Mazda CX-80 Review & Prices

The Mazda CX-80 is the latest entry into the big seven-seat SUV market, and it’s trying to take on the premium powerhouse German competition by packing lots of high-tech equipment and the option of a big six-cylinder diesel engine. 

It’s a bit like buying Marks & Spencer own-brand Champagne. It might be as technically good as the posh-label stuff, but will people take it as seriously?

From the outside, you can pretty easily tell that the CX-80 shares its basic structure with the CX-60. It’s far from the prettiest car that Mazda makes, with a honking great grille and tiny headlights that make it look a bit like it’s sucking on a lemon. 

Look down the side and you’ll instantly see that this CX-80 is much longer than the CX-60, taking it past the five-metre mark, and giving the CX-80 a lengthy 3.1-metre wheelbase.   

Inside, the CX-80 scores with a high-quality cabin, but you need to be careful about how you spec it. Top-spec Takumi and Takumi+ models get cream leather and big slabs of pale wood, set off by some gaudy chrome trim, which makes the whole thing look like a slightly tacky Las Vegas hotel bathroom. Much better to go for a lower-spec Homura or Homura+ which have a more plain and elegant-looking black leather interior.

The dashboard layout is very good. Mazda puts its infotainment screen up high and away from you, so it’s not a touchscreen and instead you use a ‘click-wheel’ controller on the centre console to select what you want. It’s a far easier system to use when you’re driving than a touchscreen, and it helps that Mazda (hurrah!) sticks with physical air conditioning controls. The digital instruments are much easier on the eye than those of most alternatives too, even if there are only limited ways in which you can adjust what’s on display. There’s also a very good head-up display.   

As standard, the CX-80 comes with seven seats, but if you go for a Homura+ or Takumi+ model, then the seating layout switches to a more luxurious six-seat setup, with ‘club-class’ style individual seats in the middle row (it’s a no-cost option for the Homura+ but costs extra for the Takumi+ because it includes a centre console with extra cup holders and a storage area). 

Thanks to the longer wheelbase, space in the middle row — whether it’s a seven- or six-seat CX-80 — is better than it is in the CX-60, but still not quite up to the leg-stretching likes of a Skoda Kodiaq or Hyundai Santa Fe. 

Space in the third row is, as with most seven-seat SUVs, only okay. If you need seats for actual adults in the third row, you either need to trade up to a Land Rover Discovery, or oddly trade down to a Dacia Jogger. 

The boot isn’t especially massive. There’s 258 litres of luggage space if all the seats are in use, which is fine but a Hyundai Santa Fe or Peugeot 5008 offer more. Fold the third row away and the most you can squeeze in is 687 litres. That’s a lot, but it’s almost tiny compared to what you can get from Skoda, Hyundai or Peugeot. With all seats flat there’s 1,971 litres of space, which again is less than the competition. 

The CX-80 is a bit of a mixed bag to drive, too. At low speeds, especially around town, it can feel too big and clumsy. The suspension is also too firm, jolting and jostling over bumps and speed ramps. Things improve on a twisty road, where the sharp steering and tight body control mean that there’s fun to be had, but only if the road stays smooth. 

The CX-80 comes with a choice of the same engines as the CX-60, so you can pick from a 2.5-litre petrol plug-in hybrid and a 3.3-litre straight-six diesel. Mazda claims that the plug-in hybrid can go for 38 miles on a full charge of its battery, but that’s fanciful — 25 miles is about your limit, and the plug-in gets really thirsty on long motorway runs. The 3.3 diesel is a far better engine. It’s smooth, and sounds like a BMW straight-six diesel when it revs, and it’s incredibly economical — close to 50mpg is do-able in real-world conditions.

If you’re interested in this seven-seater, check out the latest Mazda CX-80 deals on Carwow. You can also browse the latest used Mazdas from our network of trusted dealers, and when it’s time to sell your current car, Carwow can help with that, too.

The CX-80 is quite well priced, especially when you consider its lengthy standard equipment list and the fact that the plug-in hybrid model is the most affordable one. So while its base price is way above what’s asked for a Peugeot 5008 or a Skoda Kodiaq, those cars only come with compact mild-hybrid petrol engines in their cheapest form. 

The Mazda is priced more closely to the likes of the Hyundai Santa Fe and the Kia Sorento, and in fairness is closer to those cars in terms of size and brand appeal. It’s significantly cheaper than any seven-seat SUV from BMW, Audi, or Mercedes but then again Mazda — hard though it tries — still can’t really compete with those badges.