HESSEL, Mich. — For the past decade, my family has kicked off summer with an extended camping weekend in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, a largely raw and uncut part of the lower 48 states surrounded by the Great Lakes, Canada and Wisconsin. It’s four to five hours on Interstate 75 from Metro Detroit, and once there, it’s best to have most of the things you need, though there are a reasonable amount of grocery stories, bars and ice cream stands. This camping trip has served as a litmus test of sorts for most of the recent
The trip begins with packing, and the CX-90 easily swallowed a cooler, sleeping bags, fishing poles, a large tent, boxes of food, two suitcases, a duffle bag and all sorts of other supplies. I could still see out the back window, which isn’t always the case on these adventures. Had I taken my golf clubs and an inflatable kayak, it might have been less comfortable. Still, the manifest was robust, and the Mazda was up for it.
Early the following day we set off, two adults, one child and a large golden retriever. The drive Up North, as we Michiganders say, was uneventful. The CX-90 is a solid expressway cruiser, generally quiet and comfortable. The steering is weightier and more precise than comparable SUVs. By now I’m used to, and mostly enjoy, the engagement during the long drive. The adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assist and blind-spot monitoring were helpful aids and I’ve come to expect the help for long road trips in vehicles at this price point.
Good luck finding an EV charger in the part of the U.P. where we camped, but running just on premium fuel, we averaged 24.5 mpg, including one 341-mile stint where we logged 26.7 mpg, the second-best figure in the CX-90’s four-month
Once there, we slept on the ground for three cool, wet nights and enjoyed four sunny hot days filled with swimming, fishing and other outdoor activities. By the end of it, the Mazda was covered in dirt and sand inside and out. This trip is always hard on the test cars, and this is about as grimy as we’ve gotten one. I spent a good chunk of the following Monday morning vacuuming sand and dog fur (see the pictures and you can imagine just how much dog fur was in the car) from every orifice. I even felt the need to bust out some Meguiar’s to put a shine on the dashboard and le ather seats.