Mazda CX-7 2006 Review

The overall look resembles a people mover mashed with a station wagon, but the CX-7 is unmistakably a Mazda with hulking front fenders and low-angled A-pillars making the roof seem low over a tapered cabin.

The rear goes for a sporty look with round tail lights showing off detailed shards that seem to form a kaleidoscopic swirl.

A 2.3-litre turbocharged, intercooled, direct injection engine produces 175 kilowatts and 350 Newton meters of torque at 2500rpm.

The transmission is a six-speed Activematic, which delivers its power and torque to the road through Mazda’s Active Torque Split all-wheel drive system.

This translates to acceleration from 0-100km/h in just 8.5 seconds.

A smaller version named the CX-5 is also planned and likely to replace the Tribute as Mazda’s small four-wheel-drive.

How it drives

There was a time when it was quite acceptable for SUVs to handle like a hessian sack full of wet sand, but those days are gone.

Outside of men who wear flannelette and fishing hooks in their hats, Australian buyers of urban trucks are apparently all in awe of "car-like dynamics".

The modern SUV, typified by Mazda's new CX-7, is so much more car than off-roader that it demands a new class, Sports Utility Car perhaps - which would make a car park full of them a bunch of SUCs.

Mazda folk have distilled the essence of these vehicles as "speedy, athletic, yet retaining the command driving position".

So, basically, what we're dealing with is a jacked-up car that just happens to have all-wheel drive.

Previously, the idea of a sporty SUV was like a snow-plow that could spit out ice sculptures, but Mazda have done a hell of a job with the CX-7.

Its chassis is wonderfully taut, its body-roll is minimum and the ride is pretty darn good as well, even on dirt roads.

Really big impacts do upset it more than a proper off-roader, but you don't get many really big impacts in Woollahra so that should be fine.

The steering is also pretty sharp, although it's obviously still not in the league of a 6 MPS, for example.

It does share that car's engine, however, a 2.3-litre DISI turbo with 175kW and 350Nm, all of which seems to kick in from just off idle, meaning it surges hard - and a little noisily - off the line and accelerates meaningfully.

The 0 to 100km/h sprint is dismissed in 8.5 seconds.

Noise, vibration and harshness are also crushed under the weight of Mazda's technological know-how, although some road noise from the tyres is evident on coarse-chip stuff.

And despite the luxurious size of the vehicle, and its keen performance, we actually saw close to the claimed 11.5 litres per 100km economy figure.

It might be a SUC, but the CX-7 doesn't suck. And at $39,910 (or $45,560 for the luxury version), it's going to be a big seller.

FAST FACTS

CX-7: $39,910, CX-7 Luxury: $45,560

2.3-litre turbocharged, intercooled, direct injection engine producing 175 kilowatts and 350nm of torque at 2500rpm

Standard ABS anti-lock brakes and Dynamic Stability Control,

18-inch wheel and tyre package (16-inch spare)

66-degree windshield angle is sleeker than many sports cars

2750mm wheelbase (130mm longer than Tribute)

Boot space is an impressive 400 litres

Six air bags (frontal and side for front occupants, side curtain for all outboard occupants) are standard.

In recent US Government National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA) tests the CX-7 achieved the highest possible rating, five stars, in both frontal and side-impact crash tests

Stephen Corby is a senior roadtester for the CARSguide team whose work also appears in the Sunday Telegraph. A version of this review plus more news and analysis can be read in this Sunday's Sunday Telegraph.