“Jinba-ittai: The exceptional drivetrain on the Mazda CX-60 Takumi allows the driver and the car to form an intuitive connection. (Supplied)
“Jinba-ittai” is Mazda’s term for the intuitive connection between the driver and the car. It directly translates to “the horse and rider as one”.
The brand’s CX-60, now the flagship of its range in South Africa, embraces the phrase wholeheartedly.
The Mail & Guardian test-drove the CX-60 Takumi, which is a 3.3-litre turbo-diesel mild hybrid. And that is as odd as it is long. We are not used to seeing diesel hybrid vehicles and these odd combinations can work wonders or fail abysmally. There’s usually no middle ground.
My expectations were high because Mazda released this powertrain with a lot of confidence. The 3.3 litre turbodiesel engine paired to an electric motor is advertised before anything else on their website and in the brochure, so that’s how I knew that this could be a recipe for success.
The Mazda CX-60’s mild hybrid electric vehicle technology combines an internal-combustion engine with a compact electric motor and battery. This harnesses energy while braking to assist the engine during acceleration, reducing fuel consumption and emissions.
The engine puts out 187 kilowatts of power and 550Nm of torque.
The Drive
I started with a journey from Johannesburg to Springs to get the feel of the vehicle, coming to grips with the acceleration and the handling.
At first, I found the steering wheel to be a little tight and heavy. But, on the next drive, I realised that sitffness was due to the lane-keep assist feature.
It was from my second long-distance drive in this vehicle that I really began to become one with it. I started to understand jinba-ittai.
The car handled the N12 and R21 highways effortlessly. You could feel every bit of power that Mazda has claimed from this 3.3-litre turbocharged diesel engine.
But it wasn’t just about the power, it was the supreme comfort while driving, the ease and the fact that I didn’t feel as if I had to adapt to the car, but rather that it was adapting to me.
Mazda has got this drivetrain so absolutely spot-on that it brings your driving experience to the fore.
The Mi-Drive feature contributes further to the success of this vehicle’s driving experience. The technology lets drivers choose between different modes to tailor the vehicle’s performance to their preferences and conditions.
Only the fuel consumption did not live up to the boasted figure. Mazda claims that you will get 4.9 litres/100km, but the most I could get the vehicle to was 6.9 litres/100km. That is quite a stretch from the claimed figure. But still, for a vehicle of its size, that consumption is very economical and it can easily do 800km to 900km on a full tank.
The interior
It’s not just the drivetrain that contributes to that complete feeling the CX-60 gives you, it is also the comfort you experience in the cabin.
Comfortable leather seats, a large armrest, electrically adjustable seats and, for once, an infotainment screen that isn’t a touch screen, but rather controlled by a knob on the driver’s left which, in my view, makes it much less distracting when managing the screen in the centre, which was also more angled towards the driver.
Mazda is really pushing that driver-centric approach in this vehicle.
However, the infotainment screen does come with its fair share of frustrations. While I prefer not to have touch screens while driving, I did not enjoy it when I was trying to toggle to an option and just could not get to it. I struggled to connect my phone to the vehicle via bluetooth and eventually had to connect a cable to use its Apple CarPlay.
The cabin comes equipped with a Bose sound system which gives the entire family superb sound, no matter where they are sitting. And, yes, the family can sit anywhere and sit comfortably as the legroom and headroom at the back are ample for the kids and for average-sized adults.
Exterior
With the exterior, Mazda has done well with the large front grille and headlights that retreat into the body of the car, which makes it different, while the overall shape and look of the vehicle still allows it to maintain the Mazda identity.
The Mail & Guardian had the vehicle in platinum quartz and that is the colour I would recommend to anyone interested in this vehicle although it also looks stunning in sonic silver and machine grey. However, I’m not a fan of the vehicle in deep crystal blue and soul red, which detract from the exterior features of the vehicle.
The CX-60 Takumi also has a panoramic sunroof that I hardly used because of either the heat or the rain, but a sunroof is always a nice feature to have.
Safety
The CX-60 features advanced safety technologies like lane assist, lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, driver monitor and advanced smart city brake assist to protect both occupants and other road users, enhancing driver confidence.
One of the coolest things about this vehicle is the driver personalisation settings. The vehicle will detect when a new person is sitting in the driver seat. Once you register and personalise your settings, the system uses a facial-recognition camera to automatically adjust the driver’s seat, steering wheel, head-up display and exterior mirrors, based on body height and eye position, eliminating the need for manual adjustments.
Verdict
The CX-60 comes in three variants: a 2.5L Dynamic Auto RWD, a 2.5L Individual Auto AWD and the 3.3L DE Takumi AWD, the variant we tested.
The price on the 2.5 Dynamic Auto RWD is R770 900 and the 2.5 Individual Auto AWD is priced at R879 900. The Takumi however, comes in at R 1 074 700. This makes it Mazda’s most expensive car in South Africa ever.
The vehicle really does embody Mazda’s shift to becoming a luxury brand and, as I mentioned earlier, it does give you the feeling of jinba-ittai, but that price is a touch heavy for a brand entering the luxury space.
With Mazda bringing in four more luxury vehicles in the next two years, including a fully electric vehicle, those prices might not drop, but it will be interesting to see if the brand can use the CX-60 as a stepping stone to competing among the luxury brands.
