2025 Mazda CX-90 Review: Promoting High Luxury for a Lower Tax Bracket   

Mazda’s Big SUV

The Mazda CX-90 is the largest SUV in their lineup, with three rows of seating for a maximum capacity of eight passengers, although most people don’t call shotgun for the middle seats. Regardless, this mid-size SUV packages its practicality and performance in a luxury box tied with a silver bow.

It’s not actual silver, but it can fool most into thinking that it is and isn’t that what really matters? 

Mazda’s current design language is of high value at a reasonable cost. These vehicles punch above their weight class when it comes to presentation.

2025 Mazda CX-90 Review

This 2025 Mazda CX-90, in its top-tier Turbo S Premium Plus trim level, is a prime example boasting a Nappa leather interior, silky smooth straight-six engine and 21-inch chrome wheels with an MSRP under 60 grand. 

The exterior design is one of the easiest on the eye in the mid-size SUV segment. It looks like it cares about its appearance, taking the time to style its rear roof spoiler and polishing the chrome accents so they flash in the sunlight.

One detail that warmed my heart is the “Inline 6” emblem positioned high on the front fender with pride like a war metal. The cat-eyed headlamps are paired with a large front bumper with buxom air intakes that come off like chubby cheeks if you stare at the CX-90’s face directly.

The rest of the SUV’s contemporary styling flows like an arrow heading for a bull’s eye before ending at the rear in a curvaceous tail end.

The shape of the CX-90 rear can change depending on how the light hits and where you stand. It looks longer and slimmer at certain angles, and sometimes the rear window pops outward like a bubble. 

Interior Design Treats Your Sense of Sight and Touch

This model hosted the best interior offered in the CX-90’s lineup, a tan Nappa leather upholstery matched with suede and contrasting dark leather and wood accents.

Your sense of touch is treated to a new texture wherever your hand lands while dazzling the eye. In one instance, I was pulled over for speeding by the state’s finest, and after thanking the Trooper for issuing me a warning, he asked me to feel the suede running across the dashboard. 

A fancy-looking interior is only as good as the comfort it can provide. So, to give the Mazda a proper shakedown, I used it on a 400-mile, overnight family road trip.

Family Road Trip with the Mazda CX-90

All SUVs are great when quiet and empty but show their true character when the seats and cup holders are full.

A 400-mile road trip provides ample opportunity to experience Mazda’s 3.3-liter turbocharged inline-six engines with a 48-volt hybrid system, of which the CX-90 is the first to debut. Entry-level models get a 280-horsepower variant of the engine.

Higher trim levels get longer legs with 340 hp when burning preferred but not demanded premium fuel. All-wheel drive is standard across the lineup, using an eight-speed automatic transmission. Mazda also offers a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variant of the CX-90, but that’s a review for another time. 

The loveseat third row, offering four cup holders and USB ports without invading the valuable rear cargo space. When the third-row seats are down, you have the utility of an SUV; when they are up, you still have enough room to stack luggage. A good mark for Mazda. 

I’m happy to say the CX-90 passed the road test with flying colors apart from two hiccups. 

My Issue with the Gear Selector

The first is the short, knobby gear selector that operates like a bolt-action rifle, requiring the user to engage a lock-release button before sliding the lever to the right to disengage the parking gear and slide up and down for reverse, neutral or drive.

Getting used to this mechanism felt like learning a card trick; sometimes, it was magic, but most times, it was clumsy as my muscles tried to develop some memory. 

In my early working career, I spent years handling strangers’ cars as a valet, used car salesman, rental agency associate and in the bays of a 10-minute oil change service garage. In this unwritten thesis on humanity, I learned that most people are not gentle with vehicles.

The mules pulling covered wagons on the Oregon Trail saw more sympathy than some of the cars I’ve seen, sat in and driven. CSI crime scene flashbacks of swampy cup holders, grime-layered center consoles and grease trap steering wheels, without getting to the bloody gore under the hood. 

I thought about these memories every time I forgot to slide the shifter to the right and felt the lever jam or the car roll backward because it was still in reverse gear. 

The lever is not made of steel and has a very faint but noticeable give if you apply firm pressure and wiggle. This led me to believe that someone under the right amount of stress could break the lever.

That’s not a jab at the CX-90’s build quality, but at how humans react to the compounding layers of everyday life. This little lever has the weight to break a camel’s back on a bad day. 

Little Issue with the Second Row Seats

The other hiccup occurred when rear passengers tried to recline the second-row captain’s chairs and were abruptly halted after two inches of travel. These seats offer the same false sense of reclining tranquility as a commercial flight. It’s enough for you to fall asleep but not enough to be comfortable doing so with your head inevitably resting on the side of the window or your neighbor’s shoulder.

Smooth Straight Six Performance

Open the hood, and you’re greeted with a charming feature of a hook system to lift the plastic cover off the engine and save the trouble of tossing it on the ground or letting it clutter the engine bay. It made me laugh the first time I saw it, a-hat-on-a-hat.

Aside from that, the engine behaves like a con man with a silver tongue – smooth. It provides a potent response when you punch the throttle. The only times I felt it slip up was when the overzealous stop/start feature disrupted its rhythm. 

I averaged 27 mpg on the highway and 24 in the city during a 780-mile week of road testing. 

If you include the PHEV models, the CX-90’s lineup starts at $38K for the entry-level with nine trim levels. For my money, I aim for high-middle variants with the best qualities, like the 340 hp engine spec, triple-zone climate control and heating for the second-row seats. 

Great Presentation Overall

While a couple of qualities rubbed me the wrong way, the 2025 Mazda CX-90 made a great overall impression.

People notice it when you drive by, and if they get close, they’ll ask what it is and be surprised when you say Mazda. It drives like it cares, looks like it aims to impress and handles family matters with grace. 

Engine: 3.3-liter Turbocharged Inline Six

Transmission: 8-speed automatic

0 to 60: 6.3 seconds

Starting Price: $37,845 (Turbo Select)

Price as Shown: $57,905 (Turbo S Premium Plus)