Mazda CX-70 vs Denza B5

What's the difference?

For mine, the CX-70 is the pick of Mazda's premium SUV range, and if you can survive without a third row of seats, it's significantly cheaper than its CX-90 twin, too.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

The Denza B5 Leopard PHEV is an impressive five-seat premium-style 4WD wagon: it’s reasonably nice to drive, it’s comfortable and it’s a capable 4WD and word on the tracks is that a new software update is set to make it even more of an effective off-roader.

It doesn’t offer the level of fuel economy you’d hope for, and there are issues with elements of its driver-assist tech suite – some of which are jarring and over-reactive – but the B5 looks and feels like a premium 4WD and represents decent value for money, especially when cross-shopped against something like a new-generation Prado.

Yes, the Mazda premium SUV range can look a little same-same, but Mazda insists there are critical differences.

That said, if you can immediately spot the difference between the CX-70 and CX-90 without taking a peek inside, you're doing better than me, given it is the same exact dimensions as Mazda's three-row flagship.

Sure, Mazda talks about things like this design being a “passion pursuer” that serves up "dignified performance” – all of which sounds utterly ridiculous – but the less marketing-speak version is that it looks like a shapely large SUV that ditches the boxy dimensions of a proper 4WD for a more sleek and swooping profile.

Inside, it's a plush and premium-feeling space, with lovely cabin materials, plenty of tech, and plenty of space.

It’s easy to immediately pick up on the B5’s plethora of design cues: it wears with pride its old-school 4WD influences – not the least of which is its blocky, straight-up-and-down profile – mixed in new-gen looks.

All-round this 4WD wagon might be considered an affectionate homage to the likes of the Toyota Prado (aka 250 Series).

The B5 sports roof rails, a sunroof and 20-inch alloy wheels.

Whatever you see when you look at the B5, at least it’s not generic or boring.

And that non-boring impression continues inside…

The B5’s interior is premium-looking and -feeling and it also features quirky touches, such as the crystal-look buttons including a ruby-red start-stop button, and enough leather-accented surfaces and brushed-metal-type sections to keep you intrigued.

Though the dash may be a confusion of buttons and controls, on- and off-screen, the whole she-bang is superficially impressive.

Case in point: the auto shifter lowers and self-stows away in the centre console when the car is switched off and rises for use when the car is switched on. Neat.

It’s on a par in design terms with rivals, such as the Prado.

The CX-70 measures a substantial 5120mm long, 1994mm wide, and 1745mm tall, and it rides on a 3120mm wheelbase.

It will tow 2.5 tonnes no matter which engine you choose, and the expansive boot will swallow between 589 litres and 2015 litres, depending on how you configure the backseat.

All of that space translates to a hugely airy backseat experience, with the second row able to be fixed in a position that either prioritises leg room or boot space.

With the former, you've got tons of space in the second row. I'm 175cm, and my knee and leg room was ample, with only the intrusive tunnel that runs down the middle-centre of the cabin eating into leg room for the middle passenger.

There are also air vents and temp controls, twin USB charge ports, seat heating in the window seats and swathes of very nice materials.

The boot is massive, too. I can't even reach the back of the rear seats when I lean into it, and Mazda says it will swallow smaller surfboard or SUPs without needing to resort to roof racks.

Under-floor storage adds a bit more security for precious items, too.

The B5’s cabin is plush, spacious, and comfortable.

The driver’s seat is eight-way power adjustable (plus four-way adjustable lumbar support), while the front passenger seat is six-way power adjustable.

As mentioned earlier, all seats are Nappa leather-accented.

The B5’s luxury-style interior, also as mentioned, includes nifty touches, such as crystal-look buttons being the most obvious, and an auto shifter auto that stows away in the centre console when the car is switched off and rises, ready for use, when the car is switched on. 

Elsewhere the dash and centre console is, at first, a confusion of buttons and controls, on-screen and off. But you soon get sort of used to all of it.

The second row is a 60:40 split-fold split and it has a flip-down control console rather than a basic centre armrest with cupholders.

The rear cargo area has four tie-down points and volume is listed as 470L (with the second row up and in use) and 1064 litres with the second row stowed away.

The Denza B5 Leopard PHEV is available in two specs: entry-level B5 and top-spec B5 Leopard, which is the subject of this test. The Leopard has a recommended retail price of $79,990 (excluding on-road costs), while the regular B5 is $74,990.

Standard features in the Leopard include a 15.6-inch touchscreen multimedia system (with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), a 12.3-inch driver instrument cluster, surround-view cameras, hydraulic adaptive suspension, 16 driving modes, and front and rear diff locks.

The Leopard has Nappa leather-accented seats.

The B5 and its bigger stablemate, the B8, mark the debut of Denza’s Dual Mode Off-road (DMO) hybrid 4x4 architecture, consisting of the plug-in hybrid powertrain, which umbrellas a Blade battery, twin electric motors, and turbocharged four-cylinder engine – but more on that later.

Also of note is the fact that this B5’s 31.8kWh battery supports Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) functionality/capability, which means you can power your camping gear (lights, fridge, karaoke juke box etc.).

Eclipse Black paint is standard. Optional paint choices – including Alpine White, Juniper Green, Glacier Blue, Granite Grey and Leopard Gold – each costs an extra $1500 (including an interior colour-scheme and materials to match).

It’s more impressive in the value-for-money stakes than something like the new-generation Toyota Prado, which will set you back upwards of $100,000 for an Altitude or Kakadu spec.

You can have one of two engines in the CX-70, with the cheapest being a 3.3-litre, six-cylinder turbo-petrol, producing 254kW and 500Nm. There's also a 3.3-litre, six-cylinder turbo-diesel, making 187kW and 550Nm. Both are equipped with a 48-volt mild hybrid system to marginally reduce fuel use.

All models are AWD, and pair with an eight-speed automatic transmission.

The B5 has a 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine, a 31.8kWh battery and an electric motor on each axle (front: 200kW/360Nm, rear: 285kW/400Nm) – and that combination all-up produces total outputs of 400kW and 760Nm.

The Leopard has a CVT, low-range 4WD gearing, as well as a front and rear diff lock.

The Denza B5 has 16 selectable drive modes: daily drive modes (Comfort, Eco and Sport), as well as terrain modes (Snow, Sand, Mud, Mountain, Rock, Intelligent, Creep, Wading, Sport+, Custom, Burst, Climbing, Tug-of-War (towing), L Function (low-range 4WD), and Leopard Turn, which is the B5’s equivalent of the Tank Turn, where it brakes the inside rear wheel during tight, low-speed off-road turns, reducing the turning radius, and so enabling the B5 to navigate a particularly tight turn.

Petrol-powered cars will sip 8.1L/100km on the combined cycle, while the diesel drops that to 5.4 litres.

Both models get a 74-litre tank, meaning a theoretical driving range of around 900kms in the petrol, and almost 1400kms in the diesel.

The 31.8kWh battery provides up to 100km of electric-only driving and supports 100kW DC fast-charging.

Official combined fuel consumption is 3.9L/100km and the B5 runs on regular unleaded fuel (91).

Official fuel consumption is 10.9L/100km when state of charge is lower than 25 per cent.

On this test, I recorded 10.2L/100km.

The B5 has a 83-litre fuel tank so, going by my fuel figures, you could expect a total driving range of about 900km out of a full tank and a full charge.
 

Interestingly, the CX-70 has been tagged as the expected smallest seller of Mazda's premium SUV range, but I reckon it just might be the pick of the bunch.

Every one of the CX-0 models (60, 70, 80 and 90) all get slightly different suspension tunes, and while you can find harsh edges in the other models, the CX-70 feels utterly composed and refined, at least on the smooth-ish roads of our launch test route.

Perhaps most surprising, though, is the CX-70's ability to hold its own on a properly twisting road. We expected lots of weight transfer and the high-pitched sounds of tyres screaming out in pain, but instead found Mazda's massive SUV served up grip, composure, and very little in the way of sea-swell-style body roll.

The two big six-cylinder engines also feel perfectly suited to a vehicle in this space. There's tons of power whenever you need it, and solid levels of refinement in terms of engine noise or diesel rattles.

For mine, the petrol engine is the pick though, feeing just a little smoother than the diesel option. The latter can feel a bit jerky at slower speeds, whether that's the power delivery or the gearbox, and it doesn't seem to happen with the petrol engine.

The biggest caveat, though, is that we haven't driven the CX-70 in its natural environment, the city and suburbs, so while it largely shone on flowing country roads, how it performs on roads like the ones near your place remains a bit of a mystery.

The B5 Leopard is 4921mm long (with a 2800mm wheelbase), 1970mm wide, 1930mm high. It has a listed kerb weight of 3007kg and a 11.8m turning circle. 

Yep, so it’s not insubstantial. But it doesn’t feel unwieldy to drive.

On road, there’s a lot to like about the B5: it's comfortable, refined and composed and it has such a premium feel about it that it really is a top spot in which to spend a lot of time, on road trips, day-to-day driving or long road trips – it's very impressive.

Denza reckons the B5 is capable of doing the 0-100km/h sprint in 4.8 seconds but, while I did admittedly check out the B5’s impressive acceleration in short bursts, I didn’t try to prove or disprove that 0-100km/h claim.

On dirt tracks the B5’s suspension – double wishbone independent and coil springs – yields a firm and jittery ride over minor irregularities in the track but otherwise it’s mostly controlled

Off-road, the separate body-on-ladder chassis B5 has up its metal sleeve an effective combination of mechanical low-range 4WD on the rear axle, electronic torque vectoring at front, diff locks front and rear, and well-calibrated off-road traction control.

This plug-in hybrid optimises a combination of driver-assist technology – including 16 drive modes with the bulk of those designed for off-road scenarios – and with nicely dialled-in off-road traction control and mechanical diff locks on-board it is formidable in most off-road situations.

In action, all of those modes adjust vehicle systems, throttle, and engine output to give the driver the best chance possible of getting safely through every off-road challenge.

And it does a bloody good job of it. 

The B5 tackled our steep rock-step test with ease there's plenty of torque available and again that off-road traction control system is well calibrated, sharp and precise in its application.

Off-road angles on this vehicle are also on the right side of good and the fact that the Leopard has hydraulic-adjustable suspension to suit each driving mode is also a handy feature because you can maximise those off-road angles – approach, departure and ramp-over – as well as ground clearance.

In fact, you can set ground clearance anywhere between 220mm and 310mm and that means you have greater flexibility in terms of what you can drive, how you can drive, how severe an obstacle you can tackle and how safe you are while doing that.

This plug-in hybrid works through a continuously variable transmission (CVT) and it works well in this vehicle, in this package. It's clever, smooth and seamless in its operation 

Another bonus is the B5’s off-road/360-degree cameras, which actually offer a decent image rather than the muddy, fish-eye view of some other on-board camera systems.

Now for the flaws.

There’s little to no wheel travel; there’s not a lot of stretch to those wheels when the height-adjustable suspension is maxed out at its top point – in Crawl mode – so you are sacrificing that. 

The B5’s tyres (Pirelli Scorpion Elect SUV tyres – 275/55R20) are marketed as “all weather” tyres but they're not suited to four-wheel driving of any great difficulty.

If you’re thinking about using your B5 as an off-road tourer, get rid of the showroom-standard tyres and replace them with more aggressive all-terrains. 

Payload in the Leopard is 490kg (600kg in the standard B5).

In terms of towing capacity: the B5 Leopard is rated to tow 750kg unbraked, and 3000kg braked. GVM is 3497kg, while GCM is 6232kg.

The B5 is a very effective 4WD wagon: smooth and comfortably capable.

There are some issues with the driver-assist tech, but that's mostly limited to its on-road behaviour – it can be intrusive and preemptive in its application – but the driver-assist tech, which relates to off-road performance, is impressive. 

We eagerly await a full-blown software update that will further improve the B5’s off-road efficacy.

The Denza B5 Leopard PHEV has the maximum five-star ANCAP rating from testing in 2025.

As standard, it has 11 airbags (curtain, front, side, knee and centre airbags) and a comprehensive suite of driver-assist tech including AEB, adaptive cruise control, tyre pressure monitoring, a 360-degree around-view camera, as well as front and rear collision warning, and front cross traffic alert.

On a par with more expensive rivals, then.

Servicing is not particularly cheap in the CX-70, and the service intervals, at least in the diesel, feel a little short, too.

Buy that one, and you’ll be visiting the dealership every 12 months or 10,000kms, and the first five years of ownership will cost you $3298.

Petrol cars require servicing every 12 months or 15,000kms, and five years will set you back $3436.

The CX-70 is also covered by Mazda's five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty.

The Denza B5 Leopard PHEV is covered by a six-year/150,000km warranty. 

The B5’s 31.8kWh battery has an eight year/160,000km warranty.

The first service is scheduled at six months/3500km; the rest of the servicing appointments are set for every 12 months/20,000km.

Total cost is $3220 (plus GST) via five-year capped-price servicing.

That puts it on a par with more expensive rivals.