Mazda first peep: now you see it, now you don’t!

ROD HENSHAW was on the first Canberra peep of the brand new, luxurious Mazda CX-60. “Even somebody of my poor, mechanically-challenged disposition can’t assist being blown away by the sheer model and end,” he writes…

THEY snuck it into city and snuck it out once more a day later. Not that Mazda didn’t need anybody to see it. Fairly the opposite.

The soon-to-be launched Mazda CX-60 Azami (top-of-the-range mannequin, after all) is on a whirlwind tour of Mazda sellers alongside the jap seaboard forward of its full launch, most likely in Could. In different phrases, a “sneak preview”.

Phillip Mazda, on Melrose Drive, was the chosen venue for the ACT viewing, attended by personnel from sister dealership Belconnen Mazda, invited and potential prospects and a sprinkling of different model sellers who naturally needed to have a sticky beak.

There was no iconic Mazda Zoom Zoom sound impact concerned right here. The “showcase” automobile is transported all over the place on the again of a truck. No one – and meaning completely no person – will get to drive it. Not even into the showroom – it’s pushed in and positioned for the transient one-day show. Very fastidiously. No “let’s take it for a spin across the block” occurring right here. No, sir!

Personally, I’m extra a tyre kicker than a motoring reviewer, however even somebody of my poor, mechanically-challenged disposition can’t assist being blown away by the sheer model and end, to not point out the selection of CX-60 fashions, quickly to hit the Australian market.

Up shut and private, you don’t have to pore via the shiny brochures to grasp instantly it’s one hell of a beast.

Phillip Mazda joint gross sales supervisor Michael Rolfe sums it up extra eloquently.

“The important Mazda components of design, efficiency and know-how have nonetheless been included, however have been elevated to a brand new degree of luxurious and class,” he says.

Mazda has lined all shopper and demographic bases with its three CX-60 fashions, starting from the three.31L petrol turbo Evolve, via to the sporty GT and proper as much as the luxurious Azami.

All three fashions are hybrid, with the Evolve and the GT accessible with petrol turbo, 3.31L diesel turbo or the two.5L PHEV (Mazda’s first plug-In hybrid).

Likely the Evolve and the GT will show to be as widespread as the sooner CX fashions, however for pure salivation functions the Azami is de facto in a category of its personal, with out detracting an excessive amount of from the standard and accessible choices provided by its different two siblings.

“The mid-sized SUV market is a well-liked one for rising households and Mazda has provided one other enticing possibility on prime of the ground-breaking CX-5,” Michael Rolfe says.

In the end, it comes down to private tastes and necessities starting from whether or not you need to hog it to your self – or share it with the household.

On all three fashions, Mazda invitations you to “construct your CX-60” and there’s a whole lot of leeway to take action. These decisions are too quite a few to listing right here, however once more, private preferences are the secret and, for sure, the scale of your pockets.

However to single out a number of notable options, Mazda has gone out of its strategy to place a heavy give attention to security with its Blind Spot Monitoring (BSM), which incorporates automobile exit warning. That’s commonplace within the Evolve and the GT fashions, with a brand new technology 360-degree view monitor with see-through view, a specific attraction within the luxurious Azami.

Michael Rolfe reckons these driver aids will show to be as enticing as they are going to be sensible.

“The driving force help programs of see-through view and the 360-degree monitor with an prolonged subject at low speeds and automobile exit warning for rear approaching street customers, will likely be very nicely acquired.”

For many who perceive such technicalities, myself excluded, I’ll defer to Mazda’s specs to fill you in on the three attractive engine thingys.

• 2.5L PLUG-IN HYBRID (PHEV) that includes a 2.5-litre inline four-cylinder Skyactiv-G engine, mated to a 129-kW electrical motor, for a formidable 241 kW and 500 Nm of torque.
• 3.3L MILD HYBRID TURBO PETROL – high-powered turbocharged petrol, delivering 209 kW and 450 Nm of torque.
• 3.3L MILD HYBRID TURBO DIESEL – Mazda’s first e-Skyactiv-D turbo diesel, producing 187 kW and a considerable 550 Nm of morgue.

Did somebody point out costs? It’s a variety masking a mess of choices, however for the Evolve 3.31L petrol turbo you’re $63,744 via to the mouth-watering Azami 2.5L PHEV coming in at $92,004. For the sporty GT, the beginning value is $71,904.

My conclusion is predicated purely on my love of comfy driving and a gratuitous ardour for beauty and may be summed up in three phrases: I would like one.

For gross sales enquiries, name 6208 4444.