Yes, who (still) uses diesel?

The era of the diesel engine invented by Rudolf Diesel, which actually began in 1897, comes to an end almost 130 years later. The first impressive four- and six-cylinder engines in luxury cars appeared only in the 1990s and pleased frequent drivers with their low consumption and excellent performance. The engines got better and quieter until Volkswagen finally pulled the plug, many of them were not clean. With the diesel scandal, the company rang the bell for the last round, where the finish line is expected in 2024. Today, diesel engines are claimed to be so clean that the air taken in is dirtier than the air released, and yet no one wants to drive the engine of diesel again. But there are still customers – especially in the fleet and among those who drive a lot. However, they often never find the right car again. A little trouble.

Mazda CX-60 with new six-cylinder diesel

With the Mazda CX-60 E-Skyactiv D 254 AWD, as the car is called in full, the Japanese are now bringing a new six-cylinder diesel to the middle segment of the SUV, but at the same time they are. farewell to that Mazda3 and Mazda6 as well Mazda CX-30 from D in type design. Mazda diesel engines are still available CX-5 (four cylinders) and new in the CX-60.

Let’s stay with the engine: After pressing the start button, it quickly falls into the “ship diesel staccato”. That sounds encouraging and reassuring. You can really hear deep inside that there is power. Power output of 204 hp is standard in the weak model with rear-wheel drive and even in the “top diesel” with all-wheel drive and 254 hp. BMW gets 352 hp from their three-liter engines, Mercedes even 367 hp. Mazda doesn’t want to know anything about the arms race with the 3.3 liter engine. The Japanese diesel is delightfully smooth when accelerating and makes no secret of its combustion process or number of cylinders. This can be interesting, but in any case it is not angry. The long bonnet announces from the outside that it is a straight six-cylinder engine. This really defines Mazda’s design style.

However, this diesel cannot function completely without electricity. You notice this shortly after turning it off, when the engine constantly cuts out in city traffic and the car travels a few meters on electricity from the available energy. The 48-volt system is meant to help save a tenth of a liter of fuel. However, “sailing” can also be annoying in city traffic. Because every time the combustion engine starts, you can not only hear it but hear it.

But the CX-60 is out of place in the city anyway. The SUV comes into its own on long journeys and feels very comfortable at speeds up to 180 km/h – including in terms of wind noise. If you want more, you can 220 km / h is possible. Then you say goodbye to normal consumption, which is very low at 5.5 liters. In everyday life and using 550 Newton meters of power, we ended up with more than seven liters, which is still a good value considering the two tons of weight and the size of the car. Mercedes gets the same WLTP value as its GLC 300. However, the car has a thin two-liter cylinder and 269 hp under the hood.

Mazda CX-60: In a way kind of premium

Mazda always strives to compare with Mercedes and BMW – at least subtly. Not only because of the new engine but also because of the materials in the interior. For several years now, Mazda has placed particular emphasis on interior feel and design. Both should have a calming effect on the occupants and not be distracting or irritating. From our perspective, this works well. A small monitor on the dashboard, clearly designed digital instruments and existing controls create a harmony that can be considered unobtrusive. It’s only when typing on the touch screen, which can be driven largely to a rotary knob on the center console, that you happen to hit the hazard light switch down below. Uneven ground causes movement in the car and in the driver’s hand.

Many adjustments can be made easily in the menu. The fact that the volume control (as with many other cars) is not related to the required state of the art is easy to deal with here. Small things like a push button on the indicator lever to turn the matrix light on and off make driving easier. Also good: Signal detection shows it about 100 meters before the next limit, so you can take your foot off the accelerator early if the signal has not yet been detected.

Takumi is the name of the top equipment in the Mazda CX-60

The used Takumi equipment line marks the top end of the lines available for the CX-60 D 254. For 60,000 euros (total) there is almost nothing missing. However, the interior design is a bit spartan. Light nappa leather. If you want to stay in black leather (not soft nappa), you should choose Homura equipment (1,500 euros cheaper) or Line Exclusive for 54,550 plus 2,900 euros for the already mentioned black animal skin, which does not seem to be. quite like quality. Even for the top model, there can be an additional 2,550 euros (total) for the inductive mobile phone charge, which Mazda combines in the package with a Bose audio system, an electrically operated tailgate, dark windows and other details. This is also available on the Exclusive Line for the same additional charge. Nothing changes in the chassis configuration. This has to be criticized as it looks a little stiff – especially with the 20-inch wheels (18-inch on the Exclusive).

Otherwise, comfort is one of the points of Mazda CX-60. Details such as the water spray nozzles integrated directly into the windshield wiper ensure that you don’t have to run blind when operating the wiper system until the wipers deliver water to the windshield and you can see clearly in the right session. space in the electrically adjustable front seats. Space is about what you’d expect from a 4.75m SUV, clarity is better than most competitors, but the tall hood takes some getting used to. 570 liters or less fits in the back of the Mazda CX-60, which puts it at the lower end of the class.

Mazda CX-60: Expensive, but solid for the value

If the Mercedes GLC 300d 4 Matic starts at 63,000 euros without extras, you can drive a CX-60 with the same performance with two cylinders from 54,550 euros and not feel like a bargain. In addition, the Mazda CX-60 (Takumi) stands as a rock in terms of residual values ​​and is loud. DAT prediction with 75,000 kilometers after three years should still be worth 52.5 percent of the new price and therefore perform better than average in the segment. Residual value experts from Ostfildern find: “Mazda works with confidence. You can also succeed against fashion…”. The numbers show that this is the case. According to Bernhard Kaplan, managing director of Mazda Germany, more than 40 percent of buyers of CX-60s are coming from other brands. In 2023, Mazda CX-60 had already received 6,700 registrations. And diesel did not start until mid-2023, there will be a 50 percent engine supply Mazda CX-60 Plug-in-Hybrid 50 percent diesel is predicted for the CX-60. Some drive their CX-60 company car “for half” (0.5 percent tax), others drive the best CX-60. Diesel is somehow unkillable and there is (yet) a reason for that.