Mazda's CX-80 is spacious and stylish

Mazda’s new CX-80 mid-size flagship crossover SUV is the largest and most spacious vehicle in the Japanese carmaker’s European range, offering families a choice of six or seven seats.

Measuring almost five metres in length and with a wheelbase of over three metres, the new CX-80 is higher and has a much longer wheelbase than its popular sibling CX-60 but really is a larger version of that model. In style, designers say they have focused on the elegance and purity of a minimalist Japanese aesthetic which removes all unnecessary elements.

The interior is beautifully crafted with a premium feel, space and comfort being top priorities. Light flooded into the cabin with the two-section sunroof, the front section can tilt open. Gorgeous white Nappa leather seats added a special charm to the cabin. Front seats can be heated and ventilated, have power adjustments and lumbar support. I’m unsure about the pale cloth trim and open stitching along the dash as I fear it may not stand up to hard wear and tear but the bright maple wood trim on the doors looked really lovely.

The leather-wrapped steering wheel has electric telescopic and tilt adjustments and can also be heated. Centre dash is the 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen that supports wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but I preferred to navigate the infotainment system using the rotary dial on the centre console which is less distracting than the touchscreen. There's a row of physical buttons for the air conditioning. A really good Head Up Display showed my current speed and some safety features, doing away with the need to look at the digital instrument cluster. The automatic transmission shifter is on the wide flat of the central console.

There’s plenty of head and legroom for front and middle-row passengers. The roof height is quite low for a tall person entering the middle-row seats. There's less headroom for the two sat in the rear - usually younger people anyway. The car’s three-zone air conditioning includes individual air vents even for third-row seats which can also be heated. Buyers have the option of two separate captain’s seats in the second row, combined with either a big centre console as in my six-seater version or with a walk-through passage to the third row. Accessing the very two rear seats in the six-seater is child’s play really - you can slide the middle row seats to access them. A Bose premium sound system has 12 speakers.

The power tailgate opens with a swipe of your foot and is adjustable to the height you require. Boot space can extend to 1,971 litres with all but front seats flat; you can store charging cables under the floor. No spare, just an emergency tyre repair kit.

New features include a new Alexa in-car voice control that allows you to adjust key car settings via smart voice recognition, a new hybrid navigation system, and a new trailer hitch view which uses the centre display and advanced graphics to help position the vehicle relative to a trailer. The car can tow up to 2,500kg, which is more than the 2,000kg needed to tow a horse box.

Grades are Exclusive-Line, Homora, Homora Plus, Takumi and Takumi Plus. Even the entry-level comes very well specced. My car was equipped with very good blind spot monitors, front and rear parking sensors, Hill Launch Assist, Hill Descent Control, and thankfully a 360-degree view monitor so you can see every angle around this big car for ease of parking and manoeuvring in reverse with a see-through view option. When reversing, the car uses rear and side radars to detect vehicles or pedestrians and issues a warning. Mazda’s Driver Personalisation System recognises you as the driver and automatically adjusts various settings to fit your physique and personal preference, while the Mi-Drive system provides a choice of four drive modes of Normal, Sport, Off-Road and Towing mode, plus an EV mode for the PHEV.

Powertrain options are a PHEV hybrid electric petrol unit with 327hp and 261Nm torque that combines a four-cylinder 2.5l petrol engine with an electric motor, and a powerful 3.3 six-cylinder diesel outputting 254hp with Mazda’s own 48V mild hybrid system and a claimed 5.7 L/100kms fuel economy. Both are AWD with 8-speed automatic transmissions.

The PHEV can provide up to a claimed 60km of all-electric driving range before reverting to a hybrid petrol engine and can accelerate from 0-100km/h in 6.8 seconds with a top speed of 195km/h. Mazda claims a combined fuel consumption of 8.1 L/100kms, and my car’s trip computer showed a return of 8.6L/100kms which is very good for this big heavy 2.5 tonne weight vehicle.

On the road, the huge rear headrests blocked much of my rear view so I folded them down flat when the seats were unoccupied. Steering is quite light and there was oodles of power on tap for overtaking or joining the motorway.

Last January, the CX-80 was named Best in Class Large SUV by Euro NCAP scoring a minimum of five stars for safety.

PRICES: The entry-level is from €62,380; Takumi spec from €67,230; and Takumi Plus has an OTR price of €70,430.