Mazda CX-9 Azami AWD 2018 review

So this is weird, but I’m going to compare the CX-9 to ice skating. Not ice skating like I would do it, all stumbly and stop-starty, but iceskating the way it’s meant to be done. Gliding smoothly around corners, holding fast to the road, sailing along straights. Strong enough and powerful enough to go up hills swiftly. High off the road, which makes you feel safe. It’s not heavy, there’s no pull downwards while you’re trying to move forwards. This car makes you feel like you can win the championship without very much effort at all.

I particularly like the way the steering feels. In some cars this size, you feel a fair amount of stiffness at the wheel, but not in the CX-9. Despite its large turning circle of 11.8 (standard in a seven-seater), the steering was so easy that doing three-point turns and reverse parking was not an arm wrestling event. I think this is a major point, especially as parents spend half their lives trying to park outside soccer/ballet/netball/insert kids’ after-school activity here, and some large cars have stiff steering.

Driving children around every day makes you want to be in the safest car possible. The CX-9 has six airbags, with side curtain airbags extending to the back row. It's also very recently upgraded its child seat offering, with two ISOFIX points and three top tether points in the second row, plus two new top tether points in the back row, so you can fit a lot of children under five in the car, if that’s what you need to do.

All Mazda SUVs come standard with Auto Emergency Braking, which means the car will stop itself if you’re about to hit the car in front of you - and in the CX-9, behind you as well, which is a huge bonus in a car this size. It has a reverse parking camera, plus front and rear parking sensors and blind spot monitoring.

Inside, the cabin is roomy. There is a good amount of leg space in the front seats, and my 185cm husband was perfectly comfortable in both the driver and passenger seats. There’s a lot of space in between the two seats and you never feel like you’re breathing each other’s air.

In the second row, my children were completely comfortable in their car seats (they’re four and six years old), and there is always noticeably less bickering when we’re in a big car. I guess they feel the space too!

In the second row, my children were completely comfortable in their car seats. (image credit: Dean McCartney)

Climbing into the third row is easy if you’re wearing jeans and not a flowy spring dress on a really windy day in front of a camera (silly of me, I know), and sitting in the back row is quite comfortable too. I’m 162cm and quite compact, so I was happy back there, and I think children and small adults will be fine. You can move the second row seats forward and play with the space so you get the right legroom ratio for everyone involved.

The boot is quite sizeable, even with all seven seats up, there is enough room to throw school bags and groceries in. With the third row flat, it’s huge. I was able to fit everything - all the scooters and body boards, beach bags and the rest - without any trouble at all. Boot space is one of my key factors because when you’ve got a growing family, a big boot is one of the things that makes a real difference to every day.

The boot is quite sizeable, even with all seven seats up. (image credit: Dean McCartney)

Oh, practicality! The more help parents can get with the small things in life, the easier the rest of the struggle is. The CX-9 Azami comes with six cupholders, two in each row, plus six bottle holders. The doors open nice and wide for easy access. It is fairly high off the ground so my little one had a bit of trouble getting in and out, but she loved every moment of the climb.

The CX-9 Azami comes with six cupholders, two in each row, plus six bottle holders. (image credit: Dean McCartney)

An electronic driver’s seat made for easy movement to get it to my particular driving position, and I could see the front windscreen speedo display quite easily.

The girls loved having their own armrest and storage space. There is also a pocket on the back of the front seats, a centre storage bin and a spot at the front to throw your keys and phone.

You can pop the second row seats down fairly effortlessly to climb into the back row. There are no air vents back there, but the second row’s air con and tri-zone climate control is quite breezy. Still, nothing beats your own air vents. Also missing is a sunroof in the back half of the car. The sunroof is quite small for a car this size, and it’s up the front at the driver’s seat, whereas in a Pathfinder and a Santa Fe, you’ll get a large sunroof right down the back of the car to bring natural light into what can be a stuffy third row.

You can pop the second row seats down fairly effortlessly to climb into the back row. (image credit: Dean McCartney)

The Mazda CX-9 Azami costs $64,790 plus $300 for the seriously awesome 'Soul Red Crystal' paint job. For a large seven-seater, it’s a reasonably fuel-efficient car to drive and claims 8.8L/100km on a combined cycle. It comes with Mazda’s standard three year/unlimited km warranty.