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Timeless Design
"Jinbai Ittai" is a Japanese four-character compound describing the unity of horse and rider which is pertinent to Yabusame, Japanese mounted archery. It is also the design philosophy of Mazda. This concept has been the driving force behind the sensuous styling of the entire Mazda range for years. This has led to vehicles that are not only solidly engineered but also stunningly beautiful. Proudly celebrating over 100 years of making cars, Mazda South Africa finally brought the much-anticipated CX-60 D-SUV to South Africa.
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Entering a busy market segment and facing stiff competition, The CX-60 offers a special something that many of its contemporaries lack, pure style. The CX-60 is a beautiful car with sleek flowing lines that meld into one another. We spent a week with this stylish icon and it left us feeling the need to fire arrows from horseback, just as its creators intended.
Styling
The aforementioned concept of Jinbai Ittai means that the entire vehicle has been designed around the driver and how they interact with the vehicle. This begins as the driver approaches the car,m how they perceive the lines and how these lines lead the driver toward the door, inviting them to enter.
The KODO design, which draws together all the vehicles in Mazda's current lineup, is most evident in the sculpted sidelines and imposing front-engined, SUV architecture. Upfront there is a sculpted front face and almost too long bonnet with a new bar-type front grille, a signature wing with illumination function, and a vertically stacked front lamp design. At the rear you will find a shorter rear silhouette that creates a powerful and dynamic shape which only adds highlight to the 20" alloy wheels, all creating its bold appearance.
Mazda gets full marks for making a visually beautiful vehicle that draws you in and beckons you to take a drive. The Jinbai Ittai concept doesn't only apply to the exterior as the idea carries through to the interior aswell.
Space & Interior
When we say that the design is driver-focused, we mean it. Everything from the way that the infotainment screen and switch gear is directed toward the driver, to the ergonomics of the seat, to the shape and directionality of the mirrors, ensures that the driver is the centre point of the driving experience.
All the contact points are soft touch, coated in either a squishy rubber material on the dashboard, leather on the centre console, or high-grade plastics on the doorcards. It is, however, the interior space that gets our vote, Mazda has maximised the interior space to such an extent that it is easily the most spacious interior we've tested in a long time. The rear passengers are actually able to extend their legs quite aways, while 3 rear passengers' shoulders will not touch due to the fact that the CX-60 cabin has ample width, offering 1,504 mm of shoulder room in the front seats and 1,441 mm in the rear seats.
The boot space is even larger coming in at a cavernous 570l load capacity, increasing to 1148l with the rear seats folded flat and 1726 litres when loaded to the ceiling.
Comfort & Convenience
As mentioned before there is ample space interior wise but it is the features that Mazda has chosen to include that make this a near-perfect family drive. Automatic climate control, minimalist switch gear, easy-to-use controls and a clutter-free environment and interface ensure a calming and worry-free drive.
The driver’s cockpit area features high-end instrument displays for the driver, a full 12-inch TFT-LCD instrument meter display, and for everyone else a 12.3-inch infotainment centre display which features Apple Car Play and Android Auto. The audio quality from the sound system is second to none with ambient and road noise kept to a minimum than ks to Mazda's clever use of sound-deadening materials and strategic places throughout the cabin.
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Performance
Beneath the bonnet you will find a 2.5 litre in-line four-cylinder, 16-valve DOHC S-VT (SKYACTIV-G) petrol with i-Stop. Mated to this is the 8-speed automatic transmission. with the combination delivering 141kW and 261 Nm of torque, providing the perfect balance of power and efficiency.
By replacing the torque converter with a clutch, the torque of the engine and motor is transmitted directly, with sharp and rhythmic shifting much like a manual transmission, enabling a response that feels more natural to the driver. The CX-60 delivers smooth and responsive gear shifting with multi-stepping giving a operating wide operating range and managing to achieve the perfect balance of dynamic performance.
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Fuel Economy
Mazda claims the CX-60 will return 7.3l/100km. During our combined cycle testing we got pretty close, getting it down to 8.1l/100km across various driving situations, laden and unladen.
Safety
Mazda scored a resounding 5 stars on the Euro NCAP. Scoring 91% and 88% scores in its child and adult occupancy categories respectively and an impressive 89% score in the area of Vulnerable Road Users Protection.
Further standard active safety equipment includes a ABS with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD) and Brake Assist, Dynamic Stability Control (DSC), a Traction Control System (TCS), an Emergency Stop Signaling System (ESS), Hill Hold Assist (HLA), and Auto headlights.
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Price
In a market where similarly spec'ed vehicles easily approach the 1 million rand mark, Mazda has kept the CX-60 affordable, keeping the base model CX-60 under the R800k range
| Model | Price (incl. VAT) |
| Mazda CX-60 2.5 Dynamic | R 739 800 |
| Mazda CX-60 2.5 AWD Individual | R 844 500 |
Competitors
The market segment that the CX-60 enters is rather busy with competition coming from all sides. Although the BMW X3, Audi Q5, and Mercedes Benz GLC all compete it is the incoming threat from relative comers like the Beijing BAIC X55, Chery Tiggo 8 Pro that consumers are increasingly looking at. Long-time market players the Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sorento are also viable models to consider.
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Verdict
The KODO design language of Jinbai, sings a siren song to drivers to step up and take a drive and the CX-60 delivers in spades. It is a special feeling driving this car with all this being in. balance, as they should be. The CX-60 does go up against very stiff competition in this segment and with brand equity waning, the brand may have lost customers to the opposition. If they can convince those customers to give the CX-60 a try they will definitely win back a few as the CX-60 is just that good.
