In the Premium Plus trim level, the CX-90 comes with a panoply of driver assists. The ride is firm, but bump isolation is good, and the vehicle structure feels stout. And whereas the CX-5 feels nimble for its size, the CX-90 mostly just feels its size, with solid handling and 0.83 g of lateral grip on our skidpad. The somewhat high effort levels feel mostly like friction in the system rather than the natural loading of effort with cornering forces. The steering isn't up to Mazda's usual standards as on, say, the CX-5. LOWS: Some powertrain missteps, marginal third row, steering falls short of the Mazda norm. One arena where the I-6 holds a clear advantage: towing, with the six-cylinder good for a 5000-pound max rating compared to the PHEV's 3500 pounds. Out on the highway, where the PHEV leans more heavily on its four-banger, the I-6 pulls close to even with a 4.5-second 50-to-70-mph time to the PHEV's 4.4-second showing. With the electric motor's ready torque (199 pound-feet at 400 rpm), the PHEV's advantage is more pronounced in the suburban slog-accelerating from 30 to 50 mph takes 2.7 seconds to the I-6's 3.6 clicks. (We haven't tested the 280-hp version.) In the quarter-mile, the plug-in again noses ahead, crossing the mark after 14.5 seconds at 97 mph, versus 14.7 at 99 mph for the I-6. The PHEV reaches 60 mph in 5.9 seconds, beating its 340-hp six-cylinder sibling by 0.4 second. For the most part, though, the gas-electric CX-90 shrugs off the extra mass. The all-wheel-drive Premium Plus plug-in crushed our scales to the tune of 5236 pounds, some 350 more than a similarly spec'd CX-90 turbo six. Predictably, the PHEV's extra hardware adds weight. Our plug-in Premium Plus test car wore a $58,920 sticker price. Mazda evidently sees the PHEV as the middle-of-the-lineup offering, and in Premium Plus trim it's priced at $4000 more than the base I-6 and $3000 less than the Turbo S. Despite the battery's size, the CX-90 PHEV doesn't qualify for the $7500 Federal tax credit due to its assembly in Japan. The PHEV also adds a battery with an estimated 14.8 kWh of usable energy capacity to feed the electric side of the powertrain. Like either turbo six, the PHEV uses an eight-speed automatic with a wet clutch rather than a torque converter, and it makes an identical 369 pound-feet of torque to the non-base six. It puts out a total of 323 horsepower, landing it just shy of the turbo six's 340-hp in its higher state of tune but well ahead of the 280-hp base version. The plug-in-hybrid powertrain combines a 2.5-liter four with an electric motor and an eight-speed automatic. Is the plug-in worth it?įirst, some facts and figures. The CX-90 comes in a host of configurations, and generally speaking, the plug-in hybrid costs more than the turbo six, although that depends on the trim level. Its longitudinal-engine, rear-wheel-drive architecture is an about-face from all the brand's current products save for the Miata, and both of its powertrains are Mazda firsts: a turbocharged inline-six and a plug-in-hybrid four-cylinder. For Mazda, the CX-90 marks several major departures.
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