2007 Mazda CX-7
Monday, November 13th, 2006
If you spend a few hours behind the wheel of Mazda’s new CX-7 and you might start to wonder. And with good reason, for while the Japanese maker’s Miata and RX-8 are the classic examples of “zoom-zoom” engineering, the CX-7 is likely to make you forget you’re driving a crossover. If you include the Tribute, Mazda has already been playing in the fast-growing crossover segment, a category that is expected to outsell conventional sport-utility vehicles this year.
But the Tribute, a thinly-disguised version of the Ford Escape, never really did much for the Asian marque, never really fit into the sporty niche Mazda has been carving out for itself any more than the boxy MPV minivan. The CX-7 along with the CX-9, the big brother due out early next year – make up another breed entirely.
As chief designer Moray Callum is quick to admit, there are limits to what you can do with the shape of a sport-utility vehicle or crossover – at least if you intend to provide any usable headroom for the folks in the back seats. Nonetheless, you know, at first glance, there’s something different about the CX-7.
Sure, at 69 inches, the crossover stands a lot taller than a Miata or RX-8, but the flowing shape captures the sporty theme that now runs through the expanding Mazda lineup. There are the bold, honeycomb grille, the steeply raked windshield, and muscular wheel arches.
The tail tapers gently, just enough to gel the visual theme, but without cramping cargo and passenger space or crimping rear visibility. Use the easy-to-reach latches and you get a full 70 inches of flat floor space with the rear seats down.
One of Kawasaki ’s key goals was to make the CX-7 look a lot more lavish than the $23,750 base price might suggest. Outside and in, Mazda worked up some elegant touches, including the refined piano black accent pieces (which first appeared on the much more expensive RX-8). That said, the automaker did cut a few corners, here and there, with some chintzier plastic pieces, but they tend to show up in out-of-the-way corners.
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