Mazda CX-60 G40e Pure 2025 Review

After a mammoth price cut and rejigging of the range, the 2025 Mazda CX-60 five-seat medium SUV range looks a lot more appealing.

While the old model was already being discounted, official prices have come down by thousands of dollars and Mazda has added a new entry-level Pure grade and mid-spec Touring.

Here we’re testing the cheapest model in the entire 15-model CX-60 line-up, the $50,240 plus on-road costs (ORCs) G40e Pure – currently $53,990 drive away nationwide as an introductory offer.

It comes with an unchanged 209kW/450Nm inline six-cylinder 3.3-litre mild hybrid turbo-petrol engine that drives all four wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission.

This engine is offered across all five CX-60 grades, along with two more expensive choices: the D50e diesel 3.3-litre six-cylinder and the four-cylinder plug-in hybrid P50e.

Like all other CX-60s, the Pure gets the chassis retune that is the most important technical change for this update. Nothing much alters in terms of looks, while equipment is fiddled with in only small ways.

The CX-60 G40e Pure drops the entry price for the line-up by $9560 compared to the starting price in 2023 when CX-60 first launched with the Evolve trim as the cheapest option.

The arrival of the Pure at this pricing – and the addition of an even cheaper four-cylinder rear-wheel-drive CX-60 in a few months – signals definitively that Mazda is back in the mainstream SUV game chasing the sorts of sales it used to get from the discontinued Mazda CX-8 and more premium CX-9.

Sure, people can still shop a CX-60 against an Audi Q5 or BMW 3 Series further up a range that still extends beyond $80,000, but the advent of the Pure and these price cuts means they don’t have to.

The CX-60 is now priced as a rival for the upper end of mainstream medium SUVs such as the Kia Sportage, Mitsubishi Outlander, Toyota RAV4 and – dare we say it – the outgoing Mazda CX-5. You want seven seats? The CX-60+, sorry CX-80, is priced $5000 up the road.

The CX-60 G40e Pure brings with it 18-inch alloys, keyless entry and pushbutton start, a 10.25-inch infotainment screen (down from the 12.3-inch screen previously standard on all CX60s), a head-up display, wireless and plugged Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connection, satellite navigation, eight-speaker audio, cloth seat trim and dual-zone climate control.

Stuff you miss out on available further up the model walk includes a fully digital instrument panel, a powered tailgate, a wireless phone charger, leather seats, front-seat power adjustment, heating for all seats, a panoramic sunroof, a bigger touchscreen, a soft-touch dash pad and 12-speaker audio.

In terms of key safety equipment, the Pure includes autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, a 360-degree camera and front and rear parking cameras. It misses out on Mazda’s cruising and traffic support (a slow-speed aid to adaptive cruise control), front cross-traffic alert, see-through camera mode and driver monitoring.

A space saver spare tyre is standard. Four of eight paint choices cost an extra $995. No CX-60 gets Mazda’s connected car app, although it is available in the CX-80.

The CX-60 comes protected by a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty and five years of roadside assist, while servicing is scheduled every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first. 

Capped-price servicing averages out at $708.40 for each of the first five visits, compared to $673 when the CX-60 first launched. Over the same period a RAV4 all-wheel drive costs an average of $270.

Apart from the price reduction, which really is very good news, the other big deal here is Mazda’s second attempt to retune the troublesome on-road behaviour of the CX-60.

Most obviously, the criticisms have centred around an intrusive ride on anything bar billiard-table-smooth roads and edgy handling too focussed on sports driving.

So a cocktail of changes have been made to make the car more comfortable and skew the overall balance toward a more benign all-round behaviour.

The changes, most of which were introduced with the CX-80, include stiffer dampers and softer rear springs, the removal of the rear anti-roll bar, lower front knuckles, shorter bump stops and revised rear bush mounting axles.

The hardware and the software of the electric-assist steering has been revised as has the stability control and AWD software.

We compared the old and new during back-to-back testing via a series of exercises at the VinFast proving ground at Lang Lang near Melbourne.

The most revealing exercise involved highway speed (like 100km/h and over) laps of the ride and handling circuit, which demonstrated the new CX-60 has better lateral body control through changes of direction. Where the old car might have a couple of goes at settling, the new CX-60 felt more contained and stable.

As explained at Lang Lang by Mazda Corporation chassis engineer Toshiaki Aoki, the new CX-60 actually rolls more in corners but does it more progressively.

Slower speed noise and vibration testing was less revealing in terms of contrast, while a swerve and recover in the new CX-60 demonstrated its fundamental on-the-limit stability despite its length (4740mm), height (1675mm) and weight (1921kg).

That helped demonstrate how Mazda has worked to reduce CX-60’s oversteer (rear-wheel skidding).

While the Lang Lang exercises and explanations were interesting, the real test of the new CX-60’s tune came with a drive on our regular test loop on public roads.

And here it revealed itself to be fundamentally familiar.

On the most ride-friendly tyres the CX-60 offers – 235/60R18s – the G40e Pure still had a patter and intrusion on rougher roads. Not unliveable but not cloaked either.

Intrusions on sharp-edged bumps felt less reactive than before. They were dealt with more efficiently. Conversely, some floatiness was produced out of the longer-travel rear end over softer-edged depressions.

Steering is quick, not as weighty as the old car (even in sport mode it doesn’t weight up that much), and it took some time to come to terms with this and stop applying too much input. It seemed at odds with Mazda’s stated intention of delivering a less edgy drive.

Allied with the chassis changes, Mazda has retuned the relationship between the engine, e-motor and transmission in search of smoother operation.

It still rapid fires through its early gears, albeit with a momentary pause for thought between them. At Lang Lang it picked up aggressive driving inputs and adapted its protocols to hold gears longer. On the open road it was more relaxed, unless shifted to sport mode.

The manual change via flappy paddles proved interactively clicky and swift. The gear lever itself doesn’t seem as clunky to operate as before.

Other aspects of the CX-60 remain familiar. The inline six-cylinder is smooth and strong with a pleasing howl when pressed and an undoubtedly lively response when called upon.

The claimed fuel consumption isn’t especially compelling at 7.4L/100km. On our varied test loop it came in at 9.8L/100km. We reckon that’s in the upper reaches of what you will see in normal driving.

Another impact of the powertrain is the amount of cabin space it chews up because of its longitudinal layout. The centre console between the front seats is massive, legroom in row two for taller people is limited and the middle rear seat is very much the last option thanks to the transmission tunnel.

Storage is not especially generous front or rear, while luggage space is rated at an acceptable 477 litres, expanding to 1726L when row two is folded – the rear seats can be unlatched via handy flippers in the boot.

Of course, the CX-80 with its longer wheelbase and third row is the Mazda solution if you’re a family shopper in need of extra space.

The interior presentation is minimalist but does retain the essential buttons and dials to complete your requirements.

The operating system in the Pure retains Mazda no-touch functionality when rolling, which can be bit frustrating when you uselessly try to tap the screen to answer a phone call or have to scroll around in CarPlay to send a text.

Another frustration is the lane keep system can misread the road and identify cracks and tar joins as lines. The traffic sign identification also didn’t discriminate between advisory, variable and mandatory speed signs.

While the attempts to improve the driving characteristics of the 2025 Mazda CX-60 are commendable and somewhat detectable, it’s really the introduction of the Pure spec and price reductions that moves the needle here.

This vehicle is still familiar – its essential character has not changed – but its issues have been smoothed over somewhat and are a lot more acceptable at $50K plus ORC than $60K.

That means if you are in the market at the top end of the medium SUV segment the CX-60 presents as an interesting and viable alternative.

That’s a big step in the right direction.

2025 Mazda CX-60 G40e Pure AWD at a glance:
Price: $50,240 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 3.3-litre six-cylinder turbo-petrol mild hybrid
Output: 209kW/450Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 7.4L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 174g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2023)