Rochester Hills — The Mazda CX-70 SUV is big. Big length at nearly 17 feet. Big weight of 4,863 pounds. Big 21-inch wheels. Big panoramic roof. Big as sibling CX-90 because CX-70 just means it has two rows compared to the 90’s three. Bigger than any other vehicle the Japanese brand has produced.

Yet CX-70 still thinks it’s a wee Miata sportscar.

Braking into a clover-leaf turn, the two-and-a-half-tonner rotated with minimal body roll. The big, leather-wrapped wheel in my hands felt rooted to the ground — encouraging me to feed more throttle until the tires began to squeal in protest. On exit, the silky, inline-6 engine roared with delight as I merged into traffic. Yup, it’s a Mazda.

Mazda’s latest ute has big ambitions to go with its big proportions. From its roots as a ZOOM ZOOM! sportscar and sedan company, Mazda has transitioned to a premium SUV maker with twin offerings in the compact and midsize segments, not unlike European luxury brands. The CX-5 and CX-50 anchor the high-volume compact segment while CX-70 and CX-90 double up in the midsize segment.

As with its offerings in the subcompact (CX-30), and compact car (Mazda3) segments, the CX-70 (as well as the three-row CX-90) offers one of the industry’s best values. Along with that Miata DNA in the handling department, the CX-70 comes loaded with standard features starting at $41,700: forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, blind-spot and rear cross-traffic warning, lane-departure warning, lane-keeping assist, front-and-rear parking sensors, adaptive cruise control, and seat eject with parachute (kidding about that last one).

Jump up to my tester’s desirable Premium trim and you’ll be showered with goodies like 21-inch wheels, pano-roof and head-up display. Yet, the Premium CX-70’s bottom line is still an impressive $47,335 — $24K south of a comparably-equipped BMW X5 XDrive 40i with similar, longitudinal inline turbo-6, eight-speed tranny and rotary instrument screen controller.

Heck, all that style even clocks in at two grand less than the hybrid Toyota Crown Signia I recently piloted with a droning CVT transmission and no head-up display.

CX-70 buyers will be flattered by the Bimmer comparison — especially the way the Mazda hangs with the German in the twisties despite being a half-foot longer. The Mazda’s bigness translates to some of the best cargo and legroom numbers in class. Value does come with some shortcomings, however.

I’ve raved about the Japanese brand’s smooth six-speed automatic trannies in the CX-5 and CX-50 models at a time when other automakers have adopted complicated eight- and 10-speed boxes for their EPA-focused mpg benefits. For CX-70/CX-90, Mazda has chosen an eight-speed and the SUVs feel hesitant — like a fawn trying out its new legs.

Floor the pedal off that highway cloverleaf and CX-70 felt uncertain, hunting for the right gear. Once engaged, the inline-6 clears its throat with an authoritative BLAAAT! (especially in SPORT mode), but the transmission is a mismatch for the I-6’s smooth power.

So is the clunky shifter. A trendy monostable design, it’s clumsy to operate with a two-step jig to get out of PARK and into REVRSE-NEUTRAL-DRIVE modes. Competitors like Toyota and VW not only have more compact shifters, but they are more intuitive. ZOOM ZOOM? ZOOM CLUNK.

BMW and Audi pioneered the remote rotary controller, and Mazda covets that luxury vibe. But Audi has abandoned the rotary to appeal to the smartphone, touchscreen generation and BMW — while maintaining its i-Drive controller — has complemented it with redundant touchscreen capability. Not Mazda.

It has stubbornly stuck with its wonky rotary. Mazda owners (my son, for example, who owns a Mazda3) learn it, but shiver when it comes to sharing the car with a spouse who must adapt to the system’s quirks.

CX-70 at least enables touchscreen commands for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone apps — a welcome nod to popular consumer tastes. But my tester still dated itself by requiring a tether for Android Auto, rather than the wireless systems of competitors.

Also wonky is the butterfly center console. I know, I know, butterfly telegraphs luxury, but in a family vehicle like CX-70, I value ease-of-access, and there’s nothing like a good ol’ pull-top console — especially when you need to attach that Android Auto USB-C wire to your phone.

It’s hard to be mad, though, when all this hardware is wrapped in Mazda’s elegant red-leather interior. Shared by subcompact siblings CX-30 and Mazda3 hatchback, this lush cabin style is one of my favorites in the industry. Mazda offers other colors, but I find rouge leather to be irr-red-sistible.

Like learning that Schwarzenegger and DeVito are brothers in the movie “Twins,” I’m not used to a Mazda having such big back seats. CX-70 siblings Mazda3 and CX-30 are cramped and the Miata, of course, has no back seat at all. But I could sit behind myself in the CX-70 with kneeroom to spare. Cargo capacity is a healthy 39.6 cubic feet with the back seat raised, and a palatial 75.3 with the seats down.

The CX-70 complements that with sub-cargo storage where the third row would otherwise be in the CX-90. Were it up to me, I’d opt for the CX-90 instead of the CX-70 (they are priced the same) because the third row comes in handy when you need to ferry people as in, say, my extended family of in-laws.

CX-70’s sub-storage is accessed via a clever, folding cargo mat, and is the right size for, say, kids’ muddy soccer shoes. But it’s still a stretch to reach from the back bumper and may go unused over the lifetime of the vehicle.

As much as I enjoy carving corners in Mazdas, midsize SUVs will ultimately be driven for long periods of time. On adaptive cruise control. On interstates. For such bus-driver chores, the Mazda is first-rate like another one of my class favorites, the Hyundai Santa Fe.

Hyundai offers multiple ways to check your blind spot and so does Mazda — from mirror-embedded triangle lights to instrument control graphics to graphics in the head-up display. I toggled driver-assist on the steering wheel and the Mazda dutifully centered in lane, even hugging long interstate corners hands-free. If Mazda still has work to do on its eight-speed tranny, the attention to digital details is welcome.

My favorite detail? A DRIVER PERSONALIZATION SYSTEM that measures height (I’m 6-foot-5, Mrs. Payne is 5-foot-5) then automatically adopts that setting depending on which of us is in the driver’s seat.

Oh, now that’s big.

Next week: Towing across Canada with the Jeep Grand Wagoneer

2025 Mazda CX-70

Vehicle type: Front engine, all-wheel-drive, five-passenger SUV

Price: $41,700, including $1,375 destination ($47,335 Turbo S Premium 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, 6.5 seconds (Turbo-6 S, mfr.); towing, 5,000 pounds (I-6), 3,500 pounds (plug-in)

Weight: 4,863 pounds (Turbo-6 S as tested)

Fuel economy: EPA 23 mpg city/28 highway/25 combined (as tested)

Report card

Highs: Big, family-size proportions; loaded with value, standard goodies

Lows: Quirky shifter, rotary controller

Overall: 4 stars

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

Urbanna, Virginia — If you’re traveling to Virginia’s remote, historic Northern Neck, you may want to bring a Jeep.

“You’re free to check out the beach, woods and farmland. Be mindful the trail is grass, dirt, and may be muddy in places,” said a staffer at Rosegill historic farm in Urbanna.

“We have a Jeep,” I replied.

“Oh. Well, you’ll be fine.”

A Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe plug-in hybrid, to be more specific. Jeep is synonymous with “off-road” in any language, and the Grand is no exception. My standard 4xe rental was not a fully-armed Trailhawk (all-terrain tires, skid plates, detachable front sway bar, 11.3-inch lift, the works) but it was good enough with 10.9-inch lift, a low-speed transfer case and stout 265/60/18 rubber with six inches of sidewall — double that of, say, the low-profile tires on the Tesla Model 3 I last rented through these parts.

If I encountered anything too gnarly, I could just air down the tires to get out. Turns out that wasn’t necessary, and Mrs. Payne and I galloped around the property aboard our eager filly.

So celebrated is the Jeep brand that it plays in the premium space with my midsize Grand Cherokee clocking in at $63,630 — nearly 15 grand north of two superb, full-size, three-row SUVs I recently tested: the $47K Hyundai Santa Fe and $49K Chevy Traverse Z71. Pause for sticker shock. Batteries are all the rage, though, and 4xe qualifies for half ($3,750) of the federal $7,500 EV cash discount, making it $10,000 less than a comparable $70K BMW X5 xDrive50e plug-in.

The 2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe has a range of 456 miles — 25 on battery alone. Henry Payne, The Detroit News

A regular V6-powered Grand Cherokee is more affordable at $51.5K, but the 4xe’s 14.0 kWh battery-assisted, turbo-4 cylinder drivetrain is a fun toy to play with — and can drive up to 25 miles on electricity alone to soothe the social conscience of green consumers.

I picked up my spanking-new rental with ZERO charge at Reagan National Airport in D.C. No problem. I selected the HYBRID drivetrain setting and toggled SPORT from the blizzard of modes that also include AUTO, SNOW, ROCK, SAND/MUD and LUNAR SURFACE (kidding about that last one).

The heck with sitting at a 220-volt charger and gaining (maybe) 12 miles in an hour. The Jeep uses the electric motor (maximized in SPORT) to regenerate the battery while you drive. By the time I arrived at my destination in Stratford, Virginia, an hour and a half later, I had added 15 miles to the battery. Next to the HYBRD setting on the dash, I poked e-SAVE to preserve the electrons for another time.

The Grand Cherokee was a pleasant place to be on my 90-mile trip south with its digital instrument display and handsome, thin, vertical console screen. Electronics are advancing rapidly, however, and the Traverse’s 17.7-inch display running (excellent) Google Built-in is much easier to read than the Jeep’s 10-incher run by (excellent) Uconnect.

I paired my phone and wireless Android Auto navigated me through Metro D.C.’s clotted traffic arteries.

While the 14-kWh battery complements the turbo-4 for a healthy 470 pound-feet of torque, the jerky eight-speed transmission often gets in the way. The 4xe has a healthy suite of standard safety systems, including blind-spot assist and adaptive cruise control; I selected ACC for U.S. 301’s four-lane.

Even in adaptive cruise, though, the powertrain was uneven. On a night out with friends later in the weekend, I switched off ACC so as not to jostle rear-seat passengers. Rear legroom, however, is excellent, and they enjoyed the ride.

After crossing U.S. 301’s bridge across the Potomac River into the Northern Neck, population thins and so does the asphalt. I turned onto Virginia Route 3, a narrow, twisted, rural two-lane with plenty of broken center line passing opportunities for sports cars.

Grand Cherokee is no sports car. With its tall stance and big tires, its performance abilities are off-road — not on-road — focused. I cruised undramatically to my Stratford Hall Museum destination.

Once on the historic preserve’s 2,000 acres, I accessed the 15 miles of battery I’d saved up from the road trip.

Poke the ELECTRIC button and the gas engine immediately turns off, turning chores over to two AC motors. I explored the property’s trails (as I would Rosegill later) under smooth electric power. It’s hardly a silent experience, though.

The Jeep emitted a low, sci-fi hum like the UFO that destroyed Edgar the farmer’s truck in “Men in Black.” It’s required of all EVs up to 20 mph to warn pedestrians, even though most modern gas cars are quiet at low speeds. The boisterous V8-powered Jeep Wrangler 392 is the rare exception. All those D.C. regulators gotta keep busy, I suppose.

Descending to Stratford’s beach on the Potomac River, I felt the resistance of regenerative braking and almost one-pedaled the Jeep like a Tesla — the electric motor doing the braking.

On a lush meadow, I shifted to NEUTRAL to access the low-speed transfer case, then explored a long tree line deep into knee-high grass. The Jeep grunted along happily, though I worried about a flat should there have been a sharp rock or pothole hidden in the deep grass. The Jeep has a spare under the rear floor for such emergencies.

After my Rosegill adventure, I stepped back to admire the Jeep’s Silver Zenith paint job. It looked good with a coat of dirt.

For its fifth generation (produced since the 2021 model year), Grand Cherokee stayed true to its classic boxy design, but used advancements in LED technology to narrow its lighting signature that frames a thinner, seven-slot grille.

The effect makes for a leaner, meaner fighting machine. I found plenty of third- and fourth-gen Grand Cherokees driving around the Northern Neck, and the fifth-gen model is a handsome evolution.

The 2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe’s boxy shape offers good visibility, but standard blind-spot assist helps, too. Henry Payne, The Detroit News

Fancy prices deserve fancy duds, and you’ll know the 4xe by its electric blue highlights on the badge as well as the big blue “E” emblazoned across the charge port aft of the left front fender.

Despite the layer of Virginia soil I’d added to the Jeep, the blue still stood out.

Tesla’s vast charger network has penetrated the Northern Neck’s 100-mile-long peninsula with four superchargers. But it’ll require a half hour out of your day to fill up. The Jeep’s 400-mile range gas tank fills in two minutes — with an extra 25 miles of e-range so you can hum around historic farms.

Just reassure folks that it’s not a UFO.

2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe

Vehicle type: Plug-in hybrid, all-wheel-drive five-passenger SUV

Price: $63,630, including $1,795 destination charge ($63,630 as tested)

Powerplant: 2.0-liter, turbocharged-4 cylinder with 14-kWh lithium-ion battery and electric motor drive

Transmission: Eight-speed automatic

Weight: 5,368 pounds

Power: 375 horsepower, 470 pound-feet of torque

Performance: 0-60 mph, 5.3 seconds (Car and Driver); towing capacity, 6,000 lbs.

Fuel economy: EPA est. range, 19 city/26 highway/22 combined

Report card

Highs: Iconic looks; fun e-SAVE toys

Lows: Jerky drivetrain; gets pricey

Overall: 3 stars

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

Summit Point, West Virginia — Put the top down. Put on your favorite tunes. It’s time for the first convertible of spring.

Our Payne family of four packed into a 2024 Ford Mustang convertible rental and cruised toward downtown Winchester, Virginia, after a full day at Summit Point Raceway. I took requests for favorite rock ‘n’ road tunes — specifically, favorite instrumental song intros. The requests from all four seats piled up, then we cranked up the volume. Hey, Spotify, play:– Hell’s Bells by AC/DC

– Where the Streets Have no Name, U2

– The Final Countdown, Europe

– Life is a Highway, Rascal Flatts

– Crazy Train, Ozzy Osbourne

– Thunderstruck, AC/DC (because every playlist should have more than one AC/DC song)With the ‘Stang’s 350-horse turbo-four engine beating a steady rhythm in the background, we rolled merrily to dinner over the Virginia hills.

It’s been another looooong winter, and there’s no better way to celebrate spring than in a convertible on a country road. Or down Woodward. Or at a drive-in theater.

Mrs. Payne and I picked our convertible Mustang at Enterprise Rental at Dulles Airport on the way to West Virginia’s Summit Point Raceway for the annual Jefferson 500. My two sons and I were competing in Lola sports racers. Since my boys were arriving at the track via, respectively, Uber and a VW Golf GTI, I opted for a fun, drop-top coupe that still offered four seats when needed.

That flexibility makes Ford’s convertible a popular choice among renters as well as buyers. It’s a rare convertible option on today’s car lots.

In this SUV/EV age, convertibles are an endangered species under $50K. Sure, you can go topless in an Audi A5, BMW Z4, Jaguar F-Type, Mercedes-Benz SLC or Corvette C8, but you’d better bring a trunk-full of dough. Affordable convertibles have fallen by the wayside: Chevy Camaro, Fiat 124 Spyder, Toyota Solara, Pontiac Solstice, Chrysler Sebring, VW Beetle.

Want a convertible SUV? Your choices are Jeep Wrangler or Ford Bronco. And as government electric-vehicle mandates squeeze manufacturer bottom lines, niche products like convertibles are harder for automakers to justify. With automakers sounding the alarm bells about global Armageddon, there’s not much room for whimsy. Pity.

Convertible coupes are a visceral treat. Feel the wind in your clothes, touch the sky, hear the noise. But options under $50,000 are scarce. Want to go topless in a Bimmer? They start at 60 grand. A Porsche Boxster? Fill your wheelbarrow with $80K. Your choices are few: Mini, Miata, Mustang.

I love the $30,00 Mazda Miata — just reach up and peel back its soft top like taking a blanket off your bed (a more sophisticated hardtop is also available). It’s a treat to drive, but not ideal for long trips with my knees under my chin and my head stuffed into the roof (with top up). Mini steps up with a four-seater, but with just five cubic-feet of cargo space.

For $43,185, Mustang is the convertible sweet spot.

Start with styling. Miata ‘n’ Mini are adorable, Mustang is sinister — even when compared to the last-gen pony. Walking down the Enterprise aisle, I found 2023 and 2024 ‘Stangs side-by-side. I liked the sixth-generation pony; the seventh is heaven.

Evolving from the last-gen coupe’s modern aerodynamic lines, the ‘24 has spent more time in the gym. Its angles are crisp. Thin headlights glow with menace, chiseled taillights are a knockout. And it has 11½ cubic-feet of (suitcase-friendly) cargo room and a backseat.

Sure, it’s one of the smallest backseats in the biz, but it’s useful. We generally took both the Golf and Mustang to the track, with the convertible getting the nod for group trips (arranging the seats to accommodate our 6’5”, 6’3”, 6’1” and 5’5” bodies).

Seating is low because the pony is a lean, mean sporty machine. At the other end of my lead foot was a terrific 2.3-liter turbo-4 engine. With 315 horsepower/355 torque, the ‘Stang’s 4.5-second zero-60 mph sprint beats a $60K BMW 430i convertible’s 255 horse turbo-4 by 0.7 seconds. Buh-bye.

Yet the Ford gives up little to the Bimmer with a refashioned interior that includes a 26.5” dash screen containing twin digital instrument and infotainment displays. Gorgeous graphics are courtesy of Unreal Engine (a gaming company. The kids’ll tell you about them).

Ergonomics are first-rate. Slide into the Mustang, poke the ON ignition button — then immediately turn OFF the Stop/Start button next to it. Stop/Start drives enthusiasts nuts and Ford gets it. Designers have made it easy to adjust radio stations, temperature and cruise control as well.

Driving back and forth to Summit over the weekend, I kept Drive Mode in SPORT or TRACK (the latter turning off traction control). Selecting between drive modes never gets old — the instrument display changing depending on mode, including TRACK mode, which mimicked the horizonal digital tachometer of our purpose-built race cars. If you prefer, you can fix the instrument display as a single design, including a special throwback, Fox-body Mustang cluster from the ‘80s.

The engine could use more muscle, though. Not performance … emotion.

Get the GT convertible, put the top down, and you don’t need AC/DC. The $56k V-8 makes raucous, head-bangin’ rock ‘n’ roll – but is a healthy 13 grand upgrade pushing it close to Bimmer territory. The turbo-4 is a jazz quartet. But the $1,225 Active Exhaust option adds welcome testosterone. Active Exhaust also allows a Quite Mode if you want to turn up the radio.

The race weekend brought inconsistent weather, and our ‘Stang spent as much time with its top up as down. The advantage of topless luxury chariots is you can put their automatic roofs back up without stopping — typically up to 30 mph. Like the Miata, Mustang requires that you pull to the side of the road to put the roof on. It’s a quick process — just remember to manually secure the roof and close all four windows.

On Sunday, the clouds parted and I took the Mustang out between races for photographs. My sons lament that soft-tops look awkward with the roof on. But with the top down, they’re awesome. Raked windshield, seats and screens exposed, muscular rear shoulders flexed.

I turned up “Where the Street Have No Name” and attacked the twisties.

Next week: 2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee

2024 Ford Mustang convertible

Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive four-passenger sportscar

Price: $43,185, including $1,595 destination fee

Powerplant: 2.3-liter turbocharged, inline-4; 5.0-liter V-8

Power: 315 horsepower, 350 pound-feet of torque (turbo-4); 480 horsepower, 415 pound-feet of torque (V-8)

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Performance: 0-60 mph, 4.5 seconds (Car and Driver); Top speed, 155 mph

Fuel economy: EPA, 21 mpg city/24 highway/29 combined (turbo-4 as tested); range, 528 miles

Report card

Highs: Head-turning looks (with top down); quick drivetrains

Lows: Tight backseat; adaptive cruise control standard, please

Overall: 4 stars

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