Mazda CX-70 vs. CX-90: What Are the Differences?
Here’s a hint: They're more than cargo capacity and passenger space.
With the introduction of the three-row CX-90 for 2024 and two-row CX-70 for 2025, Mazda has the midsize SUV class pretty much covered. With either option, you get a handsome exterior, fancy interior, and capable powertrains, including the automaker’s strongest production engine to date. The two share the same platform, body, exterior and interior design language, and most of the same features. Of course, there’s more cargo space in the CX-70, but what other differences set these two SUVs apart?
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In addition to distinct cargo capacities, Mazda's two biggest SUVs offer some variation in styling, feature content, and trim levels. Keep reading to learn about the differences between the CX-70 two-row and CX-90 three-row midsize SUVs.
CX-70 vs. CX-90: Package Levels
Mazda offers the CX-70 in seven packages, five with the six-cylinder mild-hybrid powertrain and two with the inline-four plug-in hybrid. The base model, Turbo Preferred, employs the standard output mild hybrid setup, as do the Turbo Premium and Turbo Premium Plus models. Turbo S high-output mild hybrids and PHEV models are also separated into Premium and Premium Plus packages.
There are four additional versions of the CX-90 for a total of 11 packages. That lineup starts with the Turbo Select, and there’s also a standard-output Preferred Plus trim above Preferred and below Premium. The three-row also comes in Turbo S base and PHEV Preferred models not available for the CX-70.
CX-70 vs. CX-90: Exterior Colors, Trim
You can get either SUV in Jet Black Mica, or extra-cost premium exterior colors Rhodium White or Soul Red Crystal Metallic. Premium metallic hues exclusive to the CX-70 include Polymetal Gray, Zircon Sand, and Melting Copper. The CX-90’s model-specific paint colors include Deep Crystal Blue Mica, Platinum Quartz, Sonic Silver, and premium shades Machine Gray Metallic and Artisan Red Premium.
Generally, the CX-90’s exterior wears shiny accents while the CX-70 wears black ones—on fender badges, framing the grille and windows, running along the SUV’s rocker panels, and along the lower edges of the front and rear bumpers. The ducting in the lower corners of the front bumper is also different, as are the corners of the rear bumper.
CX-70 vs. CX-90: Wheels
Both lineups feature entry-level models that ride on 19-inch wheels, the CX-70 with a gray metallic finish and the CX-90 with a silver finish. The Turbo Premium package unlocks standard 21-inch wheels on both utes.
CX-70 vs. CX-90: Interior Colors
All CX-70s come with standard leather. Turbo Preferred, Turbo Premium, and PHEV Premium models are offered with the fabric in black or griege. Turbo and PHEV Premium Plus trims, as well as the Turbo S Premium, feature standard Nappa leather that comes in black or red, the latter color not available for the CX-90. The Turbo S Premium Plus is the only CX-70 to score quilted tan Nappa leather.
On the three-row, a black faux leather is used in the CX-90 Turbo Select base model. The Turbo S Premium, as well as Turbo and PHEV Premium Plus models, are offered with black or white Nappa leather. The Turbo S Premium Plus comes with quilted tan or Japanese premium white Nappa leather. Every other CX-90 comes with standard leather.
CX-70 vs. CX-90: Interior Space
Dimensionally, the two SUVs are identical, but like many three-rows, the CX-90 can be configured with a standard second-row bench seat for a maximum capacity of eight or available captain’s chairs for seven-passenger seating. Captain’s chairs are the only way to get second-row ventilated seats in either model.
Most CX-90s feature a 60/40 split folding third row except the Turbo S, which comes with a 50/50 split. Without the third row, Mazda extends the floor in the CX-70 and drops in a composite foam storage bin that adds a few more cubes of space to the cargo hold. It’s accessible from the rear doors, too—just flip up the floor and voilà! It’s also removable.
Non-third row cargo space numbers vary only slightly. The CX-70 offers 39.6 cubic feet behind the second row and 75.3 cubes with the center row folded. Those numbers are 40.0 and 74.2 for the CX-90, plus 14.9 cubic feet behind the third row. Legroom is identical, 41.7 inches in the first row and 39.4 inches in the second row.The CX-90’s tight third row offers 30.4 inches of legroom.
CX-70-Specific Features (For Now)
Two conveniences make their debut on the CX-70 that could eventually wind up on the CX-90. At the rear opening, the two-row model features buttons along the driver wall for remotely releasing the second-row bench seat. Mazda also introduces unresponsive driver support on the CX-70, an active driver assist technology that allows the car to “navigate” to safety if the driver is incapacitated. Otherwise, the CX-70 and CX-90 are similarly equipped.
CX-70 vs. CX-90: Price
The two models are priced identically save for the models not available for the two-row. The CX-70 and CX-90 Turbo Preferred each start at $41,900. The top model for each lineup, the PHEV Premium Plus, starts at $58,905. There are more affordable trims of the three-row—the CX-90 Turbo Select starts at $39,300—but this Mazda pair remain closely aligned on price otherwise.
Mazda CX-70 vs. CX-90: Key Differences
- More available trim levels on CX-90
- Different paint colors
- CX-70 offers black exterior accents and CX-90 has shiny accents
- Unique wheels
- Different leather colors
- More cargo space in CX-70
- Third row in CX-90
- Unresponsive driver support feature on CX-70
My dad was a do-it-yourselfer, which is where my interest in cars began. To save money, he used to service his own vehicles, and I often got sent to the garage to hold a flashlight or fetch a tool for him while he was on his back under a car. Those formative experiences activated and fostered a curiosity in Japanese automobiles because that’s all my Mexican immigrant folks owned then. For as far back as I can remember, my family always had Hondas and Toyotas. There was a Mazda and a Subaru in there, too, a Datsun as well. My dad loved their fuel efficiency and build quality, so that’s how he spent and still chooses to spend his vehicle budget. Then, like a lot of young men in Southern California, fast modified cars entered the picture in my late teens and early 20s. Back then my best bud and I occasionally got into inadvisable high-speed shenanigans in his Honda. Coincidentally, that same dear friend got me my first job in publishing, where I wrote and copy edited for action sports lifestyle magazines. It was my first “real job” post college, and it gave me the experience to move just a couple years later to Auto Sound & Security magazine, my first gig in the car enthusiast space. From there, I was extremely fortunate to land staff positions at some highly regarded tuner media brands: Honda Tuning, UrbanRacer.com, and Super Street. I see myself as a Honda guy, and that’s mostly what I’ve owned, though not that many—I’ve had one each Civic, Accord, and, currently, an Acura RSX Type S. I also had a fourth-gen Toyota pickup when I met my wife, with its bulletproof single-cam 22R inline-four, way before the brand started calling its trucks Tacoma and Tundra. I’m seriously in lust with the motorsport of drifting, partly because it reminds me of my boarding and BMX days, partly because it’s uncorked vehicle performance, and partly because it has Japanese roots. I’ve never been much of a car modifier, but my DC5 is lowered, has a few bolt-ons, and the ECU is re-flashed. I love being behind the wheel of most vehicles, whether that’s road tripping or circuit flogging, although a lifetime exposed to traffic in the greater L.A. area has dulled that passion some. And unlike my dear ol’ dad, I am not a DIYer, because frankly I break everything I touch.
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