I had the opportunity to rent a CX-90 Turbo Premium for 1 week and drove it over 400 miles in all sorts of different conditions, roads, weather and speeds. Here’s my review of the vehicle coming from a current 2019 CX-9 Grand Touring owner (had it since new and mostly love it despite a few shortcomings). I was eagerly awaiting the release of the CX-90, because I was very hopeful that it would be our next vehicle after the CX-9. It looked SO good on paper – Turbo Inline 6 + RWD + bigger dimensions for more space and storage, etc.
I’m posting this merely as my perspective and impressions of the vehicle in hopes that it may help someone who currently owns a CX-9 and is thinking about “upgrading” or someone who is interested in purchasing a CX-90.
The Positives:
- It has good road prowess, it feels big and safe on the road and highway.
- From certain angles it looks really good.
The Negatives:
- The shifter setup to get it out-of and into Park is idiotic and potentially dangerous to those not accustomed to it.
- Steering Feel: Low speed steering feel and response is terrible. It takes a lot of turns of the wheel at parking lot speeds to turn. It doesn't feel natural at all and I did not get used to it. Overly light. The steering feel at highway speeds was OK, but not as sharp as the CX-9, including on-center feel.
- Off the Line: In regular city driving there is something clearly wrong with the low-speed clutch engagement of this design. I had read about this in car reviews online and I can confirm what they’re saying. It’s rough off the line and really struggles.
- Turbo Lag or Lousy Transmission Design/Tuning? Whatever it is, the CX-90 in this trim had very noticeable lag getting off the line under normal driving and accelerating conditions. The CX-9 2.5T has nearly instant throttle response and great low-end torque. The CX-90 felt like the opposite.
- Slight gear whine when decelerating at lower speeds. I haven’t heard gear whine in a new car in 20+ years.
- The engine is really disappointing. It doesn't sound good and it doesn’t feel very powerful. I would say it feels less powerful than the horsepower and torque figures suggest.
- Rougher/harsher ride than the CX-9.
- The windshield washer fluid sprayer design is terrible. It leaves streaks no matter what.
- There are lots of dings, chimes and warning sounds that you can’t turn off.
- Center console is extremely wide. The gas pedal is so far offset to the right that coupled with the wide center console, it forces you to twist/angle your ankle to access the gas pedal. The gas pedal needs to be shifted to the left for a proper driving position.
- Seats are unnecessarily stiff. They do not offer enough length on the seat bottoms to provide support for your thighs and lower back (I’m 6’0). The CX-9 seats aren’t good in this regard either, but the CX-90’s are even worse in stiffness and support.
- Storage space: The cubby space in the doors is nearly non-existent. The cup holders in the center console are too small. The center console storage is literally laughable and same with the glove box. I haven’t been in a modern vehicle with this tiny amount of storage in the doors regardless of vehicle size, let alone a 200+” 3-row SUV. Completely impractical. The storage space beneath the trunk is way less than the CX-9 as well. The CX-9 was the last in class for storage space, but the CX-90 designers clearly just didn’t even attempt any effort whatsoever with storage, as it’s way worse.
- There is nowhere to put your phone in the center console while driving except into one of the undersized cup holders where it doesn't really fit (I don’t have a big phone). How did they miss this?
- The HUD text is clearly distorted and not sharp. Not a problem in the CX-9.
- We got nowhere near the EPA estimated mileage, at 20.4mpg over the 400 miles (mostly 40-50mph driving, very little city driving).
- The Bose sound system did not sound nearly as good as the one in the CX-9. I can’t figure that one out.
- Fake engine sounds are lame.
- Feels extremely long in tight parking spots.
- Doors close with a really low-quality sound and feel.
- Steering wheel buttons feel cheap and chintzy.
Overall this vehicle does not drive like a finished product. It takes so many steps backwards in so many regards to its predecessor that it’s hard to believe. The worst part is that it doesn’t drive or feel like Mazda’s made up until now. They put so much money, effort and time into this new platform to go “up-market” and for it to drive like a BMW…well it drives significantly worse than the CX-9 it replaces, it's not on the same planet as BMW.
I stepped out of the vehicle relieved that the drive was done each day. It was just all around an annoying and uncomfortable experience.
I watched the SavageGeese review of the CX-90 after driving it for a week and I echo their confusion and disappointment at what could have been an amazing opportunity.
I love Mazda as a brand. I hope they succeed in selling a lot of these to keep the brand alive, but I really hope they don’t wreck the upcoming CX-5 replacement like they did with this.
I’m posting this merely as my perspective and impressions of the vehicle in hopes that it may help someone who currently owns a CX-9 and is thinking about “upgrading” or someone who is interested in purchasing a CX-90.
The Positives:
- It has good road prowess, it feels big and safe on the road and highway.
- From certain angles it looks really good.
The Negatives:
- The shifter setup to get it out-of and into Park is idiotic and potentially dangerous to those not accustomed to it.
- Steering Feel: Low speed steering feel and response is terrible. It takes a lot of turns of the wheel at parking lot speeds to turn. It doesn't feel natural at all and I did not get used to it. Overly light. The steering feel at highway speeds was OK, but not as sharp as the CX-9, including on-center feel.
- Off the Line: In regular city driving there is something clearly wrong with the low-speed clutch engagement of this design. I had read about this in car reviews online and I can confirm what they’re saying. It’s rough off the line and really struggles.
- Turbo Lag or Lousy Transmission Design/Tuning? Whatever it is, the CX-90 in this trim had very noticeable lag getting off the line under normal driving and accelerating conditions. The CX-9 2.5T has nearly instant throttle response and great low-end torque. The CX-90 felt like the opposite.
- Slight gear whine when decelerating at lower speeds. I haven’t heard gear whine in a new car in 20+ years.
- The engine is really disappointing. It doesn't sound good and it doesn’t feel very powerful. I would say it feels less powerful than the horsepower and torque figures suggest.
- Rougher/harsher ride than the CX-9.
- The windshield washer fluid sprayer design is terrible. It leaves streaks no matter what.
- There are lots of dings, chimes and warning sounds that you can’t turn off.
- Center console is extremely wide. The gas pedal is so far offset to the right that coupled with the wide center console, it forces you to twist/angle your ankle to access the gas pedal. The gas pedal needs to be shifted to the left for a proper driving position.
- Seats are unnecessarily stiff. They do not offer enough length on the seat bottoms to provide support for your thighs and lower back (I’m 6’0). The CX-9 seats aren’t good in this regard either, but the CX-90’s are even worse in stiffness and support.
- Storage space: The cubby space in the doors is nearly non-existent. The cup holders in the center console are too small. The center console storage is literally laughable and same with the glove box. I haven’t been in a modern vehicle with this tiny amount of storage in the doors regardless of vehicle size, let alone a 200+” 3-row SUV. Completely impractical. The storage space beneath the trunk is way less than the CX-9 as well. The CX-9 was the last in class for storage space, but the CX-90 designers clearly just didn’t even attempt any effort whatsoever with storage, as it’s way worse.
- There is nowhere to put your phone in the center console while driving except into one of the undersized cup holders where it doesn't really fit (I don’t have a big phone). How did they miss this?
- The HUD text is clearly distorted and not sharp. Not a problem in the CX-9.
- We got nowhere near the EPA estimated mileage, at 20.4mpg over the 400 miles (mostly 40-50mph driving, very little city driving).
- The Bose sound system did not sound nearly as good as the one in the CX-9. I can’t figure that one out.
- Fake engine sounds are lame.
- Feels extremely long in tight parking spots.
- Doors close with a really low-quality sound and feel.
- Steering wheel buttons feel cheap and chintzy.
Overall this vehicle does not drive like a finished product. It takes so many steps backwards in so many regards to its predecessor that it’s hard to believe. The worst part is that it doesn’t drive or feel like Mazda’s made up until now. They put so much money, effort and time into this new platform to go “up-market” and for it to drive like a BMW…well it drives significantly worse than the CX-9 it replaces, it's not on the same planet as BMW.
I stepped out of the vehicle relieved that the drive was done each day. It was just all around an annoying and uncomfortable experience.
I watched the SavageGeese review of the CX-90 after driving it for a week and I echo their confusion and disappointment at what could have been an amazing opportunity.
I love Mazda as a brand. I hope they succeed in selling a lot of these to keep the brand alive, but I really hope they don’t wreck the upcoming CX-5 replacement like they did with this.
