2019 Mazda CX-9

MSRP: Starting $32,280

Engine: 2.5 liter Turbo 4

Horsepower and Torque: 227/310

MPG: 21 as observed

Text: Yousef Alvi // Photography: Richard Maneen

Mazda is now a luxury automaker with a non luxury price tag. The interior of the Mazda6 and this CX-9 is not just a step above their respected competition…it’s class or two above. The ride quality, NVH and overall feel screams out Infiniti/Acura rather than Toyota and Honda.

Now let’s concentrate on the CX-9. It’s competitors tend to be boring designs packed with a boring driving experience wrapped in a boring interior. The CX-9 is anything but boring.  The quality of the materials is not just premium, it’s almost divine compared to the sea of hard plastics found in most 3 row crossovers.  That sense of quality doesn’t stop on the outside either. The CX-9 is one of the most striking cars on the road today. You can’t help but do a double take when seeing one on the road.  

Now, unfortunately, onto to the bad.  Toward the latter half of our loan with the CX-9 it developed a rather horrendous ‘bucking’ at low speeds and at a stop. Not sure if ours was an isolated issue or not but something worth bringing up. Another annoying issue was the AWD system.  The CX-9 torque steers and spins its front tires like a FWD vehicle. Only after a glacially long time the rear axle springs into action.  It takes so long to engage that I honestly that it was a FWD model that was badged incorrectly.

Speaking of drivetrain, the CX-9 has a 2.5 liter turbocharged 4 cylinder making 227 horsepower and 310 ft/lbs of that lovely torque.  It’s spunky around town but for highway passing it does run out of breath. On the handling front the CX-9 is blessed with a steering that offers a modicum of feedback and it’s lovely to grip.  It’s also very easy to park and with superb front visibility.

So how do I sum up the 2019 Mazda CX-9?  It has the best interior in its class by miles but issues with the drivetrain and a wonky AWD system...has me feeling a bit iffy.