Mazda CX-7 2011 News

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced another round of safety recalls, with models from Mazda, Holden, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Jaguar affected.

It's sitting on the runway in its final countdown before showroom launch but Mazda still won't say much about its "baby" SUV, the CX-5.  Chief designer Masashi Nakayama says the car - designed to replace the Tribute on world markets - gave him a clean sheet approach to its design. But he says it is still influenced by its slightly bigger sister, the CX-7, and even the MX-5 of which he was one of the design team members.  Shown in pre-production guise at this week's Geneva motor show, the Minari concept is as close as it's likely to get before Mazda starts pressing the metal body panels. Surprisingly it's a lot bigger in the flesh than early pictures suggest.   Mazda Australia's Steve Maciver says it's only a few centimetres shorter than the CX-7, begging the question that the company now has a chance to build an even smaller SUV to take on rivals such as the Mitsubishi ASX. Nakayama won't talk about any future product and isn't discussing when it will hit the streets.  But he is keen to point out where the car has come from and who it's aimed at. "There is a huge market in SUVs and especially smaller SUVs,'' he says.  "Some of these are too big. This car is the right size and is designed for the driver. t's more like a passenger car in how it drives, but we know the market may be mainly for ladies with children.  So the Generation Y woman is the car's target.'' He says he had a free hand with the car and that it is not based on any existing platform.  "This is a SkyActiv platform (to be used first on the next Mazda3) and it's the perfect base for the SUV because it is the right size and is designed for sports driving.'' Though the show car is still regarded as a concept, its shape is almost definite. It will lose, however, the pop-out door handles and a lot of the intricate dashboard components. The SUV was shown at Geneva this week alongside the Shinari concept coupe that shares its new grille and headlight theme. It was finished in a brilliant metallic red that Nakayama says is a special colour reserved for the very best of show cars. "It doesn't represent the colour of the Japan flag of a rising sun, but of a sun that is high in the sky - in this case high in the SkyActiv technology,'' he smiles.

Two new engines are on the way from Japan and both promise better economy and efficiency, as well as a starting price a couple of steps below the current base price of $41,965. The CX-7 will dip into the $30,000 range with the arrival of a fresh 2.5-litre petrol engine, with a turbodiesel to really temp buyers who were put off by the poor economy of the current 2.3-litre turbo engine. "When we introduced the CX-7 we were looking for some white space, which we found. But it's obvious that consumer trends are moving more towards more fuel efficiency, and perhaps less power," admits the managing director of Mazda Australia, Doug Dickson. "We believe the new engines will do the job. We believe there is room for the 2.5 and part of our strategy is to introduce diesel to the Australian market. We've done that already with Mazda3 and Mazda6 and it's working for us." The new engines will hit the CX-7 in November and are already proven after use in the Mazda6 family car. The 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine makes 120 kiloWatts and 205 Newton-metres of torque, with Mazda claiming fuel economy of 9.4L/100km with a five-sped Activematic gearbox. The 2.2-litre turbodiesel, with a six-speed manual, makes 127kW and 400Nm and is good for economy of just 7.6L/100km. The updated CX-7 will be easy to pick, as there is a cosmetic upgrade that includes the giant 'smiley face' grille already seen on the new Mazda3 and updated MX-5. Other tweaks will be included in the package, although Dickson says it is too early to go into detail. He also refuses to discuss specifics on pricing. "If we look at the SUV market, CX-7 was always positioned at the top end. It was popular among some, but not everybody," Dickson says. "Pricing is still to be with decided, but we're looking to be competitive. If you look at the market for Japanese rivals it goes from the low $30,000s to the high $30,000s. Our plan will be to be in there somewhere with the 2.5, and competitive." The new engines have the potential to easily double CX-7 sales in Australia, although Dickson is not sure about the diesel. "We wouldn't be doing it if we didn't think there will be incremental business. But the extent is difficult to determine, and one of our issues is getting supply. Sometimes we get caught out by demand," he says. "It's early days with diesel but we have to get it out there. One of the issues with these things is that it's difficult to promote individual series, and a model within a particular series." Further into the future Dickson says Mazda is considering — as Nissan has done with its baby Dualis hatch — a front-drive CX-7 to give an even sharper price. "That's one we're considering," he says. But he rules out any chance of the CX-7 engine upgrade making it to the larger CX-9. "No, there is no diesel in the CX-9 at all. CX-9 is primarily for the US market, so whatever they do in terms of product development we can tap into, but there is almost no demand for diesel and the current engine is going well."  

The CX-9 is due to hit the showrooms in December, the large SUV will boast a 3.7-litre V6 engine. In Japanese spec it produces 204kW of power at 6350rpm and 366Nm of torque at 4250rpm. The Mazda CX-7 uses a 2.3-litre four-cylinder but the turbocharged petrol engine gives 175kW of power. The CX-9 is built on a different platform, having a wheelbase of 2875mm and a total body length of 5074mm. Mazda says Australia will be the first market to get the 3.7-litre version of the CX-9. It will be available in two grades; Luxury and Classic. Prices are expected to start in the low $50,000s. The CX-9 will sit on 18 or 20-inch wheels, depending on the version, and have three rows of seats. However, reasonable luggage space will remain; even when the third seating row is in use; 480 litres, which is comparable to a decent-sized normal car boot. Fold the third seat-row away and there's 928 litres of space to play with. The second-seat row is split 40-60 and can slide forward and aft 12cm. Mazda adds a wide door opening for third-row passengers to step in behind the second-row seat. CX-9s being built for Australia have stability control, roll-stability control, touch-screen audio with reversing camera, six airbags, cruise control, power windows and three-zone, climate-control airconditioning with separate control for the rear. Mazda's 'active torque split' all-wheel-drive system is used. It will automatically adjust torque distribution to the front and rear wheels from 100 per cent front wheels to 50-50.    

There was a time when it was quite acceptable for SUVs to handle like a beach ball full of wet porridge, but those days are gone. Outside of men who wear flannelette and fish hooks in their hats, Australian buyers of urban trucks are desperately in awe of “car-like dynamics”. This means that, essentially, they don't want an SUV at all. They just want a really big car with a high chair in it. The modern SUV, typified by Mazda's CX-7, is so much more car than off-roader that it demands a new acronym, Sports Utility Car perhaps — which would provide the plural a bunch of SUCs. Mazda folk have distilled the essence of these vehicles as “a car-like driving experience while retaining command-of-the-road driving position”. The result is something that looks, from front and rear, like a Mazda3 on stilts. Funnily, though, from side on the pinched headlights make it look like a Ford Focus writ large. But you've got to love the shape of the glasshouse, or the “unique window graphic” as they call it. Overall, it's a slick, sleek bit of SUC-ing up. The interior is roomy, rattle-free and reasonably stylish, except for the strange crocodile-skin strip down the middle of the seats, which are comfortable rather than luxurious. Mazda has attempted to create an SUV that goes, and feels, like a sports car — which is like building a snow plough that spits out ice sculptures. Or, as CX-7 program manager Shunsuke Kawasaki novelly puts it, this is a car that's more Keanu Reeves than Arnold Schwarzenegger. A cruel person would take this to mean Kawasaki's creation is a talentless but pretty dullard. He may have been in Speed, but that doesn't mean he's quick. Unfortunately, Kawasaki-san didn't explain whether he meant the Reeves of Bill And Ted fame or his later work (in The Lake House, for example), so it's one to ponder. Fortunately, the car is more convincing than the actor, with a wonderfully taut chassis, minimal body roll for a high-riding vehicle and a handy ride/handling balance, even on rough gravel. 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 CX-7's steering is also pretty sharp, although it's obviously not in the league of a Mazda6 MPS, for example. It does, however, share that car's engine, a 2.3-litre DISI turbo with 175kW and 350Nm, all of which is available at just 2500rpm, meaning it surges hard — and a little noisily — off the line and accelerates meaningfully. Well, meaningfully for a SUC: the sprint to 100km/h 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 CX-7's luxurious size and keen performance, we actually saw close to the claimed 11.5 litres per 100km economy figure. This must be because I was driving like an 80-year-old farmer with a hangover — my 11.9 litres per 100km was well and truly trumped by a colleague who recorded 14.9 litres and looked at me with a mixture of pity and disgust. My excuse is that I find driving SUVs, particularly on dirt, as exciting as The Lake House. On proper roads, however, the CX-7 turned out to be roughly seven times more fun than you would think possible. The steering is reasonably involving and it corners quite well, until the point where its size and 1745kg weight eventually push it into understeer. The six-speed auto is a typically Mazda-smooth unit, but it's disappointing that there's no manual option. This is because the CX-7 was (in case you can't guess just by looking) designed for Americans, and their arms are too fat to change gears. The Yanks are also quite happy with a skinny spare wheel — but apparently some Australians do take their SUCs out of the city, because Mazda Australia is doing a special fitting of a full-size spare, which will be available from March. As far as off-road ability goes, this is no low-range mountain-climber. The Active Torque Split AWD system automatically adjusts front-rear distribution between 100:0 and 50:50. In other words, it's a front-wheel-drive bus, but it can grip and rip — at least a little bit — when it needs to. Six airbags and a five-star crash rating from the US make it a safe investment as well. Mazda says the CX-7's competitors will include Toyota's RAV4, Nissan's X-Trail and Murano, and Honda's CRV. The car comes in two trim levels, with the base model a highly competitive $39,910. The $45,560 Luxury version throws in fruit like leather seats, a sunroof, heated power seats and a Bose stereo. Mazda may be a little late on the compact SUV scene, but keen pricing and savvy road manners will make the CX-7 an attractive proposition. It may be a SUC, but the CX-7 doesn't suck.