After a much talked about debut in America this spring, the Mazda CX-9 SUV will soon make its appearance in Australia this summer. The anticipation is fever pitch and Mazda finally has a large SUV that can challenge the hegemony of Toyota Kluger (petrol)/ Toyota Fortuner (diesel), Holden Captiva and Kia Sorento among others. Looking at the feature list, the competitive price especially of the base Sport trim, the company seems to got ingredients right this time. Outside or inside, the car has gone through a number of changes and each has made it more appealing and user friendly than the outgoing model.

Mazda has thoughtfully added a number of safety and technology features as standard. This does improve ride experience even in the base model and the gap between the top trim and the base is not that conspicuous. There are a number of luxury items on the base model as well. The leather-wrapped steering wheel with mounted cruise, audio and Bluetooth controls, the dazzling center console with piano black trimming, the tab-like dash mounted audio/video screen, the textured dash and the elegant finish on the door panels and arm rests are all very attractive.

The apple of the eye has to be the very stylish media screen on the center stack with Mazda Connect infotainment system. The screen in the base model is 7 inches in size while that in higher trims is 8 inches. There is a rotary dial on the center console as a backup for the intuitive touchscreen. The base version however doesn’t get Apple Carplay or Siri. There are no power windows at the back and it also doesn’t get automatic wipers and lights. The car however has a number of USB ports, both at the front and the middle rows.

You can test drive a Mazda CX-9 today by walking in to Cardinale Mazda showroom.

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Cardinale Mazda

500 Auto Center Circle

Salinas, California 93907

Phone: 877.989.9252

Website: www.cardinalemazda.com