Mazda CX-9 – Review, Specs, Pricing, Features, Videos and More

We sent out the call. A request to every manufacturer, looking for new, significantly updated, or strong contenders in the mainstream three-row SUV segment. We need the best of best for a special AutoGuide Three-Row SUV Shootout Comparison brought to you by Weathertech. Our goal: to find the best 3 row SUV.

Quickly, manufacturers responded and entries poured in. Representing Korea are two strong options in the Kia Telluride and Hyundai Palisade. From Japan, we have the usual players, the Honda Pilot, Nissan Pathfinder, Subaru Ascent, and Toyota Highlander.

Also, there’s Mazda. The brand was eager to get the tried-and-true CX-9 in our shootout, but what they offered next was huge; both literally and figuratively. Mazda was granting us early access to the brand’s yet unreleased, all-new, CX-90 three-row SUV for this shootout. For those unfamiliar with the CX-90, it’s built on a completely new rear-wheel drive bias platform, featuring an equally new turbocharged inline-six.

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To suggest all-wheel drive three-row crossovers are popular is akin to saying the sun is a bit hot. Or the Montreal Canadiens are off to a bad start this season.

Trawl through any suburban neighbourhood and you’ll find hundreds of the things, parked in driveways of mid-century homes and McMansions alike.

Which is why it’s a big deal when an automaker overhauls their entry in the segment. Nissan gave its Pathfinder a rethink for 2022, draping it in sheetmetal much more angular and truck-like than last year’s model, which was lumpen and unremarkable. Mazda treated its CX-9 to a mid-year refresh, hence the decimal point in its name, appending it with updates to the grille and interior trim.

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It was looking like a walk in the park. But then the wind came in.

A flash snow squall is a very real thing here in Canada. It was a clear day, one specifically chosen by Kyle and I so that we could use the break from the clouds to shoot our comparison. It was all going so well. The skies were clear, the light was good and both the 2021 Mazda CX-9 and Toyota Highlander XSE gleamed in the sun inviting us to hover around them with our lenses.

Our hopes were high for the new, sportier Highlander. After all, it comes with “sport tuned suspension.” So the next step was finding a worthy rival. Enter the 2021 Mazda CX-9 Carbon Edition (or Kuro north of the border), a darker and more luxurious version of Mazda’s three-row crossover. Add to that Mazda’s handling prowess and an almost identical price tag, and it was a comparison made in heaven. As I reveled in that reverie, the weather turned on us quite suddenly.

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