The(Much Needed) Mazda CX60 Takumi – Full Review, Spec & Price

If there’s ever been a point where I have been upset at our consumers, it has been because of them sleeping on the Mazda CX-60 Takumi – but one would understand why that is the case when you speak to them in that regard.

The CX-60 came in essentially a premium SUV that has come in a bit above the CX-5 and it has every bit of premium and luxury within the car. The initial release saw our market receiving the 2.5L variant that came in both rear-wheel and all-wheel drive and the sceptics spoke up, warranted at that. See, the 2.5L engine is an ok drive for individuals that do not necessarily seek performance and are willing to live with the slight miss in transmission in the car. What we mean by that is that the engine is great but the transmission that has been paired to it could be better as it tends to hold gears a bit longer than necessary and thus affecting fuel economy in the process.

Mazda, however, heard our cries and thus brought in the Takumi – a CX-60 with all the bells & whistles, including a 3.3L inline 6 engine that genuinely brought the love of driving a Mazda back on the board. The engine and transmission pairing in this car has been done beautifully and the performance is also noted in every drive that one take.

The power-plant 3.3L engine pushes out 187kW & 550Nm of torque through all four wheels (AWD) and is such a joy to drive – though it has a rather heavy price tag to it, around R1 049 200 to be exact. This might be the deterring factor in this model if we are being honest.

The interior is built in Mazda’s quality materials with leather wrapped through the comfort seats that nestle one deep within. The dashboard is clean in design and minimal is the ultimate feel to it, with the infotainment screen notched center to the dashboard, climate controls separated into their own console just below that with feedback buttons that are a breath of fresh air considering how most manufacturers are opting for a touch screen instead, a gear lever that gives off the feeling of piloting a mothership of sorts and a control knob that controls the infotainment system. Sadly, Mazda has still not gone the route of having a touch element through their infotainment system, and we can’t wait till they make the move already as going through the rotary dial seems a bit more distracting than through the screen – our feeling at that.

One other consideration would be how the inside of the car feels rather spacious to an extent that one would not be worried about feeling cramped, especially when taking on long road trips. There is ample room in the rear just as there is in the front and moving the front seats back would not make one feeling like they are impeding the rear passengers at all.

The big disappointment is how the Takumi is not getting scooped up as it should be – it is a great product from Mazda’s offering and one would say that the R1 Million price tag is somewhat justified, considering how Mazda’s have a record of great build quality that often might even outlive one. I truly hope that consumers would consider even taking the models for a test drive to see why there is such a price gap between the models.

From us, though, it is a model that could be considered over the like of the BMW X3, Audi Q5, Mercedes Benz GLC and VW Tiguan R-Line given that the Takumi has a bigger power-per-price offering over the competitors, but to each their own we suppose.

Price Points

The Mazda CX-60 also comes standard with a 5-year/unlimited km warranty and a service plan.