Head to head: 2012 Mazda CX-7

Lucky CX-7 is a well-rounded middle-of-the-road crossover

Kevin Mio

The Mazda CX-7 won’t be the baby brother in the company’s crossover lineup for much longer. The imminent arrival of the CX-5 will push the CX-7 into middle-child territory, wedged between the new arrival and the larger CX-9.

And while middle children often complain they are ignored, it’s unlikely the CX-7 will experience that problem.

The stylish crossover has many endearing qualities, from charming good looks and a comfortable and roomy interior to some turbocharged muscle under the hood.

Pricing for the base 2012 CX-7 starts at $26,595 and comes equipped with a front-wheel-drive configuration and a 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine.

The top-of-the-line CX-7 GT with the navigation system I tested is $39,260, adding all-wheel drive, a 2.3L turbo engine and more.

Even in base form, the CX-7 is well-equipped, including traction control, dynamic stability control, anti-lock brakes, air conditioning, power windows, power heated exterior mirrors, steering-wheel audio and cruise controls, a tire-pressure monitoring system, rain-sensing wipers, an anti-theft system and a full complement of airbags.

Another standard feature I appreciated, one also seen on competitors like the Honda CR-V, is a quick folding 60/40 rear seat. With the pull of a latch inside the cargo area, the seatback folds flat to easily access the extra space.

The GT designation further adds to the package, including a sunroof, Bluetooth, heated leather seats, fog lamps, a premium BOSE sound system, SIRIUS Satellite radio, Xenon HID headlights and a blind spot monitoring system.

Overall, the five-seat crossover offers a well-rounded package.

Design:

The CX-7 has multi-angular appeal when looking at it.

Up front, there is a nicely sloped and sculpted hood, a two-level centre grille and widely placed fog lights that give the CX-7 a more imposing stance. The headlights, also placed as wide as possible, flow into the arches over the front wheels, something also seen on other Mazda vehicles. This design touch gives the CX-7 a sportier look.

From the side, the door panels are shapely and angled out at the bottom, the line flowing from the front to rear wheel arches. The beltline rises up near the back of the rear door, giving the impression that the vehicle is taller than it really is.

At the back, the shape is fairly bulbous, with a nicely angled rear window. The tail light assemblies, which wrap around the sides, are quite stylish and eye-catching.

Inside, the cabin is appointed and well laid out, with many controls at your fingertips on the steering wheel or within arm’s reach on the centre stack.

I also liked the design and layout of the dash, which is divided into three sections and nicely backlit.

Performance:

The base GX model comes with a 2.5-litre inline four-cylinder engine, mated to a five-speed automatic transmission, producing 161 horsepower and an equal amount of torque.

While those numbers are more than adequate, as a previous test demonstrated, Mazda offers a smaller but more powerful engine.

The GS and GT trims come with a 2.3-litre inline four-cylinder turbocharged power plant. This engine is paired with a six-speed automatic transmission and pumps out 244 horsepower and 258 foot-pounds of torque.

The GS and GT trims also come with an all-wheel-drive system, an added bonus when getting the turbo engine, and a sought-after feature for Montreal winters.

I would like to see Mazda offer an all-wheel-drive version of the CX-7 without the need to upgrade to the turbo engine, however, and I am not quite sure why this isn’t offered.

An added hiccup, at least for some, when opting for the turbo engine is the fact it requires premium gasoline. With the ever-rising price of fuel, that might alter the decisions of some people.

Fuel consumption for the 2.3L turbo engine is rated at 12.2 litres per 100 kilometres in the city and 8.7 L/100 km on the highway.

Driving/utility:

If there is one complaint when driving the CX-7, it’s the amount of engine noise that infiltrates the passenger cabin. It’s nothing the BOSE system can’t drown out, mind you, but the clatter can get annoying when you have the audio system at a lower volume or turned off.

Other than that, driving around Montreal with the CX-7 was quite enjoyable. The turbo engine means the driver has plenty of power at his or her disposal, and the six-speed automatic transmission is efficient and smooth.

The CX-7 can seat up to five passengers comfortably, and there is a centre armrest in the bench that can be pulled down for use when only one or two occupants are in the back seat.

Being a crossover, the CX-7 also excels at offering cargo space. With the back bench in place, you have access to 29.9 cubic feet, increasing to 58.5 cubic feet when you fold the seatbacks flat.

kmio@montrealgazette.com

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Comfortable and sporty, but small annoyances can be a pain in the driver’s seat

Jim Leggett

My time testing the 2012 Mazda CX-7 happily coincided with the biggest snowstorm of the season so far in Montréal. It’s great when our somewhat random selection of vehicles works out to best show a product’s best attributes.

It was a slight disappointment to discover that there were no changes at all from the 2011 model, not even colour choice as with the Mazda6. In Mazda’s defence, there was a freshening of the CX-7 line-up in 2010.

Design:

Mazda’s corporate face is evident on the CX-7 with its prominent fenders that look like Angelina Jolie’s high cheekbones. Not a bad thing at all. These tall curves help slenderize the wide hood and add a boldness that is a Mazda trait.

The front fascia and grille openings also follow suit with its Mazda siblings with their squished honeycomb grilles in black plastic. The HID headlight clusters are less dramatic than those on the Mazda6 sedan but the large faux brake vents with projector-style fog lights make for an aggressive tone.

I really liked the side profile with the kick-up on the beltline for the rear windows. Again, like the fenders and hood, it breaks up what could have easily been a large, dull slab of SUV with an old styling trick from vintage muscle cars.

The rear end view is nicely formed with a pair of clear plastic taillights grabbing my attention with their unique crystalline inner structure. A second set of red lights reside down low in the rear bumper.

Mazda does nice interiors and the CX-7 doesn’t disappoint. The main instruments are colourful and bright, housed in a triple set of binnacles set inside a hood to shade them from the sun and they all move with the adjustable steering column. Backlit with red LEDs and ringed in bright blue, the orange numbers really pop off the black gauge faces.

The centre stack sweeps down off the dash and flows back past the gear selector and between the seats. With a mix of chrome trim, satin aluminum coloured trim and two finishes of grey and black plastic, Mazda keeps the design snappy with simple controls in a logical layout.

The seating for five is very comfortable. Both front seats are blessed with heat but unfortunately Mazda equipped them with simple on/off switches. The trick to using them is to turn on the heaters until your biscuits are burning, then shut them off, wait until cold, then turn them on again. This is quite literally a pain in the buttocks.

Along with the heated power seats, the Luxury Package ($2,995) also gives the GT a powered moonroof, leather upholstery, door panel trim, leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob, automatic climate control and Bluetooth phone system with audio profile.

Performance:

Two engines are offered in the CX-7, a 2.5L four-cylinder DOHC 16-valve that produces a modest 161 horsepower (base GX models) and a slightly smaller displacement 2.3L four-banger with a turbocharger that pumps out 244 horsepower and has some pulling power thanks to 258 foot-pounds of torque at a very usefully low 2,500 rpm. These numbers mean that the MRZ DISI Turbo engine delivers its maximum pulling power at more reasonable throttle levels so the motor is screaming away under the hood when fully loaded with passengers or pulling a trailer (the GT is rated at 907 kg or 2,000 lbs).

The power is transmitted to all four wheels via a six-speed automatic transmission with Sport mode and overdrive on the GS and GT models. The base GX gets along with a five-speed.

The CX-7 is touted as Mazda’s crossover SUV with the soul of a sports car. The engineers have succeeded in a modest manner. Only a couple of high-end SUVs today can make you forget about their naturally high centre of gravity and inherent bulk, and they cost at least double the asking price of a CX-7.

The sporty handling of the CX-7 comes from fully independent suspension front and rear with coil springs and stabilizer bars at both ends as well. The steering is by rack and pinion with engine-rpm-sensing variable power assist that has far better road feel than the Mazda6 sedan we tested the same week.

Brakes are disc on all four wheels, equipped with anti-lock braking with electronic brake-force distribution. They stop the 19-inch alloy wheels in short order.

Driving/utility:

I found this sporty SUV to be somewhat of a conundrum. I really like the exterior and interior styling of the CX-7. It’s modern, uncluttered and sporty. I didn’t like the appearance of the Chrystal White Pearl paint, a $200 option. It looked to me that the white paint had slightly different colour casts between the steel body panels and the soft plastic of the bumpers. I doubt this would show on any other colour than the white though, and I would never buy a white car to begin with.

The drivetrain and suspension worked like a charm and the all-wheel drive was put to good use trying to park in the Mile-End district after the snowstorm. The downside to the more powerful turbocharged 2.3L engine is the cost of filling the fuel tank with the recommended premium gasoline. Estimated fuel consumption ratings for the CX-7 GT AWD are 12.2L/100 km city and 8.7L/100 km highway.

The moonroof that comes as a big feature in the Luxury Package generated enough wind noise that my wife asked me if I had left it slightly open. It was tightly closed and we shut the sun shade to quell the noise, defeating the purpose of an overhead window. Then we heard more wind noise and she asked if I had the ventilation fan on high. The fan was off and I suspect it was the wind getting caught up in the front grilles. The simple solution was to turn on the Bose stereo which produced great sounds to drown out the wind.

The CX-7 GT came with an Intelligent Keyless Entry System that drove me nuts. I don’t like it when the vehicle is more intelligent that I am, and the doors continuously locked themselves when I was trying to load and unload cargo.

With a retail price of $39,290 including the Luxury Package and Navigation, the CX-7 is comfortable, useful, and sporty. Unfortunately drivers can often be unforgiving for annoying details such as excessive wind and road noise and seat warmers without a simmer setting.

Article source: http://www.montrealgazette.com/cars/Head+head+2012+Mazda/6106056/story.html