When I had an introduction to the Mazda CX-60 a while back, I remember liking the way the company was thinking, writes Brian Byrne. Moving upwards into a true premium brand — though I have personally always considered their products to be at the top end of their market, not least because of their cars’ reputation for reliability. The CX-60 was the first model from a new Large Product architecture aimed at lifting the brand to a new level. The car was also a new shift in being a rear-wheel-drive model, with availability of AWD. Rear-driven wheels are a thing with both BMW and Mercedes-Benz, reflecting a notion of better handling by ‘real’ drivers from the string-backed driving gloves era. Never subscribed to it myself, especially in slush and snowy conditions where FWD as popularised by the original Mini from the 1960s showed its worth (as had the Citroen Traction Avant from the 1930s, but that was long before my time). Going RWD also means the CX-60 and its upcoming siblings now have l