2025 Mazda CX-70 D50e Azami SP review

On paper, the Mazda CX-70 appears to be the ‘odd one out’ in the company’s new range of luxury-priced ‘Large Architecture’ SUVs.

The other three models in the range all make clear sense, offering dimensions and a seat count that give them direct rivals.

But the CX-70 – a CX-90 with minor styling changes and a third-row seating delete, making it a 5.1-metre-long SUV as big as a Toyota LandCruiser yet with only five seats – is harder to figure out.

Mazda says it is aimed at customers who want the size and luxury of a big SUV but don’t need seven seats, and would rather have a large boot all of the time.

When the CX-70 arrived in showrooms late last year, it was significantly cheaper than equivalent versions of its seven-seat counterpart – between $7580 and $11,660 – but drastic price cuts for the CX-90 following slow sales have slashed the difference to less than $1600 on some trims.

Now closer on price to its sibling, is the CX-70 still a worthwhile member of the Mazda range, or does it make less sense than it did before?

The Mazda CX-70 is priced from $76,220 plus on-road costs, $250 more than it did at launch in late 2024, due to a 2025 price rise.

It is offered in two model grades, GT and Azami, each offered with G50e petrol and D50e diesel six-cylinder turbocharged engines, and standard all-wheel drive (AWD).

On test in this review is the top-of-the-range D50e Azami diesel priced from $85,220 plus on-road costs.

This test vehicle is finished in $995 Machine Grey Metallic premium paint, and is fitted with the $3500 SP Package, which adds tan-coloured nappa leather and suede seat upholstery, a tan and black leather steering wheel, and suede dashboard trim.

It brings its price to $89,715 plus on-road costs, or $96,778 drive-away in NSW, according to the Mazda website.

That’s a lot of money for a Mazda compared to the circa-$75,000 that the top-of-the-range version of the old CX-9 seven-seater used to charge – but it’s $1580 cheaper than a comparable CX-90 ($86,800 before options).

Car-derived, five-seat large SUV rivals at this price include the Volkswagen Touareg 170TDI diesel V6 AWD ($89,490 plus on-roads) and Lexus RX350h Luxury hybrid 2WD, though both are slightly smaller and entry-level variants – not top-of-the-range.

Standard features in the base CX-70 GT include 21-inch alloy wheels, adaptive LED headlights, black exterior trim, dual 12.3-inch interior screens, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a panoramic sunroof, heated leather seats, and a suite of advanced safety features.

The Azami adds black and silver 21-inch wheels, body-coloured exterior accents, nappa leather trim, ventilated front seats, lane-centring assist, and more.

Big, that’s for sure. It shares its sheetmetal with the CX-90, and even with different bumpers it measures an identical 5120mm long, 1994mm wide, 1745mm tall and 3120mm in wheelbase.

The CX-70’s cabin is largely shared with its sibling, including a modern dashboard layout, and comfortable front seats offering power adjustment (10-way driver and eight-way passenger, plus two-way lumbar and memory for the driver), heating and ventilation.

Suede used on the seat centres and dashboard add to the upmarket feel of the cabin materials, with soft leather-like surfaces used elsewhere on the cabin, including the door panels, armrests and kneepads on the centre console.

Buyers get a chunky steering wheel with two-tone wrapping and a power-adjustable column.

The cabin feels as wide as it should for such a large vehicle, yet storage is unusually limited. The centre console box is wide but very shallow, and the door pockets and glovebox aren’t very big.

Gladly, Mazda has kept buttons and dials for key air conditioning and audio functions, as well as its signature infotainment controller dial. The gear shifter looks and feels nice, but it can be awkward to use as it resists movement in the first few seconds after the engine is started.

Amenities include two USB-C ports, a 12-volt socket, keyless entry and start, tri-zone climate control, a wireless phone charger, head-up display, a panoramic sunroof with an electric sunshade, and side mirrors that dip automatically when in reverse gear.

There’s lots of space for rear passengers, with excellent head room, knee room and toe room for a 186cm (6ft 1in) tall adult to sit behind a driver of the same height.

That is the case when the rear seats are slid all the way back. You can slide the seat bench forward, but we’re not sure why you would need to given the boot is already large – and there’s no third row of seats to accommodate.

A recline function is also built into the rear seats, and there’s ample cabin width to fit three people across, though there is a wide central tunnel on the floor that the middle passenger will need to straddle.

Rear-seat conveniences include air vents with a bank of climate control for the second-row zone, two USB-C ports, heated outboard seats, pull-up side window sunshades, seatback map pockets, a fold-down armrest with two cupholders, and two ISOFIX and three top-tether anchors for child seats.

Boot space is, unsurprisingly for a seven-seat SUV with its last two seats deleted, generous.

Mazda claims 598 litres behind the rear seats, measured to the top of the seatbacks – interestingly, slightly less than what a CX-90 claims with its third row stowed (608L) – but it’s a huge space, great for suitcases, big bags, and most things you could throw in there.

The rear seats can be folded 60:40 for even more space, and there are two under-floor storage areas – rather than one in the seven-seater, making use of the space normally used to stow a CX-90’s third row – good for dirty or valuable items.

Boot features include a hands-free power tailgate, 150-watt household power outlet, a 12-volt socket, LED lighting, multiple tie-down points, and a temporary spare wheel under the floor.

Fitted to every CX-70 is a 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen with wireless and wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, plus satellite navigation, Bluetooth, and AM, FM and digital DAB+ radio.

Touch functionality works inside Apple CarPlay and Android Auto – even on the move – and is good given the structure of their menus means they are clunky to operate with the dial, which has clearly been designed for Mazda’s native system.

Said software looks sharp and is quick to respond, but can’t be used through touch, only the rotary dial.

Ahead of the driver is a 12.3-inch instrument display that’s sharp and clear, but it’s not very customisable, and has a lot of blank space that could be used for different layouts or a widescreen map.

There’s a head-up display across the CX-70 range, plus myriad parking cameras and sensors to help manoeuvre this big vehicle, including a ‘transparent bonnet’ view for the 360-degree camera in this model grade.

Strong punch is offered by the 12-speaker Bose audio system, and there is Mazda Connected Services support included as standard, focused on a smartphone app with vehicle tracking, remote control of lights and locks, and an SOS emergency call function, plus other features.

Access to the app is free for the first three years before it switches to a subscription.

There is no ANCAP safety rating for the Mazda CX-70 and its CX-90 sibling, nor one from Euro NCAP, as the vehicles are not sold in Europe.

In the US, the CX-70 earned a Top Safety Pick rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety – a leading independent crash-test body in the country – but its test protocols are different to ANCAP and Euro NCAP.

The Mazda CX-70 Azami offers the company’s full suite of driver assistance features.

Among them is lane-centring assist – Cruising and Traffic Support in Mazda-speak – which is exclusive to the Azami grade, even though it’s standard on some of Australia’s cheapest cars.

But while it is there, the lane-centring system in the CX-70 Azami has room for improvement.

It’s not too intrusive or overzealous like many new cars, but on even gentle curves – and even some straight roads, with clear lane markings in perfect weather – we found it would give up and disconnect, offering no steering assistance and flashing an error message on the dashboard.

Other systems work better. The lane-keep assist system – intended to prevent the car from leaving the lane, rather than holding it in the centre – isn’t too pushy, and the driver monitoring system only pipes up when you are genuinely distracted, not after a quick glance at the mirrors or instruments like many other cars do.

Drivers can set up the speed sign recognition to beep when the car exceeds the speed limit it has detected, but the chime can be disabled permanently without re-activating when the car is restarted.

Eight airbags are standard, including a front-centre airbag.

The Mazda CX-70 is covered by a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty.

Service intervals in the diesel are set every 12 months or 10,000km, shorter than 12-month/15,000km intervals.

It’s not cheap to maintain over that period – five years/75,000km is quoted at $3367 – and it’s dearer than a top-of-the-range Hyundai Palisade ($2545) but more affordable than a Lexus RX ($3475) and Volkswagen Touareg 170TDI ($4276).

Mazda claims fuel consumption of 5.4 litres per 100 kilometres in mixed driving for the diesel based on Australian lab testing.

It’s a miserly figure for such a large vehicle, though after a week of city, suburban, highway and country-road testing, we observed 7.4L/100km on the trip computer.

Expect lower fuel use if you spend most of your time on the motorway and higher in stop-start traffic.

If you can achieve Mazda’s combined claim, expect to travel close to 1400km on a tank of diesel.

The driving experience is what sets the CX-70 apart from a CX-5 – but it is where the luxury experience starts to fall apart.

Performance from the 3.3-litre turbo-diesel engine is strong, with plenty of low-down torque – as you’d expect of a diesel – and a smooth character common to its cylinder count and layout, such that it doesn’t need to be worked hard to move this 2.2-tonne SUV.

Driven in a spirited manner, it makes a pleasant and un-truck-like note, thanks to synthetic noise pumped through the speakers, but that fakery is very loud at lower speeds around town and hurts the overall experience.

We timed the CX-70 diesel from zero to 100km/h in 8.1 seconds – respectable for a car of this size, but not a rocketship.

The diesel engine is matched with an eight-speed automatic transmission, which is Mazda’s own 'multi-clutch' design.

It’s not a torque converter like a VW Touareg or BMW X5, or a dual-clutch (DCT) layout similar to a smaller VW Tiguan, yet it manages to exhibit the worst traits of both. That means the hesitation off the mark of a DCT, with smooth but slurred gear changes of a torque converter on the move.

And it’s not smooth all the time. Under acceleration, the driver can feel the car shifting gears, with a noticeable pause in the power delivery, something the torque-converter gearbox in an Audi does not exhibit.

Parking the car on a hill demonstrates its DCT-like traits, the gearbox slurring and stuttering as the driver feeds on power to prevent the car rolling back, accompanied by less-than-pleasant noises as the clutches slip.

Work has been done on this gearbox to improve its smoothness since it debuted in the CX-60 two years ago – including in the latest version of the CX-60 recently launched in Australia – but there’s still more to be done.

The 48-volt mild-hybrid system – intended to trim fuel use by switching the engine off when coasting to save fuel – can also send vibrations through the car when the engine fires back into life under throttle.

Comfort over bumps is on the firm end of the spectrum. It’s not harsh or crashy – and we could live with it – but it feels out of place in a large luxury SUV, which should cosset its occupants, not jostle them around.

It’s better at higher speeds, feeling exceptionally composed and settled over undulations, and delivering a generally sporty character that some buyers may like – rather than being too soft and lacking control.

We would not recommend placing an order for a CX-70 without taking one for a test drive to make sure the gearbox and ride comfort work for you.

It makes up for its sportier ride with confident handling. Body roll is well managed, the Toyo tyres on our test vehicle serve up plenty of grip, and it’s arguably the best-driving model in Mazda’s luxury-priced range, feeling far more stable over mid-corner bumps than the smaller CX-60 and CX-80.

There’s no hiding its 2.2-tonne mass – or its width – but driven spiritedly, it’s surprisingly enjoyable for a car of its type.

The steering is direct and accurate, with plenty of heft to inspire confidence at speed, though it’s not a particularly fast system, so you may find yourself in hand-over-hand manoeuvres more than you may expect.

The brake pedal is firm, requiring a strong push of the pedal before the car begins to slow down with any urgency.

It pulled up from 100km/h in 38.3 metres on our satellite timing equipment, which is respectable for a car of this size and weight, but needs a metre or two longer to stop than large SUVs from luxury brands. 

Visibility is good, and tyre and wind noise are well insulated, but the air conditioning struggles in hot Australian summers.

The Mazda CX-70 claims a braked towing capacity of 2500kg, as well as 750kg unbraked.

The main limitation for buyers may prove to be a maximum towball downweight of 150kg – not enough if adhering to a rule of a downweight no less than 10 per cent of the trailer’s mass.

The vehicle’s payload – the maximum mass of passengers, cargo and accessories the car is legally allowed to carry – is rated at 506kg, enough for five 95kg occupants with luggage.

If a large, luxuriously trimmed Mazda SUV is what you want, your budget is $100,000, and you really don’t want a seven-seater, the CX-70 is worth considering.

The diesel engine is muscular, it handles well, the cabin is spacious for passengers as well as well appointed, and there is no shortage of features in this Azami flagship version.

However, if even one of those three criteria stated above isn’t a must-have, then it’s hard to truly recommend the CX-70.

When the CX-70 was $10,000 cheaper than a CX-90, eschewing the third row was easy to justify.

But now the gap is down to $1580, we think the added flexibility of the third row – and perhaps better retained values down the track, though time will tell – is worth the extra cost.

If key attributes of a luxury SUV are to be smooth, refined and supple, the CX-70 misses the mark, with a rough transmission, firm ride, and loud engine around town that do not feel worthy of the price.

And for buyers upgrading from an older Mazda, that price – nearly $100,000 drive-away – may prove tough to accept without a prestige German badge on the grille.

If none of that turns you off, and you like the looks and space offered by the Mazda CX-70 – as well as the price – we strongly recommend taking it for a long test drive on familiar roads before signing on the dotted line.

Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner

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