2018 Mazda CX-9 vs 2020

What's the difference?

The CX-9 is big – too big for my little family. Yep, a CX-5 SUV would be better suited to us. But, nobody’s ever complained about too much room, and our Touring fit all of our gear and performed well during its holiday week with us - easy to pilot through the city despite its size and effortless on the highway with excellent fuel economy over the whole trip. Sure, the ride became a bit ‘jiggly’ on the backroads and this grade doesn’t have adaptive cruise control, but the great points far outweigh those few drawbacks.

Mazda asks a lot of money here at the top of the range, but a Toyota Kluger Grande costs more and isn't anywhere near as economical, nice to drive, or to look at.

The unique blend of a turbo petrol four-cylinder and devastatingly good looks, along with the kind of driving and riding experience that puts a smile on your face, make it a winner.

There is little wrong with the CX-9 Azami but really, you get most of the truly useful stuff in the GT and, if you're less fussy, the taller-tyred Touring. But at the same time, if you do choose this variant, you won't feel like you've failed to get your money's worth.

In other words, four years after launch, the big Mazda is holding up very nicely indeed.

Could that be the world’s largest grille? Even by Mazda standards it’s big, but it suits the brand’s flagship SUV perfectly. Sure, the headlights seem a little too small for its face and the same can be said for the taillights and the rear of the car, but this is a stunning-looking SUV that has plenty of presence without going over the top.

Stepping up to the Touring grade gives that grille shiny teeth, too – chrome-look blades, while the Sport grade has black-coloured horizontal elements which look pretty ordinary. The Touring also has LED fog-lights.

How big is the CX-9? Seriously big – look at the dimensions: 5075mm end to end, 1969mm across and 1747mm tall. That’s longer than a Toyota LandCruiser Prado. Will it fit into your garage/parking space?

The Toyota Kluger is 210mm shorter at 4865mm long, a bit narrower at 1925mm wide and almost the same height at 1730mm tall.

Something smaller? Well the Kia Sorento is a 4780mm in length, 1890mm wide and 1690 high. Hyundai’s Santa Fe is 4700mm bumper to bumper and the Skoda Kodiaq is just a hair’s width less.

The Touring’s cabin is premium feeling with its leather upholstery and big display. This is a well-finished cockpit with a higher quality feel than all of its rivals except the Kodiaq.

I still find the CX-9 strikingly pretty, four years after I first drove it. Big cars like this are hard to make attractive while also delivering on the seven-seat promise, but a clever mix of detailing, effective concealing of its true size and the simplest interpretation of Mazda's Kodo design language really delivers.

Nothing has changed for 2020 looks-wise, apart from the new 20-inch wheels, and that's quite all right by me.

The cabin is huge and, given how much glass there is to work with, unusually light for a Mazda. The materials are well thought through and the new leather on the seats is very pleasant.

There is a huge amount of space in here, obviously, but nobody got lazy in the design studio - there's nothing clunky or out of place. Even the wood surround on the centre console is acceptable, and it's probably not real wood, so that's okay. The metallic finishes keep things nice to look at and the judicious use of chrome means none of it looks cheap.

The CX-9 is a seven-seat SUV, and while its third row is one of the very few that even I (at 191cm tall) can sit almost comfortably in, those back two seats really are for kids or small adults.

Climbing into those third-row seats is easier now, with the second row able to tilt further forward and the seat itself is easier to slide and tilt, too. That's part of the 2018 update.

Legroom in the second row is excellent. I can sit behind my driving position with about 10cm to spare between my knees and the seat-back.

Storage throughout the cabin is well considered. The centre console storage bin with its double-door lid is big and the Touring has a fold down rear armrest with storage and USB ports - that'll keep the kids happy. There’s also six cupholders (two up front, two in the middle and another pair in the back) and bottle holders in all the doors.

The CX-9’s boot has an 810 litre (VDA) cargo capacity with the third row folded flat. The Kluger can only manage a luggage capacity of 529 litres.

I had thought that with only three of us the CX-9 was going to be way too big but - as you can see from my bad photos - we could have done with more boot space.

The CX-9 does have an elevated ride height – it’s ground clearance is 222mm, which is higher than most SUVs. My toddler is at the age where he wants to get in and out of a car on his own, but that height proved a challenge for him and we did have one spill where he took the quick way down.

With all three rows in use, you start with 230 litres of boot space, or about the same as the CX-3. Fold down the third row and you get a startling 810 litres. Mazda doesn't offer a figure for all the seats down, but it's going to be a big one.

You're well set for cupholders, with a total of six spread across the three rows. Each of the doors will hold a bottle, too, for a total of four.

The third row has always been reasonably accessible for kids and nimble adults, but now it's easier to escape with a new lever to flip the middle row, just in case you've forgotten someone/trapped them in there.

Middle-row passengers get a very good deal, with plenty of room in each direction, including plenty of foot space under the front seats.

The CX-9 Azami AWD is the zenith of the CX-9, coming in at $69,303, $2543 more than the MY19. The FWD version is $64,893, with our luxury car tax doing weird things to the pricing.

New for 2020, the G Vectoring Plus system adds brake-based torque vectoring, while there's also a new Off-road Traction Assist mode on AWD models , which have also all got auto-hold on them now.

On the new Azami you get 20-inch alloy wheels, a 12-speaker stereo, multi-zone climate control, around-view cameras, reversing camera, keyless entry and start, front and rear parking sensors, active cruise control, electric heated and ventilated front seats, sat nav, active LED headlights with auto high beam, auto wipers, heated front windscreen, new high-spec Nappa leather seats, power tailgate and a space-saver spare.

One of the interesting things to note as I jumped back in time was just how obsolete the old MZD Connect looks and feels compared to the new one in the 3 and CX-30. The hardware feels a bit clunky (and you can use it as a touchscreen when stationary), but it's really showing its age now there's a new one. It's still okay, though, and better than anything compatriot Toyota has dreamt up. It also has both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay as well as DAB+ radio.

There’s only one engine in the range – it’s a 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol and even though that’s small and the all-wheel drive CX-9 is pretty heavy at almost two tonnes its output of 170kW and 420Nm is more than enough grunt.

No manual gearboxes here – just a six-speed automatic transmission, but it’s a smooth shifter that is keen to be playful and responsive in Sport mode.

Mazda's SkyActiv 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbo drives the CX-9 along with 170kW and 420Nm. In the AWD it, obviously, drives all four wheels via Mazda's own six-speed transmission. 

It's just as well all that torque is on board because the CX-9's kerb weight is a chunky 2006kg. Towing capacity is rated at 750kg unbraked and 2000kg braked.

Mazda says the fuel consumption of the CX-9 all-wheel drive is 8.8L/100km after a mix of open and urban roads. On our little family holiday from inner Sydney to Jervis Bay and back we covered 600km and the trip metre was telling me it was using an average of 9.7L/100km. That’s within a litre of the serving suggestion which is excellent (especially for me).

We were 40 kilometres from Wollongong on the way home but the trip computer was telling me had 35km of fuel left in the tank. I made the mistake of announcing to everybody that we were going to see if we could make it, but then chickened out with five kilometres left in the tank and 10kms to go and ducked in to grab fuel. I didn’t want the family holiday to end on the side of the road.

The official combined cycle figure for the CX-9 is 9L/100km, a few tenths of a litre more than the front-wheel-drive car. The reality is that you'll get closer to my figure of 11.1L/100km, although my loan of the car was slightly abbreviated when an errant pensioner swiped the front bumper while it was parked outside my home.

The fuel tank is a big one, with 74 litres.

Adaptive cruise control is a brilliant thing, and once you’ve been let into the World of Tomorrow it’s a pain going back to regular cruise control – like on the Touring. Only the top spec Azami has adaptive cruise. First world problemos, as they say.

The CX-9's steering is excellent - light but with good feel even at low speeds in car parks. There’s a lot of good feels going on actually – the brakes and the pedals under your feet are placed well, the seats are comfortable as is every touch point – elbows, head rest, shifter.

There are also some not-so good feels – the ride was too often too ‘jiggly’, almost as though the car was oversprung. There were times on the trip where not-so-perfect roads equalled a ride that wasn’t composed with more bounce and roll than I’d expect – that type of thing works against you when you’re trying to get your toddler to sleep.

That engine also feels as though it has to work hard when it’s carrying a packed CX-9 up a steep hill – there’s plenty of power and it tore up every ‘mountain’ we encountered, but a new V6 or V8 would have done it without sounding like it was giving it everything.

Do you need all-wheel drive? It’s not vital, but the traction it provides is excellent. Front-wheel drive SUVs often struggle to get the power to the road in the wet, especially when climbing a hill. If I could afford the all-wheel drive I’d always get it – plus the mileage for both is almost the same in the CX-9 (0.4L/100km difference).

The CX-9 is happiest on the highway where it cruises effortlessly (with a comfy ride) and higher above mostly everybody else. The window sills were low enough for my toddler to see out, although the glass on the Touring grade doesn’t have a dark tint to shield against the sun.

A quiet, well insulated cabin made the trip down a fairly peaceful journey – apart from when everybody was screaming at each other, that is.

Back in 2016, I said the CX-9 was the benchmark and the only reason it isn't the absolute top of the heap now is the arrival of the new Hyundai Santa Fe last year. It's still way better to drive than the segment's runaway hit, the Toyota Kluger, and shades the Kia Sorento in most areas, except perhaps ride quality.

The Mazda really is a very nice thing to drive. The smooth 2.5-litre turbo revs readily under a heavy foot, delivering a nice flat torque curve. Mazda's G-Vectoring system now has a Plus version, which means it also uses brake-based torque vectoring to help tighten the line when physics overcomes the admittedly middling tyres.

My previous complaints about the tyres hold true, too - they're still a bit lame in the wet, with the fronts spinning up, the only difference being the all-wheel drive and traction control cutting in to spoil the dance.

In the dry, however, the combination of G Vectoring and a fine chassis tune means the high-riding SUV is always in control, with a good balance between ride quality and handling finesse. It feels like a bigger CX-5, but not that much bigger.

The CX-9 has that unique Mazda feeling of not being overtly sporty, yet you still get out thinking, "Gee, that was pretty good."

A couple more gears - like most of its rivals have - would be nice and perhaps a little more steering feel. These are really nitpicks,  because there's so little to complain about.

As with other Mazdas, the CX-9 Azami is loaded with safety gear. As well as the usual six airbags, ABS, stability and traction controls, you get forward and reverse AEB, reverse cross traffic alert, blind-spot monitoring, lane-keep assist, lane-departure warning, forward and rear collision warning, rollover stability, trailer-sway control, driver-fatigue monitoring and traffic-sign recognition.

Mazda says the pedestrian detection now works at night, so the car will brake to avoid mowing down wayward night-walkers.

On top of that, there are ISOFIX points in the second and third rows, along with three top-tether points in the middle row and two in the third.

The CX-9 scored five ANCAP stars in July 2016.

The warranty for the CX-9 is a three-year, unlimited kilometre agreement. Servicing is recommended every 10,000km or 12 months and costs the same regardless of whether the CX-9 is an all-wheel drive or front wheel drive. Services are capped and alternate from $329 for the first service to $371 for the second all the way up to the fifth service.

Since my first drive in 2016, the warranty has gone from three to five years, as well as offering unlimited kilometres into the bargain, plus roadside assist.

Service intervals are Mazda's customary 12 months/10,000km, the latter number being a bit on the short side for average-mileage owners. The first five services are capped, ranging from $356 to $400, for a total of $1868 for five services. I hesitate to average that out over five years because, as I say, 10,000km per year is a bit on the short side. The prices also don't include things like filters and brake fluid.