2023 Mazda CX-60: Five cool features making their Mazda debuts

The new 2023 Mazda CX-60 represents many ‘firsts’ for the brand.

In addition to an all-new rear-wheel-drive architecture included below the Mazda SUV’s body, two brand-new inline six-cylinder engines will eventually find their way under the CX-60’s bonnet.

While it’s coy to say it aloud, Mazda is attempting to position the vehicle towards the luxury segment, with higher levels of equipment and nicer materials as a ‘cut-price’ rival for models from brands such as BMW and Audi.

The CX-60 will also host the Japanese brand’s first-ever plug-in hybrid powertrain, mated to a new Mazda-developed eight-speed automatic transmission.

It’s an exciting time for the brand, but here are the bits and pieces making their Mazda debut on the CX-60 that we’re most excited about.

Mazda’s new See-Through View camera system allows you to invariably see through your car, making it easier to manoeuvre at low speeds.

Because the blockade of a car’s body is not seen using this wide-view camera, drivers have a better contextual understanding of what surrounds the car. Objects around the car aren’t obscured by the car’s own bodywork, which could make spotting items such as bollards and wheel stops in car parks much easier.

The CX-60 is able to do this using four cameras placed around the car, which stitch together a comprehensive view of the car’s surroundings.

Mazda’s new Driver Personalisation System makes its debut on the Mazda CX-60, a system which can recall the preferences of specific vehicle occupants and adjust their seating positions accordingly each time they step into the vehicle.

This neat trick draws upon a driver-facing camera which can tell which driver is behind the steering wheel and automatically adjust various parameters to suit them, including seat position, steering wheel, mirrors, head-up display, and even the climate control and stereo system settings.

To set up the feature a driver must save their height in the infotainment system, before the feature matches what the driver entered to their eye-line.

A first for Mazda is the choice of five separate drive modes, where usually Mazdas were limited to a singular Sport setting, or an additional Off-road mode. On the list for the CX-60 plug-in hybrid are five Mi-Drive modes including Normal, Sport, Off-road, Towing, and EV.

Sport primes the vehicle for dynamic driving by locking the car’s petrol engine on, boosted by the 17.8kWh battery and electric motor.

Off-road and Towing modes tune the vehicle’s new eight-speed transmission to best deal with tackling loose surfaces or pulling a load, while also changing aspects of the all-wheel-drive system.

EV mode makes fully-electric driving possible by switching off the combustion engine, enabling up to 60 kilometres on a full charge according to WLTP testing. There’s also a mode which can preserve the vehicle’s battery for later, so you’re not draining when on rural roads, for example.

Mazda has done away with the Aisin-developed six-speed transmission in its front-wheel-drive cars, and developed an all-new gearbox in house for the CX-60.

This new eight-speed gearbox uses planetary gears and multi-plate clutches in place of a torque converter for a “smooth and responsive gear shift” – akin to what’s found in a high-end Mercedes-AMG luxury car.

Mazda also says the new eight-speed ‘box returns better fuel economy, an important aspect the company focused on – especially for the plug-in hybrid variant. Gears can be manually selected using steering wheel-mounted paddles.

Mazda drivers will have three separate screens to display all pertinent driving, infotainment, and navigational data.

Making a debut on a Mazda for the first time with the CX-60 is a fully-digital 12.3-inch instrument cluster, rather than the 7.0-inch displays in past models. In addition to instruments, shows various screens such as a start-up animation and drive mode-related displays when appropriate.

The head-up display is three times larger than that of the Mazda CX-30, showing information such as speed, navigation, and adaptive cruise control status.

The CX-60 also has a 12.3-inch infotainment screen which now includes touch capability – albeit only when stationary. It runs the now familiar Mazda Connect software seen in the Mazda 3, CX-30, CX-5, CX-8 and CX-9.