Video: 2024 Mazda CX-90: Up Close

It's got seating for up to eight and a choice of two all-new electrified powertrains: either a plug-in hybrid or a turbocharged 3.3-liter inline-six-cylinder with mild-hybrid technology. Let's check it out. I think personally the new CX-90 looks fantastic, particularly in this new Artisan Red paint color that Mazda developed exclusively for the CX-90. The CX-90 is also longer and wider than the CX-9 with a much more aggressive styling profile, sort of similar to how the CX-50 is effectively just a better looking CX-5. You get that same sort of CX-50-style grille with these air vents up front, the sort of upright grille pattern here, nice headlight design, and then you come around and you've got, these are available 21-inch wheels and this version has body-color molding along the sides here. Other versions do have visible plastic cladding. There are also available chrome accents to sort of heighten the luxury sense. And then you get this, just, aggressive profile that hints at the CX-90's sort of rear-wheel-drive-biased platform. Probably my only complaint here is this sort of black plastic panel behind the D-pillar here. Sort of gives it an awkward hump view in profile. The rear windscreen is actually sunken behind it. This probably assists with aerodynamics a little bit, but not my favorite. What I do love overall is just the sort of aggressive rear-wheel-drive-bias styling that you see here. It's more reminiscent of luxury vehicles, which is very clearly what Mazda's trying to target with the CX-90. Inside the CX-90, it's a very nice, comfortable place to be. You get seating for up to eight, this version has second-row captain's chairs. Up front, you get a nice digital instrument panel, 12.3-inch center display. Mazda is very careful to not use the word touchscreen for that because it doesn't always operate as one. This has roughly the same functionality as it does in the CX-50, where CarPlay and Android Auto will still work as a touchscreen while the car is moving, but the rest of the native features will require that you either use this controller or stop the car. We haven't been the biggest fans of this system, necessarily. We'd rather have something that functions as a touchscreen all the time, but at least having that functionality when we're using Apple CarPlay or Android Auto is very welcome. The other great things about the interior: lots of nice physical controls, always a favorite among us. A nice clean layout here, real maple accents, actually, according to Mazda, along with this very interesting, and I actually really like it, fabric dashboard that has some hand stitching here that's meant to to evoke hand-book binding. I really like the look of it, it's a new take to me. We have seen sort of the use of fabric in the MX-30 from Mazda, but it's nice to see something just a little bit different. One complaint I do have is that there isn't really much storage up here. This bin is maybe only a few inches deep. There are two USB-C ports, but there's not a lot of space to put things. This is, in Mazda's eyes, a driver-focused three-row SUV, which takes away from the family side of things, but a little bit more space up front would be nice. But headroom is good, visibility seems fine. We're stationary. The addition of this digital rearview mirror here is a nice touch, as well, in case you load up the back with too much cargo to see out the back. Big fan up front, but we should move on to the second row. We're here now in the second row of the CX-90. Again, fairly comfortable. Pretty big fan. I do have some issues, I'm starting to get a little bit less headroom back here thanks to the panoramic moonroof. And my knees, as you can see, hopefully, are just a little bit higher than I would like. If I could, I would probably slide the seat back, but this is as far as it goes, so I'd probably start to slouch and just let my legs stretch out that way. Not the greatest. And if we've got passengers in the third row, that's gonna be a problem. But you do get some nice features here, as well. Two charge only USB-C ports are in the back here, as well as physical climate controls for the second-row passengers, including in this model, heated and ventilated seats. Again, this is the captain's-chair version so the center is a storage console. You get cupholders, another little storage compartment. This one's actually a lot deeper than the one up front. I'd probably try to switch those or replicate this up front. But again, a little bit more storage, not too bad. I would say this is par for the course for most competitors. I haven't really had problems in the second row of three-row SUVs. The third row is where things start to get interesting. So here we are in the third row of the CX-90. As you can hopefully tell, my knees are even more elevated than in the second row. As an adult passenger, probably not where I'd wanna spend a lot of time, but with some second-row passenger negotiation, I do have a decent amount of legroom. This seat ahead of me will slide back farther if possible, so, could be more cramped in the legroom area. But there are some nice features back here. You get dual cupholders on each side, and according to Mazda, these are available USB-C charge ports for device charging. So, toss the kids back here, give them an iPad, you're good to go. Also important when talking about three-row SUVs is, of course, getting into the third row. Here, it's a simple lever release on the top of the second-row seats, and then the seats will fold and slide forward. You stand in. Access, again, I'm an adult, I'm not really meant to be back here, so it's a little bit difficult for me to get in here. Not the worst, but overall, not terrible. It's a little bit harder for me to get out, but again, children are usually smaller and more nimble than I am. The first of the two new powertrains is, and this is a mouthful, the e-SkyActiv G, 3.3-liter inline-six turbo, which boasts 340 horsepower and 369 pounds-feet of torque, at least when you're using premium gas, which Mazda recommends. This powertrain also has a mild-hybrid system Mazda is calling M Hybrid Boost, with an electric motor placed between the engine and transmission for what Mazda says is smooth acceleration from a stop. It's also capable of powering the car at low speeds, according to Mazda. If the mild-hybrid six-cylinder isn't your thing, try the first e-SkyActiv plug-in hybrid powertrain Mazda has brought to the U.S., which makes 323 hp and 369 pounds-feets of torque, again, when using recommended premium gas. This powertrain uses an improved Mazda 2.5-liter four-cylinder. The intake is enhanced for more torque, according to the automaker, along with an electric motor and 17.8-kilowatt-hour battery. Mazda says the plug-in can work in all-electric mode in a variety of driving scenarios, which can mean a lot of things, but ideally it will work at highway speeds and keep the gas engine off even under hard acceleration. Mazda hasn't yet shared fuel economy estimates for either powertrain or other important details for the plug-in, like all-electric range and charging times, so we'll have to wait and see. Both powertrains come with standard all-wheel drive and get an all-new eight-speed automatic transmission. Mazda also says the CX-90 continues its focus on driving, and to that end, they've added kinematic posture control, which first debuted on the 2022 Miata as standard. It uses software to counteract body lift and high-speed cornering. We'll have to see how they drive, but we can't wait to test them. Mazda says the CX-90 will go on sale this spring. We're looking forward to testing it out and seeing where it stacks up against a variety of competitors. We're especially looking forward to testing out these two new powertrains. For more on the 2024 CX-90, be sure to check out Cars.com.