How much space is there?

• Passenger space is impressive
• But the boot feels small for the size
• Uncompromising approach wastes space

When you look at the CX-60 in profile it’s clear that a lot of its near-4.8m length is ahead of the windscreen, but you’ll also notice the long wheelbase and large doors. It looks like a scaled-up small SUV and as such, the wide openings, legroom and wide footwells are a welcome surprise.

Driver and front passenger benefit from the unusual in-line engine and gearbox design, with plenty of room to stretch out, rest and move about. Rear passengers get loads of legroom and space for knees, a supportive rear bench and a wider than average centre perch, though the transmission tunnel limits footwell space for the middle passenger.

Boot space and storage

As a big family SUV, the CX-60 offers above-average practicality and has enough room to meet most needs, but the large exterior doesn’t translate into amazing carrying capacity. The boot, at 477 litres with the floor in place, is wide and quite deep but has a high loading lip and the underfloor space is compromised by dividers and a subwoofer.

All four doors have generous pockets with bottle carriers, and there’s a large glovebox, coin box, sunglasses pocket and a centre console of phone-friendly width but not much depth between the front seats. Four USB-C ports provide power for front and rear, alongside a 12V socket. Choose the Convenience Pack option and you get a well-placed large wireless charging pad below the climate control, and UK-plug AC outlets of 150W for back seats and 1500W in the boot.

Tilt the rear seats forward (they are split 40:20:40 for through loads) and you get 1,726 litres of space, but the load bay is not particularly long. For comparison the Kia Sorento is only a few mm longer outside, but provides more than 600 litres of boot space (with the third row folded into the floor) and around 2,000 litres with all the seats down.

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Is it easy to park?

Yes. But it doesn’t always feel so, because the sides are so flat and the driving position so high. It’s 4,745mm long, 1,890mm wide excluding the mirrors, and 1,680mm high. For its size and length, the CX-60’s turning circle makes it easy to manoeuvre, but you’ll appreciate the reversing camera and sensors.

The mirrors are a little small, but automatically tilt, and the standard all-round sensors provide good feedback. The optional surround-view camera (Driver Assistance pack) is very effective, and it has automatic parking.

Finding a supermarket or NCP parking space with enough width and length to feel comfortable is another matter, as the doors are quite large.

Safety

• Impressive Euro NCAP score
• Lots of driver assistance technology…
• … but some features are optional

One advantage of the CX-60’s passenger-focused design is impressive safety credentials. Under the most recent Euro NCAP criteria it achieved excellent protection for adult and child occupants in all seats, and it has effective autonomous emergency braking both forward and reverse.

Isofix points are provided on the outer rear seats, and are easy to use with detachable plastic covers. The front passenger airbag can be disabled for rear-facing infant seats.

A wider sense of safety is achieved with the Driver Assistance pack, which adds adaptive cruise control with lane-keeping and stop-start assist, cross-traffic alert and rear obstacle alert. It also features adaptive headlights. The pack is competitively priced, and contributes to calmer driving on long trips, but the CX-60 is good enough without it.

Watch: Mazda CX-60 Euro NCAP crash test video