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GTPlanet First Drives: Mazda CX-60 eSkyActiv-D
What is it?
Mazda's largest European-market car (for now), the CX-60 is a premium SUV that's been with us for just under a year in plug-in hybrid form. However it wouldn't be much of a "first drive" if the car's a year old...
What we're actually driving is the new eSkyActiv-D model - and yes, that "D" means diesel. That's right; just as everyone else is pivoting from diesel to hybrid petrol and reducing the number of cylinders across the board, Mazda has developed a brand-new diesel engine that's also its largest ever engine for any non-commercial vehicle that was officially sold in Europe.
What makes it go?
Headline figures, this is a 3.3-litre, straight-six turbodiesel which is available in two different outputs. There's a 198hp standard version which is rear-wheel drive only, and a 250hp high-output version on a rear-biased all-wheel drive system, in each case paired with an eight-speed, multi-plate automatic gearbox.
But there's more going on underneath the skin here because, Mazda being Mazda, the engine uses some new and unique technologies to achieve better efficiency without sacrificing power or torque. It's not particularly snappily named - Distribution-Controlled Partially Premixed Compression Ignition (DCPCI) - but in essence the engine uses unique combustion chamber design and, like the SkyActiv-X petrol engine, a mixture of charge and ignition technologies to achieve 40% thermal efficiency.
Combined with a 48v mild-hybrid system which offers a 16hp poke to fill in during gearshifts or during lower efficiency parts of the cycle, that translates to 137g/km - around 54mpg (imperial) - from an engine that produces 250hp and 404lbft.
It's not a light car though, at close to two tonnes in all specifications - slightly over for the AWD and high-grade cars, slightly under at entry level - so 60mph comes up in just over seven seconds and top speed is 136mph. A 58-litre (12.75-gallon) fuel tank gives an on-paper range of a little under 700 miles.
What's it like to drive?
This actually depends greatly on what specification car you get, but for the most part the driving experience is pretty typical Mazda: it feels just unnecessarily engaging and it's good fun to chuck about a bit.
We drove both RWD and AWD cars across all three trim levels, on a mixture of roads in the Scottish Borders (some of which were exactly one CX-60 and one articulated lorry loaded with logs wide), and found that the entry level model has something of an edge on ride quality.
Whether it's the additional weight or the two-inch larger wheels of the higher-trim cars we drove, the AWD car was just not as forgiving of road surfaces in normal driving modes - both in terms of firmness and road noise. Given the life of a D-segment CUV is to either be a motorway cruiser or an around-town all-purpose vehicle, the low-speed ride of the AWD car is unexpectedly stiff. In Sport mode, both were on the firmer side, but then the CX-60 doesn't come with adaptive damping like some rivals.
Sport mode also brings out the "driver's car" nature of the SUV. With weightier steering and tighter gearshifts - which you can override with little flappy paddles - it's a lot of fun to hustle, and the straight-six engine makes all the right noises. It's certainly not an MX-5, but Mazda does seem to continually want to make all of its cars the MX-5 of their respective classes and I have no particular complaints here.
The AWD car also comes with an off-road mode and hill descent control, and all models are capable of towing up to a reasonable 2.5 tonnes (~5500lb) with a towing mode selected when hitched, but we didn't get a chance to test either.
And on the inside?
Again this is pretty trim dependent, but it's largely of the standard we've come to expect from Mazda as it's pivoted a little upmarket in recent years. The top-grade Takumi rivals Volvo when it comes to materials - white Nappa leather and white maple wood mixed with Kakenui embroidery - and chic, but it's more entry-level BMW as you drop to Homura and the entry Exclusive-Line trims.
As a family car, we're not sure how well the Takumi interior will fare after three years (those hanging stitches look excellent, but also ripe for a toddler to pick apart) but it really does elevate the cabin from the more serviceable alternatives.
Specification is good from the start though, with black leather throughout, heated front seats, LED headlights, a 12.3-inch infortainment screen which encompasses satellite navigation, DAB and Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, dual-zone climate control, standard colour head-up display, parking sensors and camera, and the full suite of standard three-letter acronym safety aids.
Electric seat controls, cooled fronts and heated rears, Bose sound system, and larger, 20-inch wheels come on the Homura grade, with the neat interior and a full panoramic roof on the Takumi. Some choice features - like QI wireless charging and the 360-degree camera - are only available in add-on packs.
It's roomy and comfortable enough for four adults - we found five a squeeze when we tried a PHEV a while back, but three kids across the back row should be fine - with plenty of storage space and cubbies. The boot holds 570 litres up to the window-line with all five seats in place, expanding to 1726 litres in cargo mode.
How much does it cost?
The CX-60 range starts at £43,010, for the diesel Exclusive-Line RWD we've tested here. Adding the high-output engine and AWD will cost an additional £2,645, with the Homura trim another £2,750, and a £2,350 walk up to Takumi at £50,755. Yes, that's a £50k Mazda - which took a little while to sink in!
Our test cars all had some additional packs, including the £900 Soul Red Crystal paint option (in fact anything but Arctic White is extra). All-in though, our most expensive was the £53,380 Takumi. There's not an equivalent US-market car, firstly because diesel, but also because Mazda hasn't officially launched the CX-60 in the US at all yet...
What are the main rivals?
The CX-60 is aiming for the general five-door, five-seat SUV market - with PHEV and this diesel now available and a regular petrol coming soon - and that covers a lot of bases. However the diesel specifically seems to be a shot at German brands and, with the lower tax rate, corporate fleets particularly.
It's effectively set directly against the Audi Q5 40TDI, BMW X3 30d, and Mercedes GLC300d - undercutting all of them. Mazda is probably also targetting the Volvo XC60 B4 AWD (with the D5 diesel engine), and technically the car crosses into the territory of - as ridiculous as it sounds - the Alfa Romeo Stelvio 2.2D and the Jaguar F-Pace D200.
What's the verdict?
You don't have to look too hard into Mazda's history to find an example of it making whatever engine it pleases and bucking every industry trend, and eSkyActive-D is just the latest example. We're not convinced it's onto a winner here in the UK, given the huge price difference between petrol and diesel at the pumps right now, but in Europe it could be a bigger hit.
Having had a limited time in the CX-60 PHEV, we do actually prefer the diesel; it's slightly less powerful but it's the more consistent powertrain and actually a better-sounding car. It's also a lot of fun to drive and a pretty nice place to be, though there's some low-speed grumpiness on patchy road surfaces - more evident in the larger-wheeled specifications.
£50k seemed steep at first, but set against rivals at the same price point it's no worse in most areas - performance being the only place it gives away anything - and at least marginally better in most others. Except, of course, the badge. Will it tempt people out of their bog-standard diesel X5s and GLCs? It should.
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