Mazda CX-80 – discreet style with premium quality
Words by Mark Slack
When asked about large, luxury SUVs most people will always mention Range Rover (of course), Audi and BMW. Think about the Range Rover Velar, BMW X3 and Audi Q5. Well there is an overlooked rival here, and bear with me, it’s from Mazda. The CX-80 meets all the criteria, it’s large, it’s luxury and it comes with all-wheel-drive.
It may be somewhat subdued on the looks front when compared to a Range Rover or German rivals but sometimes discreet is good. It’s one of those kind of cars where those that know, know, and not least because it’s full of standard equipment, extremely well bolted together, has a feeling of premium quality and in diesel form has a superb 6-cylinder in-line straight six engine. There’s also the CX-60 which is effectively a smaller but still surprisingly capacious version.
Now I don’t dispute that those in search of badge one-upmanship will gravitate towards more well-known premium motors and dismiss my comparison, but the Mazda is more about value for money luxury. Both in terms of running costs and the initial purchase price the Mazda is not inexpensive but it offers an affordable touch of quality when you look at the cost of SUV rivals.
These days some may baulk at the option of diesel power but Mazda has always supplied excellence in its engineering and the e-Skyactive D engine comes with mild hybrid assistance, excellent economy and low emissions. It also performs well, not that the CX-80 is the kind of vehicle you’ll be piloting at speed across twisting cross-country roads, but in its most powerful diesel form it reaches the benchmark 62 mph in just 8.4 seconds.
In my view in-line straight six engines always return superb driver feedback and the Mazda is no exception. The 8-speed automatic transmission is a smooth affair and the engine seems to offer endless reserves of ‘pull’ and in 254PS form provides 550Nm of torque.
It seemed to me impossible not to find a comfortable driving position in the CX-80 and the interior is not only of superb quality but provides buttons rather than endless touch screen mania that seems to prevail nowadays. My only real niggle is that the overall ride quality is sometimes compromised over rougher surfaces but I suspect most would not even notice such minor imperfections.
If you want an affordable touch of luxury SUV on your drive then the CX-80 is well worth a drive. I don’t think you’ll
be disappointed.
Words by Mark Slack
