Mazda CX-60 long-term review

Mazda has long been an off-beat carmaker, smaller in scale but broader in thinking than many of its rivals, so in many ways it’s perhaps not a surprise that the CX-60 midsize SUV sits in front of us today.

Clearly, Australians have warmed especially well to the Mazda way of automotive thinking: the Hiroshima-based brand is a very significant part of our local market, but it is a niche player in America and Europe.

That left-field thinking led Mazda to release some of the best-driving and most complete mainstream cars of the 2010s, with Chasing Cars and many other titles praising release after engaging release: the Mazda 3 small car, CX-5 midsize SUV and CX-9 large SUV became benchmarks other cars had to surmount.

But there’s now risk and danger ahead for Mazda. At a time that many regard as the beginning in earnest of the age of EVs, Mazda has forged ahead with a different view of propulsion: one that, initially at least, sounds more 1990s than 2020s.

The marque has spent years developing its new Large Product Architecture platform: a chassis based mainly around six-cylinder engines and rear-wheel drive bias.

Full electrification isn’t possible with LPA vehicles: the most it can do is a relatively modest plug-in hybrid (PHEV) configuration.

When you remember that Mazda versus Volkswagen or Toyota is essentially automotive’s version of David v Goliath, banking on a new six-cylinder platform is a hugely bold bet for the company and one that has committed Mazda for the next few years to the path it has chosen.

Competitive Mazda EVs remain at least three years away. Most rivals are already releasing electrics.

Has the company got its priorities right? Is it too late to release a series of vehicle like this? Has Mazda squeezed into a favourable pocket in time, selling large, lushly-engined crossovers that could be your last combustion-powered family car?

Navigate this long-term Mazda CX-60 review

• • Why we chose the CX-60
  • How we specified our long-term CX-60
  • Month 1: Welcome to the fleet
  • Month 2: Ever so briefly in its element
  • Month 4: Luxury long-termers head-to-head
  • Month 6: Glimmers of hope

Month 6: Glimmers of hope

Having spent months swearing that no update solving the CX-60’s crippling ride quality, body control and rough-shifting transmission woes was on the way, Mazda Australia did a sudden – if welcome – 180-degree turn in April 2024.

The decision to push through a hardware change for the passively-damped suspension and a software update for the eight-speed automatic actually came too late to make our final wrap-up video covering six months of 2023 CX-60 custodianship.

Before we hit ‘record’ on the fair but very firm long-term review video embedded here, we offered Mazda Australia the chance to comment, and especially to confirm whether the Japanese brand was testing an upgraded version of the car. But they kept mum.

Still, within a month or so of publishing our long-term video in April, such an update was approved by Mazda’s Hiroshima headquarters. The change is global – it occurs on the production line – and to its credit, Mazda Australia will fit new shock absorbers and process a transmission software update, free of charge, for existing CX-60 owners.

Frankly, our 2023-build long-term test car was a real let-down – how could it not be? We’ve gotten very used to Mazda’s philosophy of constant iteration yielding impressive vehicles typically at attractive price points vis-à-vis rivals.

When the marque announced it was wading into luxury crossover territory with the BMW X3-baiting CX-60 (albeit at a clearly sub-BMW price point) our appetites were more than whet.

This was especially the case with the debut model, the CX-60, packing a choice of not one but two inline six-cylinder engines. Sure, there was a PHEV option…but few manufacturers will offer you a straight-six petrol or diesel in Australia these days!

What eventuated, and what was put through the Chasing Cars long-term testing programme, was a vehicle that was clearly underbaked.

Ambitious as the project was, we fear that Mazda’s audacious Large Product Architecture scheme left the proving ground just too early. It was a mistake and one that cost the brand the opportunity to make a great first impression for this new, more upmarket era.

The good news is that the 2024 fixes to the CX-60 partially address the problems though, no, it’s not 100-percent solved.

New dampers do act to introduce more compliance to what’s still fairly firm ride quality, while also partly taming the bucking bull effect of the underdamped rear suspension that severely degraded body control on anything but a perfectly smooth road.

Shortly after the updates began to be fitted to Mazda Australia’s press vehicles, a duly-upgraded white-on-tan CX-60 Azami D50e landed in our testing garage for evaluation by yours truly.

On the suspension front, I’ve called it a 40 percent improvement. The Mazda is still one of the firmest-riding premium SUVs out there, but the ride is now more controlled and more compliant. In short, it’s now liveable. It wasn’t before.

Better news is that the transmission on our updated tester was virtually fixed – call it maybe a 90 percent improvement.

Our long-termer would judder and gulp if you jumped off the throttle and then attempted to lightly accelerate once again. So did at least two other examples of the CX-60 we drove before the technical changes came through. That behaviour was mostly eliminated after the changes were introduced, as demonstrated by the white Azami D50e.

None of that excuses the early CX-60 release being so unrefined, but we are gratified to see Mazda stepping in to improve the product.

It was worth doing because there is the soul of a good car (and a good platform) in the CX-60. The dimensions are wide and brawny, and even before the suspension update, if you found a smooth B-road the CX-60 showed off poise and zeal in the corners, aided by natural steering feel with a shade of MX-5-grown-up to it.

We warmed to the cosmetic appearance of the vehicle over time, although we still feel it suits darker colours best.

Our Deep Crystal Blue Mica over tan example was a handsome-enough beast, though the SP package (which brings aforementioned camel interior) requires mandatory-take black wheels, a trend that is dating quickly.

Inside the CX-60, things are good. The seats are ergonomic and comfortable in that firm European way, rather than the overly plush pews typified by, say, the Tesla Model Y.

With its ventilation and heating together with its mix of suede and nappa seat trim, the Mazda’s cabin is classy enough. But it is really the secondary and tertiary plastics that separate the CX-60 from something like today’s BMW X3, which feels more hewn from granite.

One area Mazda still has so much room to improve upon is packaging.

The CX-60’s 4740mm-long body isn’t compact, yet the back seat still feels too tight and the boot is appreciably smaller than rivals. Anyone who owns a CX-5 now already knows the feeling – partly, it’s that Mazda insists on a long bonnet, which looks great, but this adds length in a place buyers can’t use it. The 477L boot, too, isn’t huge.

We got on well with the technology, which is still based around a rotary dial between the seats (very BMW). It’s ideal that the touchscreen commands can be accepted even while the vehicle is in motion, unlike other recent Mazda products that apply a lockout. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are wireless, the driver’s digital display is…fine, and the Bose stereo was really good in our estimation.

The safety tech was reasonably decent, too, with few erroneous interventions during our test.

Price-wise, the CX-60 is one of the more affordable cars in the class, yet it still felt overpriced on our long-term test partially because the basic dynamics were so crude. The value equation has automatically improved now that the suspension and transmission are now acceptable or radically improved (respectively).

Most compelling is that the CX-60 feels like an original Lexus or perhaps Genesis in that you get a lot of car for your money…or more precisely, a lot of engine.

Its straight-six engines are standard, but even with luxurious levels of appointment you would pay less than many base model versions of competing BMW, Audi or especially Mercedes-Benz models. The base petrol-six Mazda starts at just $60,550 before on-road costs.

We went for the 3.3-litre diesel and found its 187kW/550Nm outputs to be pretty impressive. It’s a circa-seven-second car from 0-100km/h – quick enough, and the surging low-end torque makes it an effortless highway cruiser. In our testing, fast highway driving was the CX-60’s element.

That said, you don’t have to commit to staying on the highway to bring out the diesel’s amazing fuel economy. The claim is a faintly unbelievable 4.9L/100km, and over our long-term test we managed about 6.0L/100km. At many points, we didn’t spare the horses.

That’s really impressive, supplemented in a small way by a 24-volt mild hybrid system.

Word on the street continues to be that diesel is firmly on the out in most vehicle segments in Australia, but for those that do big miles, it continues to be an appealing fuel source. Unlike many diesel sixes, though, the Mazda’s engine is fairly rowdy and clattery especially when it is cold. Proceedings quieten once the powerplant is warm.

Diesel pricing begins at a still-affordable enough $62,550 before on-roads. Our Azami SP model was as luxuriously equipped as a CX-60 can be and can still be had for just $77,750 before on-roads, or mid-eighties driveaway.

Compare that to a BMW X3 xDrive30d inline-six diesel…well, negotiations start at $104,300 without options.

There is a plug-in hybrid that qualifies for federal tax incentives for novated leasing customers, but we still stop well short of recommending a CX-60 PHEV as its suspension woes were the worst of the lot – and we haven’t yet tested an upgraded version. We must reserve our judgment.

So, that’s it then: our 2023 CX-60 wasn’t good enough. But the 2024 CX-60 is much better, and for a buyer wanting a noticeably sporty choice in this segment packing a big six in a class of mostly downsized, characterless ‘fours, the Mazda now warrants consideration.

Month 4: Luxury long-termers head-to-head

Follow this link to watch the video version of this comparison. 

When we plan Chasing Cars long-term testers, we try to go for a mixture of variety and spice. We like the garage to reflect the sorts of cars Australians actually buy, but we will occasionally add something new and interesting, especially if it’s a bit weird or questionable. Overall, we’d like to think we get the balance fairly right.

That’s more or less why I’m in Mazda’s breakthrough luxury product, the CX-60, with the straight-six diesel. And it arrived just in time to conduct a head-to-head comparison of deputy editor Curt Dupriez’s outgoing Lexus RX350h – the other luxury SUV in the fold, if for a very brief overlap.

Morning debriefs at Chasing Cars often start with chatter about what we’ve been driving, and with about half our time spent driving long-termers, Curt’s praises of the Lexus and my own complaints about the CX-60’s curmudgeons have become common refrains of a weekday morning.

Having attended its national launch, I know the Lexus isn’t perfect, and even despite its baffling suspension and transmission calibrations, the Mazda does shine in several environments – particularly when it comes to value for money, fuel economy, interior materials and handling. Going head-to-head seemed the only way to resolve the question.

They might purport to be premium, but price-based motivation would be common to some buyers of both vehicles.

The CX-60 is appreciably cheaper than its main rivals (BMW X3, Mercedes GLC, or the half-size-larger Lexus RX), even in tricked-out D50e Azami SP format ($77,750 before on-road costs). But the $97,925 RX350h Luxury with Enhancement Package we elected to be on our long-term fleet is miserly in comparison to what you can spend on an RX these days (up to $124,675!)

We may have resisted the temptation to spec-up a dearer RX, but the CX-60’s more favourable list price (by a not-insignificant $20,000) isn’t a bad starting point…not to mention that you can have a cooking-model straight-six diesel Mazda for just $62,550 before on-roads.

Still, price isn’t everything. In our view, even mainstream vehicles should have basic dynamic achievement sorted out, but the bar is much higher again when it comes to premium vehicles wanting the best part of $100,000 or more.

Our expectation at this price level is eminent achievement – a vehicle that feels ‘special’ in fulfilling its mission. In this segment, the task at hand is comfortable, refined transport.

One vehicle in the garage does that job far better than the other – and sadly (for me) the winner isn’t the Mazda.

It wasn’t a cake-walk for Lexus: the RX’s powertrain isn’t as inspiring, the fuel economy gap wasn’t as wide as expected, and the RX does feel expensive now. But despite this, the RX350h Luxury simply gets the job done so well.

In fact, the RX’s pairing of Toyota-sourced hybrid tech (it just works, reliably, economically, all the time) and Lexus-grade seats, interior materials and sound insulation gets a lot right straight out of the box. Then you add in the fact that the new fifth-gen RX is actually quite respectable from a dynamic standpoint and it just keeps scoring points.

Car people will instinctively want to love the Mazda more. It starts with a lush straight six-cylinder engine (in your choice of petrol or diesel) with a longitudinal layout and rear-biased chassis. It also has that tasty Mazda steering rack. The interior has a pleasant layout and, mercifully, buttons and knobs. The price is right.

It looks like it’s all going to work, and then…it doesn’t.

Why? Because the CX-60 doesn’t ride properly. At all.

It’s not just a problem of it being too stiff. We could live with that, as long as the stiffness came with control. But in the Mazda, it doesn’t. The CX-60 is somehow ultra-stiff at the front end yet floaty-boaty at the rear. It is genuinely uncomfortable over bumps and carsickness-inducing if you hit a bump while cornering on a country road.

For Australian B-roads – for an Australian roads, really – it’s a terrible mix. The CX-60’s suspension should never have been approved to leave the proving ground. We expect far better from Mazda.

Sadly, the problems don’t end there. While the 187kW/550Nm 3.3-litre turbo diesel on our long-termer provides good performance, superior acceleration to the Lexus and excellent economy (6.0L/100km in reality), the transmission just can’t keep up.

Rather than opting for the obvious choice and using an off-the-shelf automatic transmission design from industry leaders such as ZF or Aisin, Mazda (as it often does) decided to go and do something individual, and zany. It has adopted an eight-speed single-clutch auto with no torque converter.

Sadly, this first iteration doesn’t work. It shifts with an uncouth roughness, especially when cold, and hiccups between gears when you do something the car doesn’t expect – such as change of mind at an intersection, where you need to quickly get off the accelerator and then back on it in traffic. In life, that sort of thing happens.

NOTE: In April 2024, Mazda rolled out an update program for the CX-60 involving new dampers for the suspension and a software update for the transmission, which our reporting proposes has improved the ride and body control by about 40 percent and transmission refinement by about 90 percent. Read more about this in our Month 6 update.

It’s a shame because the Mazda’s interior is more than passable. Our tester’s tan nappa leather and suede finishes are attractive, comfortable and interesting and the button-driven tech works so naturally.

Plus, the CX-60 Azami’s Bose stereo handily trumps the Panasonic unit in the RX Luxury. Unsurprisingly, the Mazda has more fruit, being a top variant compared to, effectively, the base Lexus.

But as things so often go, beauty – and in this case competency – is more than skin deep. Our RX might be $20,000 more expensive and not quite as opulently specified on the surface, but beneath the skin it is (currently) a far better vehicle because it is tuned properly. Let’s see if Mazda can address the deficiencies in their vehicle in time.

The RX rides better in every way, its (just one inch smaller) 19s and supple passive suspension soaking up urban and country road imperfections with ease.

The Lexus’s steering is sweet enough, and it mostly shrugs off the corners. The Mazda might handle better near the limit, at nine tenths, but what luxury SUV buyer is going there?

So, yes, at this stage you’re better off spending $20K more on the Lexus. Or, more to the point, just a few grand more on the sports-luxe BMW X3 xDrive20d, loss of two extra cylinders be damned.

Month 2: Ever so briefly in its element

Our fears about the Mazda CX-60 have virtually been confirmed. We’re only 1500km into this six-month long-term test that is meant to run for 10,000km and we’ve discovered a key flaw. Two, actually. But we’ve also discovered the environment that covers them up…

So, what’s the issue?

Chasing Cars attended the global first drive of the CX-60 in Portugal, which has mostly butter-smooth roads – although we found a pothole or two.

There, we were allowed to drive the 2.5-litre four-cylinder plug-in hybrid model only, and we were told the PHEVs on test in 2022 were relatively late stage prototypes if unfinished prototypes all the same, despite the lack of camouflage.

And the suspension felt really out of sync. Overly stiff at the front end, boaty and floaty at the rear. Plus Mazda’s in-house auto-box was rough.

The journalists in attendance noted these sensations, questioned them and were told they’d both be fixed before the final release. There’s no reason to doubt this would be the outcome, as dialling out weird and unwanted dynamic effects is common in the transition from prototype to production. Besides, Mazda knows a thing or two about suspension.

We even ordered our long-termer in anticipation of the local release, prototype problems be damned. Mazda has a record of getting cars right and we wanted to ensure our car was ready to go immediately when they arrived in-country.

Which is why it was a let-down to attend the national launch, held on a long-distance drive in regional New South Wales, to find…the suspension to be out of sync, overly stiff at the front end, boaty in the rear, and with the transmission still delivering rough shifts.

These symptoms weren’t merely with a solitary spec, but with all three powertrains: straight-six petrol, straight-six diesel and four-cylinder plug-in hybrid, though the PHEV was easily the least refined.

Our long-termer was present on the launch and delivered immediately afterward experiencing, unsurprisingly, the same effects. And 1500km into our test, including daily commuting of 25km on Sydney’s broken-up urban roads, the ride quality is getting fairly old very quickly.

Hit an expansion joint or pothole with one of the front wheels and you’re punished with a shooting jolt through the cabin that has passengers raising an eyebrow. If they’re sitting in the back, the rear suspension traversing the same road imperfection then causes their own rear quarters to nearly depart the seat in appallingly floaty rear suspension control.

So it’s overdamped at the front, underdamped in the rear, essentially.

And the transmission is nowhere near refined enough when cold. For about its first ten minutes after engine ignition of a morning, it sounds like there’s sand in the gears while delivering rough or missed shifts especially on light throttle. The fact that other CX-60s did so on the launch shows us this isn’t isolated to our tester.

All of that is really taking the shine off the good points of our car, which are several. The 187kW diesel shines, with spritely performance and virtually lag-free acceleration off the line.

Further, the fuel economy seems to be very efficient even for urban driving. The seats are good, the stereo is warm but crisp and our navy-on-tan spec looks expensive.

Which is why it was a relief to find solace in one particular kind of driving…fast highway. The CX-60 was deployed as a support vehicle on a recent video shoot in Canberra, a 600km round trip to Sydney, and it comes into its own over 100km/h on smooth A-roads. With no real imperfections to disrupt proceedings, the quiet, efficient, powerful package comes to the fore.

If only it was that serene for the daily commute.

Month 1: Welcome to the fleet

At the launch of the CX-60, we praised the available straight-six engines but heavily criticised the brittle ride quality and the rough pairing of the PHEV model’s petrol and electric propulsion systems. Our diesel long-termer will allow us to comprehensively judge whether we were right…on the former point, at least.

We settled on the diesel engine largely because of its staggering, on-paper 4.9L/100km fuel economy claim. Diesel might seem like it is on its deathbed for premium SUVs, but if the CX-60 D50e can approach that level of frugality, there might be some life left yet.

As it turned out, an extensive drive on the national launch showed the diesel to be the most flexible and sensible powertrain of the lot, with strong torque and seemingly impressive real-world economy – we’ll test this scientifically.

We also indulged in the $2000 SP package, which enriches the cabin with tan nappa leather. Outside, SP does enforce black alloy wheels, while chrome trimmings from the standard Azami variant (or the $2000 bright-themed Takumi pack) go dark.

Aesthetically, at least, we think our deep crystal blue over tan truckster is pretty handsome. Darker paint colours seem to suit the slab-sided CX-60 better than lighter ones. We do question whether this is Mazda’s best-looking crossover effort in recent years, though.

The forthcoming six months and 10,000km will also allow us to fully judge the CX-60 as the all-rounder vehicle that it is trying to be. Like other Mazdas, the CX-60 has a clearly evident sporting bent while its interior punches well upward in perceived quality into Audi and BMW territory.

So, it’s not just a question of whether the CX-60 (and its ilk) is the right idea for Mazda in 2023.

It’s also a debate about whether you could seriously preference a CX-60 over the much more standard choices in this premium SUV segment: models like the BMW X3, Volvo XC60 and new Mercedes-Benz GLC are pretty good. They’ll take some beating.

You’re welcome to settle in and embark on that journey with us as we get our heads around the CX-60 and come to a firm recommendation for you at the end of our time with the car.

Why it’s here

That’s what Chasing Cars intends to discover. To do so, we ordered a 2023 Mazda CX-60 Azami diesel: a $78,000 luxury upper-midsize SUV.

The CX-60 was the first Large Product Architecture model to land in Australia, available with either a six-cylinder petrol engine, six-cylinder diesel-engine or a four-cylinder plug-in hybrid petrol engine. All come equipped with an eight-speed automatic gearbox and all-wheel drive.

How we specified our long term Mazda CX-60

• 2023 CX-60 D50e Azami trim grade ($75,600 before on-road costs)
• Six-cylinder 3.3-litre turbo-diesel engine (included)
• SP package (tan nappa leather seat trim, black exterior accents, $2000)
• Deep crystal blue mica paint (no cost option)
• Tan nappa leather interior upholstery (only choice with SP package)
• Black faux wood interior trim (only choice with SP package)
• 20-inch multi-spoke black alloy wheels (only choice with SP package)

The price of our long-term CX-60 is $77,600 before on-road costs, or $83,900 driveaway in New South Wales.

Some of the other luxury and safety features found on this D50e Azami include:

• 12.3-inch multimedia screen with Mazda’s connect system
• 12.3-inch digital driver’s display
• Heated steering wheel
• Heated and ventilated front seats
• Heated rear seats
• 12-speaker Bose stereo
• Panoramic sunroof
• Power adjustment for front seat passengers
• LED headlights and tail lights
• Forwards autonomous emergency braking (AEB) w/ pedestrian, cyclist and junction detection
• Reversing AEB
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Rear cross-traffic alert
• Tyre pressure monitoring
• Traffic sign recognition
• Head-up display

Key rivals to our long-term CX-60 D50e Azami include the Audi Q5 40 TDI (from $86,700), the BMW X3 xDrive20d (from $84,700), the Mercedes-Benz GLC300 (from $104,900), and the Volvo XC60 B5 Ultimate (from $80,990).