2025 Hyundai Palisade vs 2025 Mazda CX-90: Battle of the Best Family SUV

Three-row SUVs make excellent family vehicles. They have the extra seating and cargo space for the demands of an active life full of sports events, vacations, and the daily commute to work and school. Their fuel efficiency is better than their larger full-size siblings, and they make cost-effective yet highly satisfying vehicles for daily life. 

If you’ve been looking at the Hyundai Palisade for sale, you’ve probably heard a bit about the Mazda CX-90 too. Both have seen success in the highly competitive three-row SUV category. Which of these is the superior choice for busy families on the go? The details paint a clear picture.

The Basics

Before we get into detailed comparisons, let’s take a look at the basic stats of the Palisade and the CX-90. As stated above, both are part of the three-row SUV category. The Mazda CX-90 is the next evolution of the CX-9, first appearing in 2023. The Hyundai Palisade is a few years older and first rolled off the assembly line in 2020. 

The 2025 Mazda CX-90 has an MSRP of $37,845 for the base 3.3 Turbo Select trim and climbs to $56,450 for the top-tier 3.3 Turbo S Premium Plus trim. The CX-90 is only available in all-wheel drive but has two different outputs for its 3.3L inline-six engine. The EPA-estimated fuel economy is 24 MPG in the city and 28 MPG on the highway. 

The 2025 Hyundai Palisade has an MSRP of $36,800 for the base SE trim and reaches $54,100 for the top-tier Calligraphy Night trim, making it a bit more affordable than the CX-90.[a] It is available in front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, and every trim comes standard with the same 3.8L V6 engine, so you won’t have to pay more to unlock the vehicle’s full potential.

Seating & Passenger Space

Having enough space for everyone is an important factor in a family vehicle. You won’t just be driving your kids, but your kids plus their friends, teammates, classmates, and quite possibly a dog. While both the Palisade and the CX-90 seat up to eight, the amount of space for those passengers is very different. The CX-90 has 141.6 cubic feet of passenger volume, while the Palisade comes in at 155.3 cubic feet. Passenger volume matters more than you might think. It’s the indicator of how much room the interior has for passengers to sit, no matter how many seats are present.

Headroom is another of the most important indicators of comfort for your passengers. The Hyundai offers 40.7 inches, 40.1 inches, and 37.8 inches for the first, second, and third rows, respectively. With the Mazda, those numbers are reduced to 39.7, 39.3, and 36.9 inches, respectively. That’s significantly less and could make the difference between a comfortable ride and a cramped one. 

If we follow the number trail a little further, we see that the Palisade continues to shine in leg room with 44.1 inches in the front and 31.4 inches in the very back compared to Mazda’s 41.7 inches and 30.4 inches. The hip room and shoulder room measurements tell a similar story. 

Cargo Space

Cargo space is another important factor when choosing a three-row SUV for your family. Let’s be honest; your kids, their friends, and even the dog come with gear that needs to be hauled from place to place. Plus, you need space to get groceries, bring home items for the house, and even toss in a few bags of soil for the garden. This another area where the Palisade shows its dominance over the CX-90

The Mazda comes with either a two-person or three-person third-row seating arrangement. In the variation with two passengers, the cargo volume breaks down to 15.9 cubic feet with all the seats upright, 40.1 cubic feet with the third-row seats folded down, and 75.2 cubic feet with both the second and third-row seats folded down. When the third row accommodates three passengers, the numbers change slightly to offer a maximum of 74.2 cubic feet.

The Palisade offers a larger cargo volume. It breaks down to 18 cubic feet with all the seats upright, 45.8 cubic feet with the third-row seats folded down, and 86.4 cubic feet with both the second and third-row seats folded down. That’s a difference of over 11 cubic feet with the two back rows down. 

Convenience

When you’re spending a lot of time in the car, even the smallest convenience features can make a big difference. Take USB ports, for instance. In the Mazda, there are four in the base trim––two in the front row and two in the second row. The Palisade has five, three in the front row and two in the second row. Another small but helpful touch is the extra mini pocket in the Palisade’s map pockets. The Mazda’s map pockets lack this upgrade. 

The bigger features matter too, of course, and add up to some serious quality-of-life upgrades. The rearview mirror on the Palisade automatically dims to help prevent the lights of any traffic behind you from causing distracting and visibility-decreasing glare. On the CX-90, the day/night dimming feature must be activated manually. The second-row seat also slides with the touch of a button in the Palisade, while it must be done manually in the CX-90. Who wants to put extra stress on their backs before a big trip? You’ve got better things to do with your vacation. 

Safety

When you’re looking for a vehicle for your family, safety has to come first and foremost. We’re living in an era where every new model year brings new advances in automotive safety technology. To prevent collisions or mitigate their damage, most manufacturers now have their own driver safety assist suite (the i-ACTIVSENSE suite for Mazda, while Hyundai has SmartSense), but it’s not enough for a vehicle to have one of these suites. As with most things, the details are what makes the difference. 

The Mazda CX-90 has eight airbags: Dual front, front side-impact airbags and side-impact air curtains, and knee airbags for the driver and front seat passenger. The Hyundai Palisade raises that number to nine, with the following breakdown: dual front airbags, one driver knee airbag, two front-side impact, two second-row rear side, and two side curtain airbags. One airbag might not seem like a lot of difference until it’s covering a vulnerable area near your loved one. 

The Final Verdict

While the Mazda CX-90 is a fine vehicle, the features it has are geared more toward professionals who want a cool yet sophisticated car, carpool commuters, and drivers who are looking to tow or offroad. The Hyundai Palisade has the room to comfortably drive around families, Little League teams, groceries, and sports gear without compromising passenger comfort or safety. Overall, it has the widest range of cargo space, comfort features, and conveniences that make time spent on the road easier.

When you have an active family, you know that life can get complicated. One thing that shouldn’t be complicated is your vehicle. The 2025 Hyundai Palisade is here to help everyone and everything get where it’s going headache-free in a fun-to-drive, big-on-features package. Pay us a visit, and we’ll show you just how well it can accommodate your family’s needs.

Posted in Hyundai Palisade for Sale | No Comments »