Mazda CX-70 (2025) Review

The engineering underneath is genuinely impressive and unfashionable: a longitudinal inline-six with rear-biased drive, in a segment where everyone else fits a transverse four. It is smooth, strong and sounds good, and the chassis is the most composed thing in the class. The cabin is beautifully done. The problem is the product decision rather than the car. The CX-70 is a CX-90 with the third row removed and barely any money saved, so the buyer is asked to pay three-row prices for two-row space, and the extra cargo room does not make up the difference for most people.

The mild hybrid system is also rougher than a Toyota equivalent at low speed, stopping and restarting the engine in a way you notice in traffic. Resale will suffer for the same reason the sales do. The CX-90 is the better buy at almost the same money, and that comparison is impossible to escape.