A Road Trip to D.C. and the Mazda CX-90 SUV: 3 Things I Learned About Sizing Up

Fast forward to my adult years. Living in New York City, a car was for a long time a non-essential. (Why stress about street parking when you have the MTA?) But then my first-born son arrived. So did a global pandemic. In May 2020, my husband and I bought ourselves a Mazda 6 Sedan. We test drove other options, of course, but I loyally kept coming back to Mazda—not only for its reliability, but for its pep. (Seriously, a huge selling point of the car was the fact that it comes with a turbocharged engine.) Quite simply, it handled the road better and was fun to drive.

I felt good staying in the Mazda family, but fast forward five years, and with the addition of another kid—now eight months—space is at a premium, especially on the road. (Ask me about our Christmas commute between Brooklyn and Boston and how it felt to be sandwiched between a booster seat and a car seat in the back.) I began Googling to learn about SUVs (which ones offered the most trunk space, which ones felt the most city-friendly) and, I swear it had nothing to with any algorithm, but Mazda kept coming up. Would I continue my streak and stay in the Mazda family with my next car purchase? I had the chance to borrow the Mazda CX-90 Plug-In Hybrid SUV for a full month to try it on for size and find out.

1. Parents Can Rejoice: There’s an Abundance of Space

This is top of my list when it comes to determining the next vehicle I buy. If I go the SUV route, am I really walking away with loads more space than my Sedan? (You’d be surprised how many larger vehicles actually result in less trunk space, not more.) My ultimate test: Loading my two kids into the middle row for our trip to D.C., which offers two captain’s chairs, then popping down the back seat to see what I could fit. (I’m not a light packer, no matter how hard I try.) Here’s the thing—to maximize the cargo space, the back seat has to go down. (Otherwise, it’s pretty compact with just 16 cubic feet.) But it more than doubles to 40 cubic feet once that third row is down—I was able to fit three suitcases (my infant and I shared), loads of games (my son can’t leave home without an IKEA-sized bin of his toy dinos, which we occasionally allow), a travel crib, a stroller and more. It was so satisfying to load all of that and still have comfortable leg room—and ample personal space—in that middle row.

2. The Driver Assists Really Take the Cake

My first time in the driver’s seat, I almost didn’t know where to look, there was so much tech on display. The infotainment system synced easily with my iPhone via CarPlay; the Moana soundtrack was blaring via the 12-speaker Bose sound system. (The speaker quality really transcends for music, but also for audio alerts.) I especially loved the addition of the Head’s Up display, which for those who haven’t tried it, makes navigation extra seamless and allows you to keep your eyes on the road. But there was so much else that made me feel extra safe (and kept the car—and, therefore, my family—protected) on the road: Cross-traffic alerts, even though they activated a bit too easily, helped me stay extra alert. The overhead and front-facing cameras (in addition to the cameras that gave the rear view) made parallel parking in Brooklyn a breeze. Less digital, but still fantastically functional: The retractable window shades in the back seat. More than anything, the tech that comes included felt thoughtful and very practical and functional vs. nice to have.

3. For a Mid-Size SUV, It Handles the Road Really Well

One of the things that I love about the Mazda 6 that I currently own is the pick-up. That turbo-charged engine really sings and it handles the road really well while still coming with quite a bit of pick-up, too. (It’s the thing I remember most from my 2020 sedan test drives: How many cars do the opposite, which can be scary—especially when merging.) But that’s the thing: For a mid-size SUV, the CX-90—the hybrid version of it, which comes with all-wheel drive and 323-horsepower—has oomph. This comes down to the inline four-cylinder engine in conjunction with the electric motor that has a 17.8-kWh battery pack. Bottom line, I still felt that power and pickup even with a bigger and much heavier vehicle.

I was most impressed by the cargo space and how comfortably it fit four passengers, including two little ones with far-ranging travel needs. I could climb in the back to search for a sweatshirt with plenty of leg-room, just as easily as I could position myself to nurse my infant at a rest stop on the road. The only difficulty came with street parking it in a city like Brooklyn—the car is lengthier than I’m used to but the 360-camera views really made a world of difference when nabbing a spot—but that’s a New York City-specific problem. Parking elsewhere was a breeze. Overall, it made trips (long and short) feel peaceful and calmer somehow. But also, downsizing back to my sedan felt odd after living a comfier life for so long. Raise your hand if you’re ready to size up. After this test drive, I know I am.