Mazda realized at some point that if you want to be recognized as a quality car manufacturer your cars had to go above and beyond the competition. True, the MX-5 Miata has always been an amazing little sports car that millions of drivers have learned to truly push their limits in, but the rest of the pack has been…meh. Decent, but somewhat uninspiring. However, the current crop of Mazdas are the best cars they’ve ever produced and the new CX-70 is no exception. The CX-70 isn’t actually entirely new. It’s simply a CX-90 without the tiny third-row seating.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it’s been said, and we got a lot of conflicting opinions on the CX-70’s styling. Though a little slab-sided, I really liked the clean flowing lines of it. Others, however, shared with me that they didn’t care for it. When pressed, no one could elaborate as to why they didn’t like it. They just didn’t. Maybe it’s the color. The Zircon Sand Metallic seemed to divide people. I’m not sure I’ve driven a car that split people’s opinions so much. Personally, I think it’s sharp. The grille is smaller than the old CX-90 and the chrome accents around the grille give it a sense of flight. The fender badges hint at some aerodynamic-ness. The thin A-pillar, the thick D-pillar, and the blacked out B- and C-pillars make for a graceful and strong looking arch. There’s a sense of strength in the design, coupled with aerodynamic styling.
This example being the top-most trim level, the interior was gorgeous. Rich brown leathers, rough alcantara across the dash, beautiful screens with rich graphics, dark woods, and chrome-trimmed knobs and switches make for a beautiful cockpit. Controls are easy to find and understand. Seats are heated and ventilated. The second row of seats are equally inviting and just as comfortable. And there’s plenty of storage space in the back since there’s no third row of seating. Higher trim level cars are just beautiful inside. It almost sells the car by itself.
But then there’s the powertrain. Mazda’s (relatively) new 3.3L turbocharged inline-6 is a strong, smooth beautiful engine that I immediately wanted to transplant in my Miata. Making 340 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque, it provides strong acceleration at every point in the rev range and makes passing simple, safe, and easy. It’s been a long time since Mazda designed anything other than a 4-cylinder for their cars and it’s a gem. Hooked to an 8-speed automatic that distributes the power to all four wheels, it provides lots of torque and wheelbarrows full of smoothness. It’s rated for pulling 5,000 lbs of trailer towing, which is impressive.
Using Mazda’s SkyActive technology, which hones each piece of the powertrain to it’s most efficient utilization, you’ll occasionally notice that the tach drops to “0” when coasting. Yes, instead of burning fuel while coasting, the CX-70 will shut down for the second or two that it’s not needed and turn back on when it is. You don’t feel it operating in the background at all. If you don’t watch tach, you’d never know it was happening.
The most amazing thing about the CX-70 is the vault-like quietness inside when you’re driving. Very little wind or tire noise comes through, keeping the cabin quiet and stress free. It feels like it’s a single piece rather than manufactured from 20,000 little pieces. There’s no creaking, no squeaking, no flexing – it just feels solid and well-built. Like it will last forever.
All the controls work exactly as you’d expect, and as intuitively as Mazda could make it. Many, many years ago Mazda utilized the marketing tag line “It Just Feels Right.” While most Mazdas lived up to that tag line, the CX-70 exceeds the average and exemplifies it. EVERYTHING feels right about the CX-70. Every time I climbed into it and pulled the door closed, the quietness gave me a sense of calm and peace that I found so inviting.
The Maserati Grecale Modena that we just reviewed was a fun SUV to drive, but the less-expensive Mazda had luxury features that the Maserati didn’t. And while it wasn’t as quick as the Grecale, the CX-70 wasn’t far behind.
The CX-70 is rated at 23 mpg in city driving and 28 mpg on the highway, for an average of 25 mpg. Not great but not bad either. Commuting with it every day for a week and running errands in it, I used one tankful of fuel. Mind you, it’s a larger tank – 23 gal? – but I used 19 gallons for all that running around and driving, which for an SUV isn’t bad at all.
While we tend to focus on higher end cars and SUV’s here at GTSpirit.com, I thought the CX-70 was worth sharing. For a $60,000 SUV, it’s a mature SUV that impressed the heck out of me.
Performance: 6
Handling: 6
Design: 6
Interior: 8
Infotainment: 7
Sound: 5
Fun: 5
Overall: 6
