onoma, California — If the BMW X7 and Mazda Miata had a baby they’d call it the Mazda CX-90.

Growling 340-horsepower turbocharged, inline-six cylinder engine, sleek bod draped over a rear-wheel-drive-based chassis and sumptuous three-row interior controlled by a rotary console dial like Papa Bimmer. Nimble handling, double-wishbone front suspension, jack o’ lantern grille and affordable sticker price like Mama Miata.

Of course, there is no corporate partnership between the German and Japanese brands (unlike, say, BMW and Toyota on the Z4/Supra sports car), but Mazda’s new flagship CX-90 has managed the impressive feat of making a $52K three-row SUV with the sex appeal of an $80K German wunderwagen.

Credit the brand’s other flagship, the MX-5 Miata sportscar, whose DNA runs deep in its Mazda SUV offspring.

“The CX-90 is the second-best drive experience for an eight-passenger vehicle. The best will always be four Miatas,” smiled Mazda Dynamics Engineer and Miata racer Dave Coleman as I saddled up the CX-90 for a day of travel over the soggy, grassy knolls and redwood forests of Marin County.

I didn’t carry seven passengers with me, but if I had, they would have had grins as wide as the CX-90’s front grille. The three-rower is the biggest vehicle Mazda has made, yet it felt like the smaller CX-5 — the compact segment’s best-handling ute — as I flogged it through Lucas Valley Road’s writhing twists and turns.

The roller-coaster ride was enhanced by a glorious 6-cylinder soundtrack. A six-pack, you say? No one makes sixes anymore, do they? Well, no one makes affordable sportscars anymore, either. Except Mazda.

Cutting against the grain is the Mazda way. At a time when automakers are under the glare of government emissions nannies to limit consumer choices to four-bangers (even the three-row Toyota Highlander has ditched its V-6 for a turbo-4) and electric vehicles, the CX-90 is a bold statement that enthusiasts’ voices are being heard, and they don’t want cookie-cutter transportation.

CX-90 is a rolling buffet of choice with 11 trims spread across three drivetrains — turbo-6, turbo-6 on steroids and plugin-hybrid — and a $40,000-$65,000 price spread.

At its heart is an all-new, liquid-smooth 3.3-liter inline-6 from the gods. The base, 280-horse mill — mated to a 48-volt battery and eight-speed automatic transmission — replaces the 256-horse turbo-4 and 6-speed in the current CX-9 three-row (indeed, the CX-90 replaces the CX-9 in the Mazda lineup) for the same price as the outgoing model. Get it.

Typical of Mazda value, that price comes with a laundry list of standard features including all-wheel drive, heated seats, blind-spot assist, adaptive cruise control, emergency rear cross-traffic braking, lane-keep assist and free tickets to a Taylor Swift concert (kidding about that last one).

A significant upgrade over CX-9 — already the best-handling ute in class — the CX-90 flips the I-6 longitudinally so the AWD system is rear-drive-based like a Bimmer for better traction. That architecture comes naturally to Mazda, of course, since the wee MX-5 Miata (at 22,500 pounds, half the weight of the CX-90) is also RWD-based. The siblings share all the benefits of that RWD architecture including double-wishbone front suspension, electric steering rack, eight-inch tighter turning radius and Kinetic Posture Control — Mazdaspeak for braking the inside rear wheel to reduce body roll in corners.

The result is a three-row SUV driving experience unrivaled by any mainstream automaker shy of the (also RWD-based) Ford Explorer ST. But CX-90 is much more than a performance engineering exercise.

Adding two cylinders and a longitudinal drivetrain not only stretches the hood but also extends the wheelbase by seven inches. Some of that added length goes into enlarging the interior as well, the chief criticism of the outgoing CX-9 where you had to remove your legs to fit in the third row. I could sit behind myself sitting behind myself in the third row, and rear passengers benefit from an optional panoramic roof that was unavailable on CX-9.

Cargo space behind the third-row gains 1.6 cubic feet, and headroom increased 1.5 inches. The added space holds a comprehensive upgrade in cabin materials.

CX-9 already sported a superior interior, and CX-90 ups the game with deft touches like piano-key-like climate controls, stitched leather and pleasing screen graphics. Step up to the Premium trim in any drivetrain and buyers gain a 12.5-inch digital instrument cluster, head-up display and wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. For those who prefer that your smartphone is mirrored in the console screen, the latter gains touch control to complement the BMW-like rotary dial. Amidst the tech-tastic scenery is a notable standout: automatic driver recognition. Activate the feature and it will automatically adjust your seat, steering heel and mirrors according to your height — then save the settings under your name along with interior preferences like cabin temp.

You can see the white space Mazda is gunning for — the valuable real estate between mainstream, practical three-row SUVs and pricey luxury utes.

To add to the premium recipe (and gain credits to satiate the nannies), Mazda dangles the plug-in option: a healthy 17.8 kWh battery paired to a 2.5-cylinder 4-banger similar to hybrids found in, say, the compact Honda CR-V and Ford Escape I recently tested.

Except this is a three-row ute. With a plug.

Plug into your 110-volt garage wall socket for eight hours and you’ll get 25 miles of battery-only range. Fully charged, I grunted around San Francisco and Berkeley like the suburban dad I used to be. At a gas station I picked up groceries — but not fuel. As I headed out of town to the hills of Marin, the battery ran out of juice, handing duties over to the gas engine which (while, ahem, lacking the visceral thrill of the turbo-6) teamed up with the electric motor for similar performance to the top-dog turbo-6.

That’s the best of both worlds for those who want the convenience of home charging and road-trip gas infrastructure. Drive on battery around town, switch to gas for family trips.

I’d still take the inline-6, thank you (and the Turbo S model gets an extra 60 ponies). It offers its own duality: a three-row grocery cart that I can also row hard in the twisties.

There are some misses among the CX-90’s hits. The monostable shifter (more BMW inspiration)  is mush — a surprise for a vehicle with such sharp handling. And the puke green and white cloth trimmed interior wardrobe is, um, ambitious.

But there are plenty of interior choices and paint colors to complement the Mazda’s toned bod. So when the household expands and you have to upgrade from the Miata to CX-90, you’ll gain the best-looking SUV in the neighborhood — without sacrificing the thrill of driving.

Vehicle type: Front engine, all-wheel-drive, six- to-eight-passenger SUV

Price: $40,970, including $1,375 destination ($61,920 Turbo S Premium Plus and $61,920 plug-in Premium Plus as tested)

Powerplant: Turbocharged 3.3-liter, inline-6 cylinder; 2.5-liter inline-4 cylinder mated to 17.8 kWh lithium ion battery and rear electric motor

Power: 280 horsepower, 332 pound-feet of torque (turbo-6); 340 horsepower, 369 pound-feet of torque (turbo-6 S); 323 horsepower, 369 pound-feet of torque (plug-in)

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.4 seconds (2.0L, mfr.) and 5.6 seconds (hybrid, mfr.); top speed, 140 mph (2.0L) and 125 mph (hybrid)

Weight: 4,899 pounds (turbo-6 S as tested)

Fuel economy: EPA 21 mpg city/29 highway/24 combined (GT)

Report card

Highs: Premium driving experience; loaded with standard goodies for $40K

Lows: Mushy shifter; beware the green-and-white interior

Overall: 4 stars

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.