 What is up you guys, welcome back to another one. If you are new to the channel, I'm Goldpony, I do new car track SEV reviews on YouTube. And today we are in the brand new 2023 Mazda CX9 courtesy of Jack D'Ambovo Mazda in York PA for more information on their inventory. Please feel free to check out the link in the description box below. And so we're in this one today because there are several changes for the 2023 model year, including a ton of new standard features, which of course we'll be going over in this video. Not only that, I remember always loving the steering feel of this CX9 and I can already tell you it is a heavy steering field, I love it. Definitely gives the driver more feeling of being in control of this one. So I'm gonna have fun in this one. So ultimately in this video, we will be testing out and going over everything about this from acceleration to braking, steering feel, ride quality, sound system, exhaust clip, all that fun stuff. So having said all of that, what do you guys say? Let's just go ahead and jump right into it. And as always, let's start with pricing. And so as you can imagine, there are several different trim levels for the 2023 CX9. First one being the Touring starting at $38,750. Touring plus for $41,500. Carbon Edition for $44,780. Grand Touring for $45,640. And lastly, the Signature going for $48,460. And by the way, all-wheel drive comes standard on every single trim level across the board. I remember the last time I reviewed the CX9 that was definitely not the case. So big fan of that. And yet another update, there is no more sport trim level for 2023 as well in case you didn't notice. But regardless of trim level that you go with, the power plant on the 2023 CX9 is going to be the same. Powering the beast is a 2.5 liter turbocharged inline four cylinder, putting out 250 horsepower at 5,000 RPM, 320 pound feet of torque, coming into 2,500 RPM. Power sent to all four wheels to a six-speed automatic with paddle shifters for the Carbon Edition trim level and up. So therefore we do have them today. So we will be testing those out as well. Zero to 60 is going to come in at approximately 7.2 seconds. Red line, 6,300 RPM. With MPG numbers coming in at 20 in the city, 26 on the highway, taking regular unleaded fuel. That's what's recommended. But those power numbers I just gave you, that was for the premium unleaded fuel. So there is slightly reduced power numbers if you would have put regular unleaded fuel. However, you can do that. But so then before we do any kind of fun acceleration or paddle shifter test here in the CX9, I wanted to mention to you guys the drive mode or drive mode, I should say, it's singular. There is a sport mode located directly to the left of the shifter, there's a little toggle switch for it. But essentially that'll adjust things like the shift points and the throttle response. And now how have we got all of that out of the way? What do you guys say? Let's go ahead and find it straight away. Let's put the CX9 here to the test and let's see how quickly the paddle shifters are going to react and let's see how quickly we can get our new 2023 CX9 here up to speed. All right, so I got it in sport driving mode here. There actually is a manual shift mode. If you slide the shifter all the way to the left, that gives you full control over the shifting. So we're going to test out the paddle shifters here. Let's see what we got. Slight delay. It's honestly not that bad. I've actually tested out paddle shifters that were well worse than this. So it's pretty much average. It's not something, honestly, I think people are going to use all that much. Having said that, I do like that they're on this CX9 because what you can do is when it snows out here in Pennsylvania and you're going down a hill, you can use the paddle shifters to do a little bit of downshifting, a little bit of engine braking more or less. You don't actually have to hit the brakes when you're going down a hill and just sliding off the road. So they're good for that reason, but I probably wouldn't use them personally just because there is a little bit of a delay to them. But anyways, now having got that out of the way, what do you got to say? Let's go ahead and find one more straightaway. Let's put the acceleration here to the test and let's see how quickly we can get this thing up to speed. All right, let's do a little bit of a rolling start here in three, two, one, go, baby. There it is. Not bad, not bad. This thing gets up to speed quick. Definitely not going to have any issues. I just realized I'm in kilometers per hour, so I have no clue how fast that was in miles per hour, but yeah, this thing definitely will get you up to speed. Even going up a hill there, you're not going to have any issues in merging onto the highway. Quite honestly, zero to 60 is 7.2 is dang impressive for a three row SUV, so that's perfectly fine. You're not going to have any issues there. But anyways, to go along with that acceleration as always braking is equally important. So upfront, you will find 12.6 inch ventilated front disc in the back, 12.8 inch solid rear disc. As far as that 60 is your stopping distance goes, it's going to come in at 123 feet, which quite honestly, that's plenty respectable, especially for a three row SUV. Most three row SUVs will come in right around 130 feet. I've seen as high as 139, so 123, that's plenty fine. The braking feel is perfectly fine. It's definitely, it's actually kind of on the firmer side of things, which I appreciate. Usually don't find that in three row SUVs. Usually kind of on the softer side, so absolutely no issues there. This guy's sitting in the middle of the road. We're just going to pass him. Anyways, touching on suspension and handling up front, you're going to get a McPherson strut front suspension in the back, independent multi-link rear suspension, front and rear stabilizer bars. As far as ride quality goes, it's been perfectly fine. I'm a short little test drive here today, but the real cooker, the real selling point of the CX-9, if you guys have never driven one, you have to for this one particular reason, the steering feel is dang brilliant. By far the best steering feel in its class without a question. So many three-row SUVs have such loosey-goosey steering feels. There's no driver emotion to them whatsoever. This thing feels like you're driving a, I don't know, a Miata steering feel in a three-row SUV. It's absolutely wonderful. This is the steering feel I personally would choose every single day if I'm getting any kind of vehicle for that matter. Absolutely wonderful. So I can't emphasize that enough. It really is quite brilliant. As far as cabin noise goes, we're going 60 kilometers right now and you guys can tell there isn't a whole lot of exterior wind noise coming into the cabin here. I really got to switch that up. Anyways, cabin noise is perfectly fine. I got the air on. That's about all you can probably hear through the mic right now. Touching of visibility? Honestly, because we have that third road down right now, I'm not sure how much the headrest would impede that visibility, but right now it's brilliant. I can see 100% perfectly fine out the back, so definitely not going to have any issues there. Not only that though, when it comes to forward visibility, rain-sensing windshield wipers actually come standard on every single trim level across the board. You don't always get that coming standard. A lot of times it'll be just found on the upper trim levels of other manufacturers. So big fan of that as well. And if you were to go with the Grand Touring or the Signature, you will get what I am currently looking at right now, which is a head-up display. You got your speed and speed limit displayed up on your windshield here, along with any safety features if it's needed. So that is pretty cool for forward visibility as well. But that pretty much rounds out the performance segment of this review, you guys. Let's now go ahead and take a look at the exterior of our brand new 2023 Mazda CX-9. All right, and see here she is, you guys. The new 2023 Mazda CX-9 finished in snowflake white pearl. What a cool name for an exterior color. One of the better ones I've heard in a while, but let's go ahead and start up front as always. Ground clearance is actually going to come in at 8.8 inches, which is a little above average for its class. So that's pretty good. As far as where this one is made, it is made in Japan. You can tell by the J, the first character of the VIN there. So that is pretty cool as well. Chrome front grille will come standard on the Touring, Grand Touring and Signature trim levels. However, if you were to go with that Touring Plus or Carbon Edition, you will actually get a dark front grille. So I wanted to emphasize that. Also though, if you go with the Signature trim, you're actually going to get a unique front grille with LED grille accent lighting. That's one of the coolest features that Mazda does on this CX-9. I've seen that at night. It looks absolutely wonderful. But to the sides, LED headlights with LED daytime running lights do come standard on every single trim level across the board. So you got that added illumination at night, no matter what trim level that you go with. So we got to love that. LED fog lights though down below, also coming standard on every single trim level across the board. And let me actually show you where they're at because they're tiny. But I do remember reviewing the CX-9 in 2021 and they did not have that coming standard on all trim levels. So for 2023, because I skipped the 2022 model year, they do now. So I definitely am a big fan of that. And if you were to go with the Carbon Edition trim level and up, you're actually going to get an adaptive front lighting system, meaning when you're going around a bend at night there's headlights are going to swivel based on the direction of your steering angle, better help illuminating what is around that bend. So you're less likely to hit a deer or a cyclist or something like that. So that is pretty darn cool as well. But that pretty much rounds out the front end of this one. Let's now go ahead and make our way to the side of the CX-9. All right, so now since we are around to the side of this one, let's go ahead and start up top aluminum roof rails with satin chrome finish coming with the Touring Plus trim level and up. You will get rear privacy glass coming standard for all trim levels across the board. Chrome windows surrounds also coming standard across the board as well. Take a look at the side mirrors. They are body colored power adjustable side mirrors. They will get LED integrated third signals for all trims. They are also heated for all trim levels across the board. Gotta love that. Automatic power folding side mirrors coming with the carbon edition trim level and up. And by the way, of course, with the carbon edition, you're going to get gloss black side mirrors. I just forgot to mention that otherwise it's body colored, of course. Silver accents found in the side skirts for the carbon edition trim level and up, or I should say chrome accents. You guys can see those on the side skirts down there. Take a look at the wheel setup. They are going to differ slightly amongst the trim levels of course. 18 by eight inch aluminum alloys for the Touring. However, all other trim levels are going to get 20 by 8.5 inch aluminum alloys, varying in design and also again, they are a little bit wider for all other trim levels besides the Touring. So I did want to emphasize that as well. But very nice looking side profile here. Listen, I'll go ahead and make our way to the back. All right, so now since we are around to the back of the CX-9, body colored shark fin antenna found all the way to the top there. Just below that rear spoiler with an integrated brake light. Just below that rear window wiper affixiated to the rear glass, of course. LED tail lights though do come standard on every single trim level across the board. So you got to love that. You do get some signature badging on the tailgate if you were to go with that signature trim level. Otherwise, as far as the differentiation goes, you're just going to get all wheel drive badging if you go with the all wheel drive. I like the chrome accent piece tying together the two tail lights there as well. But my favorite part found all the way to the bottom here. You actually do get dual exhaust outlets with chrome tips. So many manufacturers these days are either tucking those exhaust outlets away or they're just not putting a finish to them. So dual exhaust outlets with chrome tips. So having said that, I do believe you guys know what we have to do next. As always here is that exhaust clip. All right, it's open now since we are around to the back of the CX-9. When it comes to opening that rear tailgate, it is a power tailgate for every single trim level across the board. So you got to love that, but it is a hands-free power tailgate if you were to go with the grand touring or the signature trim level. So that is definitely pretty nice. Once it opened up, cargo capacity is going to come in at 14.4 cubic feet behind that third row. If that was not enough space, of course the third row does fold down, bumping that up to 38.2 cubic feet. Then with all rows folded, that is going to come in at 71.2 cubic feet. So there's quite a bit going on back there. There is some cargo lining, of course. There's actually some in-floor storage, which you don't always get even on three-row SUVs. So if you were to lift up underneath of that cargo floor, there is a little bit of in-floor storage there for maybe an ice scraper or a tire inflator, do-hickey or whatever. 12-volt power outlet back there. You do have some grocery bag hooks you can find back there then as well. But so then making our way to the rear seats here, third row legroom is going to come in at 29.7 inches. So right around the legroom of my old Ford Mustang GT. So for reference, I'm even six feet tall. This is how much space I have back there. So definitely better left for small children. I think you could probably fit a small child back there, but adults are not going to be comfortable in the third row. USB charging ports though, this is where it's really impressive. You almost never find USB charging ports in the third row, even on the competition. So I love that Mazda put it back there because everyone's got devices. If you've got kids, they got tablets and they want to keep them charged up. So you do have USB charging ports back there, cup holders back there as well. And by the way, third row comes with two seats in case anybody was curious, but then making our way up to the second row legroom that is going to come in at 39.4 inches. Again, for reference, I'm an even six feet tall. This is how much space I have back there. You do have two more USB charging ports for the second row passengers. Of course, you actually get a heated second row. If you go with the carbon edition trim level end up. So we do have that. Captain's chairs now come standard for all trim levels across the board. It wasn't that way in 2021 when I last reviewed this. I know bench heating was available then, but I actually liked the captain's chairs better anyway. So that gives a little pass through for the middle people to walk into the third row if they wanted to. So that's pretty cool. Tri-Zone climate control is going to come standard on all trim levels across the board. And one of my other favorite parts about this one, rear window sunshades coming with the carbon edition trim level end up. So if you got small kids or even a new board coming up from the hospital, that is definitely going to be one that you are going to appreciate. So those rear window sunshades actually cover the entire window back there as opposed to like the ones you get a Walmart that clearly don't. But anyways, then making our way up to the front seats, a way power driver seat with power lumbar for all trim levels across the board. You will get a six way power adjustable passenger seat if you go with the touring plus trim level and up. Leather seating coming with all trim levels, heated front seats coming with all trim levels yet again. Well done Mazda for that. Ventilated front seats coming with the touring plus trim level end up. And if you were to go with the signature, you will get Napa leather as well. So overall seating was plenty comfortable. I liked the lumbar adjustments. I liked everything about the seating but wasn't able to find my perfect driving position exactly basically because of the steering wheel. So let's get into that real quick. Tilt and telescoping will be leather wrapped for all trim levels across the board and we'll actually be heated for the carbon edition trim level and up. So I'm digging the heated steering though that we have with us here today because it's 46 degrees out here in PA. So heated steering wheel is definitely on point. I love it. But having said that, it did not telescope out as far as all of the competition and probably telescopes out the least compared to all the other competitors here. And that's not a big deal if you're not the tallest individual in the world. So if you're as tall as my wife who's only five three, this is gonna be brilliant for you. But if you're a six foot adult and you got longer legs and you have to push your seat back further in order to make your legs work for the pedals, typically I have to pull out the steering wheel a little bit further to get that perfect driving position. So just wanna emphasize that. Maybe if the steering wheel came out a little bit further that would be pretty darn cold. But now let's go ahead and make our way to the startup. Let me start by showing you guys the key. You got your Mazda logo on the one side. All of your buttons though are located on the side of the key. But it is all keyless entry with a push button starts. All I'm going to do here is simply keep the key in my pocket and press that engine start button located directly to the right of the gauge cluster there. And so once started up, tachometer is all the way to your last speedometer is front and center. And then all of your fuel information is gonna be found all the way to the right there. But there is an info button found on the left side of the steering wheel. That is gonna give you the ability to search between a bunch of different things with a digital speedometer like how many miles you have left until you hit empty. There's of course just your traditional speedometer trip A, trip B of course. It's also how many miles you have left until you actually need your next oil change. I absolutely love that feature because it's not every 3,000 miles anymore, especially if you use synthetic oil. So we got 6,600 miles left until our next oil change. So that is pretty darn cool as well. So overall pretty much everything you could possibly want on the digital portion of the gauges which is kind of front and center there. But now let's go ahead and make our way to overall interior quality. A power mood nerf is actually going to come standard on every single trim level across the board. So gotta love that. Overhead LED accent lighting for the carbon addition trim level and up. Auto dimming rear view mirror with homelink controls for all trim levels across the board. You actually have a frameless rear view mirror for the Touring Plus trim level and up. And of course the homelink controls are right underneath of that. Aluminum interior trim for the carbon addition trim level and up. Trizone climate control like I was mentioning comes standard across the board. Wireless phone charger also for every single trim level across the board. And that's gonna be located just in front of the shifter. So I absolutely love that. Honestly, interior quality is perfectly fine. I like the gloss black finish right around the shifter as well. And I like the leather shift boot. So everything is very high quality. Mazda typically does that. So it definitely looks quite nice. Just behind the shifter, you have an electro-mechanical parking brake. You have a couple cup holders of course. And within the center armrest you have a couple more USB charging ports and little bit of storage. Not the most I've seen for a three row SUV but it should be enough. But overall interior quality is 100% perfectly fine for me. Especially for the class that is in and out. But now let's go ahead and make our way to the infotainment screen. Funny thing about this infotainment screen is Mazda has done in the past 10 and a quarter inch. Let me start by mentioning that but it's not touch screen. So everything is controlled by using a circular dial and buttons located directly behind the shifter. So it is something that you probably would take a second or two to get used to. But having said that, I'm sure you would get used to it. And it's pretty convenient when you're driving, of course, but when you're parked, I think Mazda should give you the ability to actually have a touch screen at least when the vehicle is in park because a lot of times that's just quicker to find things. But anyways, overall was pretty easy to use. Bluetooth and audio streaming coming standard Android Auto, Apple CarPlay. You can check out your fuel information up there if you wanted to. Factory navigation system is coming on the grand touring and signature trim levels. And of course you can check out your radio information up there. And so when it comes to the sound systems, for the touring and touring plus, you're gonna get six speakers but for the carbon edition trim level and up, you're gonna get a 12 speaker Bose surround sound system. That's the one we have today. I absolutely love that. Our kids are into music like crazy. So they would absolutely love this. I have a feeling, but having said that, I haven't tested it out yet. So let's go ahead and turn on the radio and see what we got playing today. And let's test out our Bose sound system that we have with us here today. Yeah, man, my kids love that ton of bass. I absolutely love that it put a Bose sound system in the CX9 because kids like music too, man. And Bose is a very reputable company. I actually had a Bose sound system in my Infiniti G35 coupe back in the day and it never failed me, never broke. And I took that car to like 150,000 miles. So that is definitely a very reputable sound system. Again, ton of bass, plenty of clarity. That is a great sound system for the CX9. But anyways, last thing I wanted to mention to you guys on the infotainment screen is when you do put this thing in reverse, you will find a very high definition. Rear view camera, very high definition. Letting you know who or what is behind you but you also get a 360 degree monitor if you go with that grand touring trim level end up. That's gonna be that little screen to the right. Letting you know what is completely all around you which is always is going to lead us into safety. At soon as start, IIHS top safety pick plus, which is the very highest designation given by IIHS. Of course, front side, side current airbags do come standard in the back you're gonna have latch, AKA lower anchors to tether your children for the rear car seats, rear child door locks, tire pressure monitoring system, but also coming standard blind spot monitoring system with rear cross traffic alert, lane keep assist, lane departure warning, smart city brake support with pedestrian detection, smart brake support with collision warning and adaptive cruise control with stop and go as well. That's a good bit. Then if you were to go with carbon digit and trim level enough, that is going to add to that front and rear parking sensors, driver attention alert and reverse automatic braking then as well. Overall, when it comes to my final thoughts here of the CX-9, this is the best driver's three row SUV that you can get in its class right now. Say in this class because obviously like Porsche and the new Ferrari SUV coming out is gonna, you know, anyways, best driver's SUV in this class without a doubt, great safety. The IHS top safety pick plus is the highest safety rating so you can't get better than the CX-9 with three row SUVs. Quick SUV as well actually for the three row. So I definitely like the acceleration on this thing. And of course that Bose sound system, I was a 100% big fan of as well. As far as room for improvement goes, it does have less space than its competitors. Personally, I think Mazda needs a larger SUV to compete with others like the Palisade, like the Pilot, like the Highlander. I think it just needs a good bit more space to be competitive at least here in the US market. I'm sure in Japan it's absolutely crushing it but in the US we need bigger SUVs. I'm just saying. Full digital gauge cluster, I think would look pretty darn cool on this one as well but having said that, I'm fine with analog gauges. I just like the digital gauge cluster for full customization, different colors, different loadouts, things like that. And multi-color ambient lighting, I always like to recommend for three row SUVs especially because kids love playing around with the ambient lighting colors. So I'm just gonna put it that way. And a lot of its competitors do get that. So I wanted to mention that as well. But anyways, let me know what you guys think of the CX-9 in the comments section below. And so, but that is about it for this one. You guys, thank you so much for watching. Feel free to follow me on social media at the bottom of the screen if you wanna see what's coming next on the channel before it gets to YouTube. Be sure to hit subscribe and the bell notification button if you're into new car reviews. That is what we do here on this channel after all. Do appreciate you guys watching more than you know and I will see you guys all in the next video. They go.