{"id":159261,"date":"2025-11-29T06:50:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T06:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/159261\/"},"modified":"2025-11-29T06:50:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T06:50:11","slug":"mazda-cx-80-is-the-best-large-suv-of-2025-driven-car-guide-aa-insurance-nz-car-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/159261\/","title":{"rendered":"Mazda CX-80 is the best Large SUV of 2025: DRIVEN Car Guide AA Insurance NZ Car of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

The CX-80 seven-seater<\/a> might just be the ultimate expression of Mazda\u2019s new Large Platform models<\/a> (its sister SUVs are the CX-60<\/a> and CX-90<\/a>). After all, it\u2019s the true replacement for the popular CX-9<\/a> in Mazda New Zealand\u2019s lineup, but also takes the brand very much into a new generation.<\/p>\n

\"Mazda
\nMAZDA CX-80:\u00a0POWERTRAIN 3.3-litre petrol inline 6-cylinder mild hybrid (MHEV) or 2.5-litre 4-cylinder with 17.8kWh plug-in battery (PHEV), 8-speed automatic, AWD OUTPUT 209kW\/450Nm (MHEV) or 241kW\/500Nm (PHEV) EFFICIENCY 1.7-8.4l\/100km (3P-WLTP) SIZE 4990mm long, 2084-2267kg PRICE $74,990-$83,490.<\/p>\n

Can a large SUV be sexy-looking and still super-practical? CX-80 proves it can. The curvaceous styling speaks for itself, but the stretched wheelbase also liberates generous passenger space; the third row is occasional, as is the norm in this segment, but Mazda says it\u2019s still fit for passengers 1.7m tall.<\/p>\n

The 80 has the most luggage space of any Mazda SUV, thanks to underfloor storage. Even with all seven seats in use it boasts 258 litres; as a five-seater you get 566l.<\/p>\n


\n Read More
\n <\/p>\n

Can a large SUV actually be fun to drive? Again, CX-80 proves it can. It\u2019s AWD, but the LP architecture is rear-drive biased. If you want the most powerful\/most economical version, by all means go for the plug-in hybrid \u2013 although even Mazda admits it didn\u2019t quite get the petrol\/electric transition as smooth as it should be in this model.<\/p>\n


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\"Mazda
\nMazda is a mainsstream brand, but CX-80 cabin has a premium feel.<\/p>\n

The inline-six mild hybrid, on the hand, is a smooth and sonorous delight that\u2019s still impressively efficient and carries a lower price than the PHEV. Either way, you\u2019re getting a special seven-seater.<\/p>\n

Runners up: Peugeot 5008, Skoda Kodiaq (2024 winner).<\/p>\n

Check out the other Category Winners here<\/p>\n

And don’t forget the Overall Winner will be announced at 7am on Friday, December 5.<\/p>\n


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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The CX-80 seven-seater might just be the ultimate expression of Mazda\u2019s new Large Platform models (its sister SUVs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159262,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[138,104373,104376,104672,104374,104963,9476,29220,206,61546,59210,111,43,139,69,25367,17620],"class_list":["post-159261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-car-of-the-year","tag-car-of-the-year-2025","tag-coty","tag-coty-2025","tag-cx-80","tag-hybrid","tag-large-suv","tag-luxury","tag-mazda","tag-mhev","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-phev","tag-suv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}