Mazda is rapidly turning into an SUV-for-everyone company, pushing upmarket to occupy a more luxurious place in the Australian car market. Peter Anderson tests the new CX-80 G40e Touring to see if that’s a winning strategy.
2024 Mazda CX-80 G40e Touring
Mazda’s proliferation of new SUV models is finally complete – for now. The Mazda CX-80 three-row SUV takes its place as the slightly smaller of two seven-seat models in the brand’s range.
Don’t be fooled though, this isn’t a compact and compromised medium SUV with seats six and seven added as an afterthought. The CX-80 is quite a large starting point, but the CX-90 it shares showroom space is simply larger still.
The CX-80 joins a packed range for Mazda with the CX-60 and CX-70 five-seat models rounding out the large SUV spectrum, not to mention the CX-5, CX-30, and CX-3 providing more compact solutions.
Think of the CX-80 as the seven-seat version of the CX-80, but rather than just adding more seats, Mazda has given the CX-80 unique stling from the rear doors back, a longer wheelbase and body, and more spacious dimensions to cater to active families.
As a replacement for the CX-8 and CX-9 SUVs (with both nameplates now retired) the CX-80 covers a range of price points, but maintains a high level of equipment to fulfil Mazda’s desire for more premium positioning.
How much is a Mazda CX-80?
The CX-80 is a large, seven-seat SUV (or six-seat if you go for the flagship Azami SP) based on Mazda’s ‘Large Architecture’ SUV platform that allows for turbocharged six-cylinder diesel and petrol mild-hybrid, and four-cylinder plug-in hybrids, coupled to a rear-biased all-wheel drive system.
Mazda tells us the CX-80 is based on the CX-60 but with a more refined suspension set-up than the lumpy and bumpy smaller car (which is set to get revised suspension to help calm its ride quality as part of an update due soon). As I’ve also already mentioned, it somehow replaces two cars, the tight seven-seater CX-8 and the more majestic CX-9. The former was offered initially as a turbo diesel and naturally aspirated four, while the latter was a turbo petrol or diesel.
The CX-80 is not quite as large as the CX-9 nor as short as the CX-8, occupying a Goldilocks position between them. Visually it reminds me more of the slightly slabby CX-8 with its awkward styling rear of the C-pillar rather than the better-resolved CX-9.
Price-wise, it’s a lot more expensive than the cars it replaces, but Mazda is slowly vacating that part of the market so that’s just how it is.
Starting at $61,950 plus on-road costs, the CX-80 Touring is the second of four six-cylinder petrol G40e models, stretching from the $54,950 Pure to the $74,150 Azami via the $68,950 GT (all before on-road costs). Mazda also offers the range with diesel and PHEV versions for a total of 10 varaints to suit almost every niche.
The Touring spec leaves the factory with 18-inch alloy wheels, three-zone climate control, leather upholstery, powered driver seat (10-way) and passenger seat (eight-way) with heating, 10.25-inch media screen, auto LED headlights, auto wipers, powered mirrors and windows, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, satellite navigation, powered tailgate, eight-speaker stereo, head-up display, wireless phone charging and 7.0-inch digital dashboard and a tyre repair kit.
The extra $7000 over the Pure gets you the powered tailgate, leather, powered and heated seats and a wireless phone charger. Moving up to the CX-80 GT adds features like 20-inch alloys, adaptive LED headlights, bigger infotainment and instrument screens, heated back seats, and 12 speakers in the GT, while the Azami goes full plush with nappa leather, flashier headlights, and other bits and bobs.
On reflection, I think the Touring is pretty reasonable value having spent a week in it and pining for absolutely nothing. I’m a fan of nappa leather, but the leather in the Touring was pretty good for the money.
The CX-80 Touring stacks up well against Korean and Japanese competition in the same price bracket, most of whom are powered by diesels, naturally aspirated or turbocharged four-cylinder petrols, with hybrids starting to appear in the segment from Toyota, Hyundai, and Kia.
It’s also worth noting that none of the Mazda’s rivals offer a smooth turbo straight-six. You won’t get that until you defect to BMW and its X5 40i for well over double the price (admittedly with a lot more power too).
| Key details | 2024 Mazda CX-80 G40e Touring |
| Price | $61,950 plus on-road costs |
| Colour of test car | Artisan Red Metallic |
| Options | Premium paint – $995 |
| Price as tested | $62,945 plus on-road costs |
| Drive-away price | $68,601 (Sydney) |
| Rivals | Hyundai Palisade | Kia Sorento | Skoda Kodiaq |
How big is a Mazda CX-80?
The CX-80 will require just under five metres of driveway space, measuring 4.99m, which I’m sure you’ll agree is a lot of car. But it is shorter than the CX-9 and CX-90.
Inside all that car is a lot of space. That’s thanks to an almost EV-like wheelbase of 3.12m. Being a seven-seater, there are three rows of seats, with two in the back, three in the middle and two in the front.
The middle row slides back and forward and splits 60/40, not just in the backrest but the whole base, so you can have the seats staggered to fine-tune leg room or cargo space. These rear seats are very comfortable and there is a ton of leg, head and knee room for outboard passengers, while the middle passenger will have to share given the size of the transmission tunnel.
Controls for the third climate zone are placed in front of the middle seat along with the requisite vents and two USB-C ports. The armrest has two cupholders and the gigantic rear doors also feature big pockets and bottle holders. There are bottle holders for each door, with room for two, although the bottles seem to be of a specific size.
The middle-row seats slide and flip for access to the third row. It’s not going to be a lot of fun for an adult on either of those seats, with headrests that aren’t quite tall enough for me and my 180cm height, as well as very tight leg and knee room. All of which I’m sure is no surprise at all. Each seat does have a double cupholder and a USB-C port as well as a welcome if low-set air-conditioning vent.
Access to the middle row is particularly good because the rear doors are both gigantic and wide-opening, making loading kids into car seats much easier than other SUVs of this size.
With the third row in place, you have 258 litres of boot space or about the same as a Mazda 2’s cargo area. That means a few bags of shopping or two airline cabin bags. Drop the seats forward by pulling the tape hanging out of the back and you’ll have slightly more than double the space at 566L, which is room enough for a Bunnings trip for a new lawnmower, garden pots or whatever else takes your fancy that would fit in most wagons.
With all seats down and packed to the roof you have 1971L, which is enough for a modest Ikea wardrobe. Should you fancy your chances using the CX-80 as a campervan, there’s a 12-volt socket and a 150-watt three-pin plug outlet, meaning you can charge a couple of phones and run a light or two.
And finally, up front you have two very comfortable seats with plenty of adjustment. The steering wheel looks and feels like it’s out of a smaller car (and very likely is), but everything else is nicely in proportion. The stubby shifter sits next to a flap covering the two cupholders and behind the wireless charging port. For additional charging requirements, there are two USB-C ports.
Behind that is the rotary control dial for the media system, some shortcut buttons and a volume control. Physical climate controls complete a fairly button-lite interior, which is a thing Mazda does well – low clutter, easy to use.
| 2024 Mazda CX-80 G40e Touring | |
| Seats | Seven |
| Boot volume | 258L to third row 566L to second row 1971L to first row |
| Length | 4990mm |
| Width | 1890mm 2134mm (including mirrors) |
| Height | 1710mm |
| Wheelbase | 3120mm |
Does the Mazda CX-80 have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto?
Mazda’s own Mazda Connect software powers the 10.25-inch screen, which is sadly not a touchscreen. It’s an annoying affectation of Mazda’s that isn’t so bad in the rotary control-optimised Mazda software, but when you’re in Apple CarPlay (or Android Auto) it’s a giant pain. You have to scroll through all the icons to get to the bit you want, when you could just reach out and tap it in one easy movement. It’s the exact opposite of the intention, which is to reduce distractions.
I’m sure you’ll cry, “Just use Siri/Google Assistant!”, but hellfire that stuff is garbage most of the time, and when you get some awful jazz or unwanted Ed Sheeran instead of Massive Attack or Björk, you’ll agree with me. Go for the larger-screened GT and Azami and you get a touchscreen that makes all the drama go away. I mean, really.
The eight-speaker stereo I thought was pretty good and worked well with both spoken voice and music, and easily drowned out what little road and wind noise there was.
I liked the cameras – forward and rear as well as around-view – and they worked in all lighting conditions.
Mazda offers connectivity via the MyMazda app that allows remote control of lights and locks while adding features like geofencing, curfew alert, vehicle location, vehicle status and health as well as emergency SOS call in the event of an emergency. It’s free for the first three years.
Is the Mazda CX-80 a safe car?
The Mazda CX-80 range has received a five-star safety rating from the Australian crash assessment body, ANCAP. The result carries a 2024 time stamp, indicating testing conducted to ANCAP’s latest (and strictest so far) criteria.
The CX-80 received a 92 per cent adult occupent protection rating, 87 per cent for child occupant protection, 84 per cent for vulnerable road user protection, and a car’s safety systems were rated at 83 per cent. ANCAP’s rating covers all CX-80 variants including petrol, diesel, and plug-in hybird.
Eight airbags – including the five-star critical front centre airbag – line the cabin, with the curtains going all the way to the third row, not something every seven-seat SUV manages.
There are two ISOFIX points in the middle row as well as three top-tether points. The rear two seats have just top-tethers.
| 2024 Mazda CX-80 G40e Touring | |
| ANCAP rating | Five stars (tested 2024) |
| Safety Report | Link to ANCAP report |
What safety technology does the Mazda CX-80 have?
The CX-80’s substantial list of features is only obviously missing lane-centring assist. I’m not exactly a huge fan of that technology, but it’s odd that it’s standard on some vastly cheaper cars from competitors – let alone direct rivals – but not on the CX-80, Azami grades excepted.
As for the rest of the systems, they all worked well, although the front cross-traffic alert seems to want to throw an arm across you every time someone comes around a roundabout where you might be waiting patiently. It’s not intrusive, but there’s a bit of ‘Calm down, buddy, everything’s okay’ about it.
| Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) | Yes | Includes pedestrian, cyclist, junction awareness with cross-traffic detection, plus low-speed rear AEB |
| Adaptive Cruise Control | Yes | With stop-and-go |
| Blind Spot Alert | Yes | Alert and assist functions |
| Rear Cross-Traffic Alert | Yes | Alert and low-speed assist |
| Lane Assistance | Yes | Lane-departure warning and lane-keep assist |
| Road Sign Recognition | Yes | Includes speed limit warning |
| Driver Attention Warning | Yes | Includes driver monitoring camera |
| Cameras & Sensors | Yes | Front and rear sensors, front/rear/360-degree camera |
How much does the Mazda CX-80 cost to run?
For a 3.3-litre straight-six, the CX-80’s service costs are not at all horrifying but neither are they startlingly cheap. Costs per service range from $453 to an outlying $1320 per service. Over five years it works out at $3436.
It’s a fair bit more than a Santa Fe hybrid but cheaper than, say, a Mercedes GLE with a more comparable drivetrain. The capped-price servicing regime lasts for five years, the same length as the unlimited-kilometre warranty.
You’ll need to visit a dealer once every 12 months or 15,000km, that latter figure also better than some turbocharged fours, although 12-month/10,000km intervals are slowly fading away. Unless you buy a CX-80 diesel, that is.
Insurance for the CX-80 came out at $1853 per year based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.
That seems a little on the high side for a Mazda, but in line well short of a six-powered Euro.
Anyone who owns a Euro six-cylinder will automatically approach servicing with shaking hands and have to coax their credit card out of its hiding place. Or at least before prepaid servicing came up and it was all rolled into the finance.
| At a glance | 2024 Mazda CX-80 G40e Touring |
| Warranty | Five years, unlimited km |
| Service intervals | 12 months or 15,000km |
| Servicing costs | $1663 (3 years) $3436 (5 years) |
Is the Mazda CX-80 fuel-efficient?
Mazda’s official testing of the CX-80’s straight-six mild hybrid yielded 8.4 litres per 100 kilometres, which is good going if it’s realistic. And it just might be given I achieved 10.4L/100km on test.
Unusually for a turbo six – in fact, I think this might be unique to Mazda in Australia at least – it uses standard unleaded, which will save a few bucks and narrows the PHEV’s total-cost-of-ownership advantage.
With a 74 litre fuel tank the CX-80 G40e has a potential touring range of 880km on a single tank of petrol at its claimed consumption. Even at the 10.4L/100km recorded in our week with the car, that translates to just over 710km cruising range.
| Fuel efficiency | 2024 Mazda CX-80 G40e Touring |
| Fuel cons. (claimed) | 8.4L/100km |
| Fuel cons. (on test) | 10.4L/100km |
| Fuel type | 91-octane unleaded |
| Fuel tank size | 74L |
What is the Mazda CX-80 like to drive?
Mazda’s big SUVs all share this quite interesting drivetrain. To start with, we have the turbocharged petrol straight-six displacing 3.3 litres. That’s a weird number, with most engines of this configuration limiting themselves to 3.0 litres, usually because they’re of a modular design that offers a neat 2.0-litre four or 1.5-litre triple.
It’s not exactly turned up to the max, with a welcome but hardly world-beating 209kW (the 13-year-old turbocharged, stock BMW on my driveway develops 240kW) along with a very respectable but again unstressed 450Nm. It feels strong, though, and sounds pretty good. Mazda has very cheekily yet again slapped a hybrid badge on the back of the CX-80, which is drawing a long bow as it’s a mild hybrid.
Mild hybrids can’t move under their own electricity, instead employing a beefed-up electrical system (48 volts in this case) and a separate battery to capture energy from braking and coasting. The starter motor is also a generator, and along with the extra juice from the battery it can switch off the engine on downhill or flat runs in the right conditions.
You can hear it working away with a couple of relay clicks every now and again, as well as the drone of the generator recovering energy, but it’s hardly intrusive.
The transmission is what Mazda calls a multi-clutch eight-speed (as opposed to a dual-clutch found in the Santa Fe and Sorento, for example). Mercedes has a similar transmission kicking around often described as being akin to a motorbike set-up.
All of this gear sends power to all four wheels, but Mazda took a leaf from BMW’s book and made its all-wheel-drive system on these big ‘uns rear-biased. In normal driving this means less torque corruption of the front wheels while delivering a sportier vibe. I quite liked this in the CX-90 I drove some time ago and it felt remarkably similar in this smaller car.
It is, however, sometimes the worst of both worlds. It can shunt and clunk a bit like a dual-clutch (although Hyundai-Kia’s eight-speed twin is incredibly good at not doing that) and some shifts can be a little brutal. At other times it shifts up smoothly the way a torque converter auto might, so it’s a bit unpredictable. The CX-60 came in for a bit of a caning for its gearbox and Mazda has worked on it to improve things.
Again, it’s a weird departure from the norm with Mazda bravely having a crack at something different. For the most part, bravo I guess?
The CX-60 also got a bit of a walloping for its overly firm suspension. This car debuts a more refined set-up, but it’s still very firm, and given the moonscape that is Sydney’s road system, especially around the M6 construction site near my home, you feel it all.
On the long highway run to Newcastle it fared reasonably better, with the smoother parts of the North Connex tunnel offering a quiet and composed ride. The hideous Pacific Highway north of Gosford – call me soft, but anyone that survives this abomination on a daily basis deserves an extra four weeks of holiday leave a year – kept the suspension busy, but as long as there were no big bumps, the CX-80 positively ate up the miles.
The steering feels really good, with nice weighting and enough feel to again add a bit of sporty pretension to a high-riding two-tonne SUV. Mazda has always done well with its CX range to make it feel a little more car-like.
| Key details | 2024 Mazda CX-80 G40e Touring |
| Engine | 3.3-litre six-cylinder turbo petrol mild hybrid |
| Power | 209kW @ 5000–6000rpm |
| Torque | 450Nm @ 2000–3500rpm |
| Drive type | All-wheel drive |
| Transmission | 8-speed multi-clutch automatic |
| Power-to-weight ratio | 100.3kW/t |
| Weight (kerb) | 2084kg |
| Spare tyre type | Tyre repair kit |
| Payload | 579kg |
| Tow rating | 2500kg braked 750kg unbraked |
| Turning circle | 11.6m |
Can a Mazda CX-80 tow?
The CX-80’s towing story is not a simple one. Weirdly, this 3.3-litre petrol and the PHEV are the most capable haulers, with a 2500kg braked load rating. Annoyingly for some, the maximum towball download is 150kg, meaning a bit of shuffling about to get that right.
Maximum payload offered on the G40e is 579kg, which means once you knock the towball maximum off you still have a decent 429kg for you, your passengers and their stuff before you’re overweight.
The 2500kg towing figure of the G40e is 500kg more than the diesel version, and Mazda says the diesel needs extra cooling to make this happen. So… why not fit it? Anyway, one imagines from that statement that nobody in the CX-80 buyer cohort cares that much about a big load. But if you do, all this is worth knowing.
Should I buy a Mazda CX-80?
If for nothing else, the CX-80 is mechanically very interesting, although talking about it will likely lose you friends or get you chucked out of the pub for boring people. It’s a really nice car, though, with a mildly sporting vibe to help you forget you’re dragging around a lot of space and metal and, occasionally, a lot of people, generally small and noisy.
In isolation it probably looks expensive, but that’s largely because it’s in a competitive space vying for a big chunk of the market. It is, however, beautifully finished, mostly nice to drive, and does what it’s supposed to with a bit of dynamic flair. Not all of its competitors can boast such a nice interior, level of equipment for the money, and a lovely turbo six-cylinder engine.
How do I buy a Mazda CX-80? The next steps.
The first place to start is the Mazda website where you can compare the CX-80 range variants to find the one you want. You can build your selected car and add a huge range of dealer-fitted accessories. The build and price section does not have a stock locator, so you’ll have to find your nearest dealer.
Mazda Australia tells me that there is plenty of stock available in the dealer network. However, if you do land on a specification that isn’t, you’ll be waiting two to three months for your CX-80. You can also find Mazdas for sale at Drive Marketplace.
Touring-grade Mazdas are often the sweet spot of the range, and I don’t think the CX-80 is any different. It’s probably best to stick to 18-inch alloys in the current suspension tune, as I’d suggest the 20-inch wheels with lower-profile rubber will rustle your jimmies on a more regular basis. If you’re in doubt, drive the two differently shod cars back-to-back.
The petrol Touring seems pretty good. But if you’re not averse to diesel, it might be the better all-rounder; however, it does have a 500kg hit on the towing capacity if that’s an issue. I would personally choose the petrol because it sounds better and, well, isn’t diesel. The PHEV is significantly more expensive but does offer all-electric range, which is going to be exceptionally useful for urban folks with access to easy charging.
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