RUMOUR: New CX-9 (possibly CX-90) destined for release in 2024

Translated from a Japanese News site.
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CX-90 would be one candidate for replacing my 2014 Sienna a few years down the road, subject to the following deal breakers:
  • The usable cargo capacity with the second row folded down must be close to that of the Sienna's with the second row folded forward (not removed). I define "usable" as cubic feet up to the point where the view out the rear window visibility is blocked. That requires putting a tape measure on the respective vehicles' interiors. That would imply more cargo capacity than CX-9 which I would consider doubtful at this point.
  • An all wheel drive is eventually introduced; rear wheel is a no go for snow.
  • Good reliability is reported after two or three years of production which would be around the time I anticipate trading in.
Vehicles that make that cut would be compared on performance, features and price with a personal bias toward Japanese makes getting first looks but not the only looks. This would be the vehicle for long haul road trips so EVs will be ruled out. Hybrids and plug-in hybrids would be considered. If it were today, the leading candidates would be another Sienna (with hybrid standard), as well as Highlander and the Koreans--Telluride, Carnival and Palisade--subject to the tape measure and other considerations.
 
CX-90 would be one candidate for replacing my 2014 Sienna a few years down the road, subject to the following deal breakers:
  • The usable cargo capacity with the second row folded down must be close to that of the Sienna's with the second row folded forward (not removed). I define "usable" as cubic feet up to the point where the view out the rear window visibility is blocked. That requires putting a tape measure on the respective vehicles' interiors. That would imply more cargo capacity than CX-9 which I would consider doubtful at this point.
  • An all wheel drive is eventually introduced; rear wheel is a no go for snow.
  • Good reliability is reported after two or three years of production which would be around the time I anticipate trading in.
Vehicles that make that cut would be compared on performance, features and price with a personal bias toward Japanese makes getting first looks but not the only looks. This would be the vehicle for long haul road trips so EVs will be ruled out. Hybrids and plug-in hybrids would be considered. If it were today, the leading candidates would be another Sienna (with hybrid standard), as well as Highlander and the Koreans--Telluride, Carnival and Palisade--subject to the tape measure and other considerations.

My dealer had said that the CX-90 will be have the interior size of a Hyundai Palisade/ Kia Telluride. So, a bit larger than it currently is.

AWD will be standard but reliability is an unknown. New I-6 engine is something that hopefully will be solid.

And on a side note, my 2005 Sienna was the worst vehicle I ever owned. Everything that could go wrong did. From the sliding doors to the radar controlled cruise control, to the windows, water pump and timing chain. That car put me off Toyota forever.
 
My dealer had said that the CX-90 will be have the interior size of a Hyundai Palisade/ Kia Telluride. So, a bit larger than it currently is.

AWD will be standard but reliability is an unknown. New I-6 engine is something that hopefully will be solid.

And on a side note, my 2005 Sienna was the worst vehicle I ever owned. Everything that could go wrong did. From the sliding doors to the radar controlled cruise control, to the windows, water pump and timing chain. That car put me off Toyota forever.
Thanks for the info. If it works out that way it would be on the list of candidates. If they release as a 2022, it will have several years of seasoning to assess reliability before considering a Sienna trade.

I had a 2004 Sienna LE bought new, put 10 years / 150,000 miles on it, followed by the current 2014 LE with 103,000 miles. The biggest issue between these two vehicles was a leaky trans pan in the former covered under warranty. Otherwise, a few other nits here and there amounting to around $200-$300. The 2004 had a timing belt, so that expensive service is skipped with the 2014 timing chain engine.

I never had problems with the sliding doors on either, but had the wiring harness recall on the latter put in anyway. My Toyota prior to these was a 140,000 mile 1988 Camry bought new where the biggest issues were two leaky CV boots at different times, one under warranty, otherwise a couple of nits.

Despite these very fortunate experiences, I have no brand loyalty in cars or anything else evidenced by the fact I'm not on a Toyota board talking about a CR-V. Each purchase is evaluated on the relative merits at the time, with reliability ratings being the first cut.
 
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That article estimates that the starting MSRP is up by $5k. Perhaps that implies that the Sport and Touring trims are no more.

It will be interesting to see how Mazda tries to position these new SUVs in the market. Bumping the starting price by five grand pushes the CX-90 well above its current market mates (Ascent, Highlander, Telluride, etc.). It is still much less than the luxury 3 rows out there (XC90, GV80, etc.) but Mazda has some work to do in raising the perception of the brand if they want to play in that space. The general public seems to be hardly aware of Mazda at all, and trying to get premium money with no brand cachet is going to be tough.
 
Final products never quite turn out the way these kinds of imaginings present them. I think we can say the envisioning of CX-50 before Mazda started putting out videos were pretty far off the mark. It's kind of like watching NFL pre-game commentary. The accuracy of prognostications is random.

Anyway, judging from CD's picture, I'd say they don't imagine the cargo capacity being increased from CX-9 that's currently among the smallest in the class behind the front row. I'm going by the distance from the rear door seam to the back of the vehicle in that CD picture. The cabin looks to be about the same size as the current. That would be a no-go for me.

The overall length may increase if CD is correct about the increased dash-to-axle and consequently a longer engine compartment. That might make sense given it has to accommodate a longitudinal in-line 6 cyl. Or maybe not. I'm surprised to see that the current CX-9 is 199" long while Highlander is 195-197" in different configurations despite Highlander having a larger cargo capacity behind the first row. That suggests the CX-9's engine compartment is already pretty long in comparison to the Highlander V-6. We'll just have to wait and see.

I find CD's description of the engine options a little confusing. They don't expect the Skyactive-X initially. That is a novel gasoline engine (with spark plugs) that employs some diesel-like compression-ignition principles. Then they go on to say:

"...our market will likely get a gasoline 3.0-liter. The engine is expected to have a turbocharger and a 48-volt hybrid system with an output somewhere in the mid-300-hp range."

Do they mean to say the turbo and hybrid will be the standard engine? Or are those upgrade options? I doubt they would be standard, but if they are along with AWD the $40,000 starting point starts to look like a bargain compared to similarly equipped 3-rows. If not standard, what's the hp in the base 6 engine Mr. CD? I guess they wouldn't care since they wouldn't be testing those trims.

Long and short, this is probably more digital ink than the matter deserves.
 
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What i think it is that the inline 6 will come standard with a turbo and mild hybrid. By mild hybrid i expect something along the line of “electrically assisted function”, such as maybe helping the turbo spin or electrical air conditioning. Maybe a small electric motor to fill gaps in the powerband, but not really a motor that can move the car on electricity alone.

The second hybrid option would be the same 4 cylinder hybrid that is currently on the CX-60 in Europe.

Not sure which one will be the base model. The 4 cylinder hybrid or inline 6. The CX-60 4 cylinder plugin hybrid set-up makes total of 323 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque. With expectations that the inline 6 will only make in the 350hp range, i am not sure which engine would be the most sought after.

I could be wrong on all accounts, but that is how i understand it for now.
 
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I think the CD's photoshopped CX-90 is misleading.
CX-90 will be longer than current CX-9, which will be discontinued when CX-90 comes. This is a different situation from CX-5 vs. CX-50 since the latter is positioned as more off-roading. Many claimed that CX-50 was to replace CX-5. We know now that it isn't true.
 
What i think it is that the inline 6 will come standard with a turbo and mild hybrid. By mild hybrid i expect something along the line of “electrically assisted function”, such as maybe helping the turbo spin or electrical air conditioning. Maybe a small electric motor to fill gaps in the powerband, but not really a motor that can move the car on electricity alone.

The second hybrid option would be the same 4 cylinder hybrid that is currently on the CX-60 in Europe.

Not sure which one will be the base model. The 4 cylinder hybrid or inline 6. The CX-60 4 cylinder plugin hybrid set-up makes total of 323 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque. With expectations that the inline 6 will only make in the 350hp range, i am not sure which engine would be the most sought after.

I could be wrong on all accounts, but that is how i understand it for now.

I assume that the upcoming CX90's hybrid system will use Toyota components.

This approach has been confirmed for the next CX-50 hybrid:

 
All I know is that I am looking forward to the CX-70. Mazda can do it but has to make sure their vehicles remain reliable and safe. Think Acura, which costs less than an Audi or Volvo but is almost as good.

I am seeing more Mazda's now around me than ever and they just posted close to a $1 billion in yearly profit. Not Apple but much better than I thought little Mazda would do.
 
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All I know is that I am looking forward to the CX-70. Mazda can do it but has to make sure their vehicles remain reliable and safe. Think Acura, which costs less than an Audi or Volvo but is almost as good.

I am seeing more Mazda's now around me than ever and the just post close to a $1 billion in yearly profit. Not Apple but much better than I thought little Mazda would do.
You and me both. I am very excited about this new model!
 
All I know is that I am looking forward to the CX-70. Mazda can do it but has to make sure their vehicles remain reliable and safe. Think Acura, which costs less than an Audi or Volvo but is almost as good.

I am seeing more Mazda's now around me than ever and they just posted close to a $1 billion in yearly profit. Not Apple but much better than I thought little Mazda would do.
Yeah, I jumped ship from an Acura to a CX-5. I'm looking forward to seeing how the CX-70 turns out. The CX-50 is about a push with the CX-5 to me. I think I'd prefer an updated CX-5.

I hope the CX-70 isn't too much wider, and has a good plug-in hybrid power train, and not ugly. I don't think the CX-60 looks very good. The CX-50 looks great, but I don't like the squished cabin from higher ground clearance and lower roof line. I like sitting high with room inside, vs being good for camping and off-roading.
 
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I'd be very keen to see how the 70 turns out. I don't actually need the 7 seats I have now in the CX9 so anything longer...is prob over my limit. The 9 is manageable of course, but is it ideal for me? A bit big already. My prob was felt the CX5 was small, so perhaps my "just right" problem will be solved...

If the CX70 is as good or better a driver than the 90, which given the smaller dimensions you'd think it would be, that's a tempting package from where I sit.

And though looks are subjective, but I like the longer hood look. The new MDX to my eyes seems like it did the same thing, I'm a fan of the proportions.
 
Agreed. I think a fair amount of people owning a CX-9 (me included) were more in the market for a large 5 seater instead of a 7 seater. A 5 seat car with dimensions closes to the current CX-9 would fit my need perfectly.

Something like the size of a ford edge, which slots in between the escape and the explorer.
 
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Something like the size of a ford edge, which slots in between the escape and the explorer.
I hope it isn’t like the Edge. My mom owns one and I owned an Escape at the same time. I could fit more things in my Escape because the back was more like a box. The Edge has a sloping hatch similar to the CX-9 which makes part of the back unusable for much more than groceries
 
Good point. I used to own the previous generation Edge and the back wasn’t as sloped. The current gen still has more space, but not as useable as you said. Unfortunately i expect the shape of the new mazda model to be very similar to the CX-60, with a sloped rear.

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Agreed. I think a fair amount of people owning a CX-9 (me included) where more in the market for a large 5 seater instead of a 7 seater. A 5 seat car with dimensions closes to the current CX-9 would fit my need perfectly.

Something like the size of a ford edge, which slots in between the escape and the explorer.

Add me to the list. I use my Cx-9 almost exclusively as a two row vehicle. I love the rear cargo room and comfort of the 2nd row captains chairs.
 
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