Car Advice tests the Diesel CX7

[A Pirate]

these are the two cars ive been seriously loong at as my next car (well it was petrol versions at first but now not so sure after seeing pockets rocket)... Im still not sold on the "smile" ...actually it turns me off all mazdas..... over looking this ghastly design flaw that car actually looks good and reads well (highlighted in the above post)...only point that im caught on is its an AWD with no possibility of low range which the Forster does....

I need a car that can drive to Thredbo in the winter without chains, drive on sand (not so soft that i need 4x4), tow a 5m boat (well the sp23 does it now but i want to be able to take it larger distances easly), big enough for possibly a family (one day in next 5yrs) and has enough power to keep it zippy and fun.....


Atm im looking at;
XT Premuim forester
CX7....(maybe even diesel)
3yr old BMW X5 (but still expensive and its a big unit)
Suzuki grand vitara
or what ever comes up between now and august.

[Mr Nasa]

fozza diesel would be a good addition me thinks

[LittleredMPS]

I would consider a cx7 diesel as a second car.

I like it

[Wardski]

Hmmmmm. I'm not one to dampen peoples interest, but my wife and I tested the 2.2ltr CX-7 manual at Oldmac Mazda when they had the "hand me round" demonstrator 4 weeks ago. To be honest I found it pretty dull (maybe I was expecting more after my Gen 1 MPS ) and power was very lack luster and boring..

We were in the hunt for the perfect SUV for around $45k, so we did the shop around test driving a range of vehicles in and below our price range. These included the Nissan X-trail, VW Tourag, Mitsu outlander, Toyota Prado (out of our price range), CX-7, CX-9 (just for fun tho too expensive @ 55k base) and the 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe. After 2-3 weeks of test drives, we ended up getting the middle of the range Hyundai Santa Fe Elite.

IMO, if you're looking at getting the CX-7 with kids and travel in mind, take note of the following:

1. Leg room in the back seat is worse than the Gen 1 MPS
2. The Gen 1 MPS has more usable boot space (even tho the CX-7 has more ltrs)
3. Its very awkward putting a baby into / out of a baby capsule (the swooping A-piller is in the wrong place) - The article is TOTAL BULL$hit about child seats. THIS IS NOT A GOOD CAR IF YOU HAVE TO USE A REAR FACING BABY CAPSULE!!!!!
4. Its really hard to get access to that 400Nm (even tho its a manual and diesel!). I disagree that the power is accessible at 1800 RPM. It was more like 2400..
5. No 7 seats - makes for a very expensive 5 seater!
6. No adjustability in the split fold seats (they're either up or folded forward - you cannot adjust back to get more space for a bit of relaxing, or to give you a bit more room for a baby capsule.
6. Lack of extras like push start, rear aircon vents, chiller box, USB & IPOD connectivity as standard, electric seats, folding mirrors, no full size spare tyre! (+++$$)
7. I felt the interior quality was worse than my Gen 1 MPS - very cheap plastics.
8. NVH was ordinary..
9. 3 year warranty - others offering 5 years (we got 8 years unlimited with the Hyundai Santa Fe!)

In essence, these are just my comments. We drove the CX-7 around for about 2 hrs in and around Cleveland, up and down hills, and a little offroading (ssshh dont tell mazda!). We were looking for the perfect balance between features, safety, power and space. In comparison, The Santa Fe certainly has more power - and you feel it at the lights, better fuel economy, plus its got a sweet 6 speed auto that downchanges to help with gear braking - comes standard with triptronic simi-manual as well, plus all the room and NCAP 5 star rating, all with a very low maintenance package and 5 year unlimited kms (extra 3 - up to 8 years for dealership loyalty on servicing).

No matter what your requirements - the bottom line, it pays to shop around.

[TheJunglist]

was qute surprised it didnt come with an auto option

[Raven]

Im driving a new CX-7 2.2 Turbo Diesel and I have to say going from a Mazda 3 to this at first I though wow this has no power, turns out that I was so used to driving my 3 that I had to change the way I shift. 2 weeks now into owning it and its super zippy and I love it. Upgraded for the larger space more than anything, and I found the CX-5 kinda ugly.

The trick now is to find performance parts for it! First stop CAI then who knows Exhaust if I can find it.

Raven