It offered reassuring feel for the size of the vehicle and the character of the handling. I would bet most drivers wouldn’t notice this on routine commutes, and it didn’t annoy me after I got used to the small threshold I was given.īraking was carlike and quite firm. When cruising, the transmission would pop down out of sixth gear far too soon, even when I didn’t want to pass or accelerate. My only gripe with the powerplant is the six-speed automatic, and it’s only a relevant gripe at highway speeds. My wife took over for me on a long road trip, and even she will admit a grin crossed her face as she passed some slowpokes in the center lane. Floor the accelerator and you’ll shoot from the tollbooth with gusto and extreme control. But the CX-7 lives up to its marketing, moving as sportingly as any midlevel, midsize sedan I’ve tested. Not many SUVs - or crossovers, for that matter - truly act like cars. Hold on - this is a turbocharged four-cylinder that produces 244 horsepower and 258 pounds-feet of torque, and it can really move. I bet a lot of people will discount the CX-7 because it has a four-cylinder underneath its menacing hood. You wouldn’t believe how many shoppers out there think a V-6 is always superior to a four-cylinder engine, no matter what. The test vehicle also had thousands of miles logged on it and still looked brand new, a rarity for many journalist-loaned cars. If the exterior is a study in design over-indulgence, the interior can’t be slighted for its tighter focus. Of course, the CX-7 isn’t priced like European vehicles, either. The leather seats in my tester were firm and supportive, but not supple or luxurious like the leather in European models. Because the dials are so easy to use, the setup becomes second nature after a few days behind the wheel. This is meant to keep drivers from looking anywhere besides the road. The only tricky aspect is that the display for the stereo and environmental controls is high on the dash, away from the controls themselves. The steering wheel is thick and well-padded, and the center dash has large knobs for controlling all the essentials. Orange-red gauges are recessed in three deep pods, like a sports car, and are easy to read even in bright sunlight. This works to perfection in the RX-8, Mazda3 and here in the CX-7. Mazda instead focuses on forming the plastics and interior design into a “sporty” look rather than an elegant one. Making plastic look and feel expensive to the touch is hard to do, and automakers often fail at pulling off an elegant interior in an inexpensive car. Yet where I find myself liking the cars the most - besides sheer driving pleasure - is on the inside. Its lineup is full of attractive, affordable, fun-to-drive and competitively priced cars in almost every segment. Mazda is one of those companies I can’t figure out. Large 17-inch wheels add to the muscular look, as does the low ride height, which also allows for easy access for passengers and cargo. More on that later.Įven from behind, the CX-7 shines, with frosted plastic taillights that exhibit an expensive air. While that effect is great for exterior design, I found that this eye-catching element actually detracted from the driving experience. They also force the eye down the CX-7’s side profile to the tapered rear windows, which narrow considerably at the rear. The front wheels are topped by exaggerated fenders that remind me of Mazda’s RX-8 sports car. Onlookers are confronted with a menacing face and blacked-out grille, all pulled together by a very, very large Mazda emblem. There is no understating the looks of the CX-7 it’s a bold design statement all around. Mazda comes on the scene with one of the best-looking, best-performing crossovers I’ve tested to date, and it does so at a mid-$20,000 price point. Built primarily on car frames, crossovers - predictably - offer a more carlike ride than earlier, truck-based SUVs. Automakers are stemming the tide of anti-SUV sentiment with a new type of family vehicle: the crossover.
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