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 For that cult of vehicle buyers who think of Mazda as the builder of the best small SUVs in the industry, brace yourselves. After you get acquainted with the new 2024 Mazda CX-90, that reputation may expand to Mazda’s ability to also build an excellent not-so-small people hauler.

Mazda loyalists may be excused for being a little confused these days. Mazda decided to quit making its smooth and powerful V6 engine, focusing instead on wrenching maximum power and efficiency out of its SkyActiv 4-cylinder powerplants, but when it decided to enlarge its largest van/utility CX-9, turning it into a genuine SUV, it knew it would take extra power to operate it with normal Mazda efficiency, so the company built a very impressive 3.3-liter inline 6-cyinder engine, using its unique SkyActive technique, then turbocharged it.

The result is 340 horsepower and 368 foot-pounds of torque, giving the CX-90 the ability to tow a 5,000-pound trailer. To finish the whole package, Mazda filled the interior with luxurious features, including three rows of seats that can seat six occupants in leather finery. And to do that efficiently, Mazda makes wider rear doors on the CX-90, so when you open the door wide, and fold the rear setback forward, you get something approaching easy access to the rearmost bench seats with their fold-down backrests.

By chance, a couple weeks before I got to spend some time with a gleaming Rhodium White Metallic CX-90, I got a brief chance to also test a Mazda CX-5, which has been one of my favorite small SUVs in the industry. Quick, agile and firm handling, the CX-5 has also grown, but just a bit, to make interior space for full-sized folks who might have been squeezed sitting in the back seats. The new CX-5 has a major responsibility now, since Mazda has discontinued the smaller CX-3, leaving the CX-5 as its smallest SUV.

The days of 40 miles per gallon may be a thing of the past for Mazda with the current combination, however. The test vehicle, which came in Machine Grey Metallic, had the new 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine, turbocharged, with 227 horsepower and 310 foot-pounds of torque. The EPA estimates 22 miles per gallon in city driving and 27 on the highway, and I got 26 mpg in town as my best.

If the question remains why a company so accomplished at building quick, sporty compact-sized vehicles would want to build something so seemingly alien to its culture as the CX-90, the answer is pretty simple. Families these days want haulers that can haul the whole family, and if you don’t offer a three-row vehicle, Mazda sales-folks can watch customers walk away and head for a Chevrolet, Ford, or Toyota dealership where they can get roomy accommodations. So why not keep the big paydays coming in?  

Mazda also has made a move upscale with all its vehicles, and the attention to detail inside both vehicles is evidence of such an effort. Mazda knew from all the technology it was developing that it would have to raise prices, so to keep the whining to a minimum, it also delivered an upscale array of features that you can touch and feel, along with the traditional “Zoom-zoom” performance, which both vehicles display every time to touch the gas or turn a corner. G-vectoring makes the steering quicker, and virtually eliminates the need for steering corrections, and the SkyActive technology that perfects the engine efficiency allows the sporty response Mazda owners expect.

Certainly, the larger CX-90, while handling very well for a large, long SUV, can’t corner or compete with the CX-5 on curvy roads, so maybe the zoom-zoom has to be in lower-case letters for the larger CX-90. But the price difference also will give you pause. The CX-90 was loaded, and stickers at $61,92-0, while the CX-5 was $39,170, coming too well equipped to require any options beyond the new paint color and the navigation system.