-70 comes loaded with standard features starting at $41,700: forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, blind-spot and rear cross-traffic warning, lane-departure warning, lane-keeping assist, front-and-rear parking sensors, adaptive cruise control, and seat eject with parachute (kidding about that last one).
Jump up to my tester’s desirable Premium trim and you’ll be showered with goodies like 21-inch wheels, pano-roof and head-up display. Yet, the Premium CX-70’s bottom line is still an impressive $47,335 — $24K south of a comparably-equipped BMW X5 XDrive 40i with similar, longitudinal inline turbo-6, eight-speed tranny and rotary instrument screen controller.
All that style even clocks in at two grand less than the hybrid Toyota Crown Signia I recently piloted with a droning CVT transmission and no head-up display.
CX-70 buyers will be flattered by the Bimmer comparison — especially the way the Mazda hangs with the German in the twisties despite being a half-foot longer. The Mazda’s bigness translates to some of the best cargo and legroom numbers in class. Value does come with some shortcomings, however.
I’ve raved about the Japanese brand’s smooth six-speed automatic trannies in the CX-5 and CX-50 models at a time when other automakers have adopted complicated eight- and 10-speed boxes for their EPA-focused mpg benefits. For CX-70/CX-90, Mazda has chosen an eight-speed and the SUVs feel hesitant — like a fawn trying out its new legs.
Floor the pedal off that highway cloverleaf and CX-70 felt uncertain, hunting for the right gear. Once engaged, the inline-6 clears its throat with an authoritative BLAAAT! (especially in SPORT mode), but the transmission is a mismatch for the I-6’s smooth power.
So is the clunky shifter. A trendy monostable design, it’s clumsy to operate with a two-step jig to get out of PARK and into REVRSE-NEUTRAL-DRIVE modes. Competitors like Toyota and VW not only have more compact shifters, but they are more intuitive. ZOOM ZOOM? ZOOM CLUNK.
BMW and Audi pioneered the remote rotary controller, and Mazda covets that luxury vibe. But Audi has abandoned the rotary to appeal to the smartphone, touchscreen generation and BMW — while maintaining its i-Drive controller — has complemented it with redundant touchscreen capability. Not Mazda.
It has stubbornly stuck with its wonky rotary. Mazda owners (my son, for example, who owns a Mazda3) learn it, but shiver when it comes to sharing the car with a spouse who must adapt to the system’s quirks.
CX-70 at least enables touchscreen commands for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone apps — a welcome nod to popular consumer tastes. But my tester still dated itself by requiring a tether for Android Auto, rather than the wireless systems of competitors.
Also wonky is the butterfly center console. I know, I know, butterfly telegraphs luxury, but in a family vehicle like CX-70, I value ease-of-access, and there’s nothing like a good ol’ pull-top console — especially when you need to attach that Android Auto USB-C wire to your phone.
It’s hard to be mad, though, when all this hardware is wrapped in Mazda’s elegant red-leather interior. Shared by subcompact siblings CX-30 and Mazda3 hatchback, this lush cabin style is one of my favorites in the industry. Mazda offers other colors, but I find rouge leather to be irr-red-sistible.
I’m not used to a Mazda having such big back seats. CX-70 siblings Mazda3 and CX-30 are cramped and the Miata, of course, has no back seat at all. But I could sit behind myself in the CX-70 with kneeroom to spare. Cargo capacity is a healthy 39.6 cubic feet with the back seat raised, and a palatial 75.3 with the seats down.
The CX-70 complements that with sub-cargo storage where the third row would otherwise be in the CX-90. Were it up to me, I’d opt for the CX-90 instead of the CX-70 (they are priced the same) because the third row comes in handy when you need to ferry people as in, say, my extended family of in-laws.
CX-70’s sub-storage is accessed via a clever, folding cargo mat, and is the right size for, say, kids’ muddy soccer shoes. But it’s still a stretch to reach from the back bumper and may go unused over the lifetime of the vehicle.
As much as I enjoy carving corners in Mazdas, midsize SUVs will ultimately be driven for long periods of time. On adaptive cruise control. On interstates. For such bus-driver chores, the Mazda is first-rate like another one of my class favorites, the Hyundai Santa Fe.
Hyundai offers multiple ways to check your blind spot and so does Mazda — from mirror-embedded triangle lights to instrument control graphics to graphics in the head-up display. I toggled driver-assist on the steering wheel and the Mazda dutifully centered in lane, even hugging long interstate corners hands-free. If Mazda still has work to do on its eight-speed tranny, the attention to digital details is welcome.
My favorite detail? A DRIVER PERSONALIZATION SYSTEM that measures height (I’m 6-foot-5, Mrs. Payne is 5-foot-5) then automatically adopts that setting depending on which of us is in the driver’s seat.
Oh, now that’s big.
2025 Mazda CX-70
Vehicle type: Front engine, all-wheel-drive, five-passenger SUV
Price: $41,700, including $1,375 destination ($47,335 Turbo S Premium as tested)
Powerplant: Turbocharged 3.3-liter, inline-6 cylinder; 2.5-liter inline-4 cylinder mated to 17.8 kWh lithium ion battery and rear electric motor
Power: 280 horsepower, 332 pound-feet of torque (turbo-6); 340 horsepower, 369 pound-feet of torque (turbo-6 S); 323 horsepower, 369 pound-feet of torque (plug-in)
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.5 seconds (Turbo-6 S, mfr.); towing, 5,000 pounds (I-6), 3,500 pounds (plug-in)
Weight: 4,863 pounds (Turbo-6 S as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA 23 mpg city/28 highway/25 combined (as tested)
Report cardÂ
Highs: Big, family-size proportions; loaded with value, standard goodies
Lows: Quirky shifter, rotary controller
Overall: 4 stars
