The top trim uses birch wood and chrome trim pieces and stitching on the Kumihimo woven fabric dash cover, for instance, is an unusual design adapted from traditional Japanese hand-bookbinding. Inside, the CX-90 is fairly lush, with a spacious center console featuring premium materials. Slightly flared rear wheel arches also help keep the CX-90 from looking like a big box, but the overall design is constrained by the fact that this is, first and foremost, a people-hauler. But designers were able to give the rear window a rakish forward tilt that helps balance things and keep the passenger and cargo from looking like a box. Headroom for the third-row seating area ruled out a racy, sloping roofline. Thin LED running lights are cleverly integrated into the grille-chromed for the top trim-for a very modern look. The front end, with its distinctive trapezoidal Mazda grille is flanked by LED headlamps housed behind cat-eye lenses. “Sleek” is not a term usually associated with large vehicles, but the CX-90 is quite pleasant to view and with its long hood and steeply raked windshield-especially riding on optional 21-inch alloys-even manages to look a bit sporty. It made its debut on the much smaller and lighter 2022 Miata sports car. The software-controlled braking modulation system suppresses body lift on corners for a smoother ride. The CX-90 also is outfitted with Mazda’s Kinematic Posture Control as standard equipment. It is designed to improve ride and handling quality, especially on wet, slippery roads. This isn’t an off-road AWD system, though. It is capable, though, of shifting torque from rear to front and side to side as needed for peak traction. The mechanical all-wheel drive system that is standard at all trim levels for both variants is a rear-biased version of Mazda’s electronically controlled i-Activ AWD, designed to put most power to the rear wheels in everyday driving. Premium fuel is recommended for both powertrains to achieve maximum performance, but they will run on regular grade gasoline as well.įold-flat third-row seats give the CX-90 a substantial amount of cargo capacity. But the lighter and smaller CX-60, sold in Europe and Australia, uses the same PHEV powertrain as the CX-90 and is rated at nearly 50 miles of all-electric range with fuel efficiency of about 85 mpgĬX-90 program manager Mitsuru Wakiie said that the mild hybrid version is tuned for more performance-oriented driving than the PHEV version-although the concept of performance driving in a vehicle that will be more that 200 inches long and weigh well over 2 tons is difficult to come to terms with. The PHEV will use the same eight-speed automatic as the mild hybrid.ĭetails about charging speed and all-electric performance haven’t been disclosed. The system is tuned to provide 323 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque. The system is rated at a hefty 369 pound-feet of torque, giving the mild hybrid CX-90 the highest towing capacity of any Mazda.Ī plug-in hybrid version will use Mazda’s long-serving 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine, teamed with a front-axle mounted electric drive motor and a 17.8 kWh lithium-ion battery. The e-motor allows the gas engine to be cut off when the CX-90 is stopped, for zero-emission idling and also can provide all-electric propulsion for short periods at very low speeds. The CX-90 will be available in two all-wheel drive versions, one using Mazda’s newly developed 3.3-liter, turbocharged inline six-cylinder engine, the e-Skyactiv-G.Ī mild hybrid version uses the inline six, tuned to produce 340 horsepower, and an eight-speed automatic transmission with an electric motor sandwiched in between. Mazda Count ‘Em: CX-90 Gets Two Powertrains Towing capacity for the 2024 CX-90 hasn’t been released yet, but Mazda says it will be more than the 3,500-pound rating of the CX-9 it is replacing. The 2024 CX-90’s mild hybrid and PHEV variants will debut within weeks of each other and both will be available in all 50 states, Jeff Guyton, president and chief executive of Mazda North American Operations, told Forbes Wheels. Mazda will buck an industry trend of releasing electrified models months after the primary (gasoline-powered) versions of a new vehicle debuts and limiting the more complex and costly EVs and plug-in hybrids to just a few states initially. Mazda Everything, Everywhere (Almost) All at Once Mazda insists the CX-90 won’t lose any of the driving characteristics that make the company’s smaller vehicles enjoyable to drive.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |