Over the years, have become an important design element of any car’s engine bay. And it seems the more expensive or premium the model, the more elaborate the engine cover. Lift the hood on any Lexus, BMW or Mercedes and you won’t see the engine. Instead, you’re met with a sea of neat, clean plastic, often with bits to make it “look” as if it’s part of the engine. Some are a pain for mechanics (professional or of the home garage-variety) to access. And then there’s the engine cover of the CX-90 which brought a whole new cover to the game.

The all-new uses a brand new turbocharged I6 designed specifically for this brand new crossover. And of course, I wanted to see it, because we’re rocketing into the age of EVs and a company developed an all new internal combustion engine — an I6 engine at that. It’s a treat.

With loads of enthusiasm, I lifted the CX-90’s hood, and instead of looking at the engine, I was, of course, greeted by an engine cover. What’s worse, the cover wasn’t much to look at. Most automakers at least do some fake intake runners or something across the top of the cover. Not here. The CX-90’s is just full of lines that are supposed to look like… honestly I don’t know.

But don’t be entirely misled by the plainness of the engine cover. Oh no. There’s more. And Mazda, went maybe unnecessarily next-level with this one.

This cover is not necessarily bolted down or in need of removing a couple of tabs to pry it off the top of the engine. The CX-90's cover, you have to unlock two plastic latches that lie on either side of it. Once you do that, you can raise the engine cover. To help it stay up for engine access, Mazda designed what they call a “service mode” into the cover. It consists of a yellow plastic hook —which can be seen in presentation, done with Mazda’s Vehicle Dynamics Lead Dave Coleman — that stows on the underside of the cover when not in use. The hook is attached to a rope like lanyard which can then be hooked onto the underside of the hood where the cover hangs for access to the engine.

Look familiar? It’s basically a small hood, under your hood.

Outside of that little spot of ridiculousness, sure, I get the need for an engine cover setup like this. But it does beg a few questions, like, what happens if this plastic piece falls into the engine? The lanyard that it’s attached to is made of a rope-like material. Being stowed on the underside of the engine cover exposes it to extreme temps that could melt the hook or burn through the lanyard, which could make some of this stuff fall into the engine and negate the purpose of the engine cover. Of course that’s all speculation and I’m sure none of that could happen. But, I’m curious, could it be a problem?

I mostly said all that to say that I, personally, hate engine covers. typically hate engine covers because they conceal the beauty that is the internal combustion engine, but as you know, they do serve a purpose. Engineers add engine covers over engines to help with NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) as well as helping to protect the engine from things like dust and debris. But automakers really love them because they clean up the look of the engine bay. No one wants to look at that metal, wirings and plastic. But with a future filled with EVs coming at us quickly, I guess we won’t have to look at it anymore, anyways.