Hi All,
My wife and I are looking for our next car to be on the scene around August.
We need a car that can handle a potential future family, be enjoyable to drive long distances in, be able to tow my 5m boat, be capable of driving in snow/icy conditions and then sandy/soft condition once or twice a year, versatile, all round fun car to own...oh yeah mrs wants an auto
We were deciding (mainly on looks and on paper specs) between the MAZDA CX7 Luxury sports activmatic and the Subaru forester 2.5 XT Premium sport shift.
After crawling through both cars playing with all switches and gismos, annoying the sales men on spec's and limits etc we took the cars for a test drive which included taking them over 100km/h, a few quick launches and then through some twisties, hairpins and up hill roads...our results;
We started off by taking the Forester for a test drive...
Car was 250km old
Pro's
+Punchy 2.5L boxer engine which really pulls hard over 3000 rpm
+well appointed - HUGE sunroof, big screen for sat nav and reverse camera etc
+Good looks
+fun car
Con's
- not very comfortable front seats ~ felt narrow and slippery
- audio system good but not great
- felt a little boaty... body roll (but ive been told this is easly fixed with bigger sway bars and strut brace.
-
Next was the Mazda CX7 Luxury under 100km on the clock
Pro's
+ MAZDA
+ looks
+ great mazda build
+ cheapest
+ minimum body roll felt allot tighter than Forester
Con's
-drive ...turbo lag and lack of get up and go really surprising (to have fun must stay in boost and then that was limited due to auto GB)
-crappy feel when really pushing hard...can feel the front slip and then push drive to rear wheels...ecu seemed confused
- dash bland - many buttons (too busy), tiny sat nav/reverse camera
- overall feel...car feels like a really big car...mrs said it felt like a tarago!
-Tiny sunroof
We walked next door to mazda and had a quick squizz at the Mitsubishi OUTLANDER VR-X V6 3.0L (not that we even considered an outlander at all)
WOW this was a surprise.... the build quality looked ok, the appointments were many, large screen sat nav and looked quite good
Pro's
+ V6 engine
+ looks good
+ Evo X drive train
+ great audio/visual set up
+ cargo area well set up
Cons
- its a Mitsubishi
- crap colours
- drives a little like the CX7 until you activate the evo drive train then it felt like the Forester but also consumed more petrol.
I have to say I was very disappointed in the CX7 I/we expected more... it just felt big slow and dumb....compared to the Forester and Outlander...yes it looks great and does have the great mazda build quality but it didnt have it where it counts...missing the fun factor.
In contrast both the Forester and the outlander felt quick & sporty ... a car you enjoyed squashing the right peddle to the floor and but once you had your fun drive it normally again....just waiting for it to beg you to push it hard again.
Before I make my final decision ill take all cars out on another test drive...a longer one....really seeing what the cars feel like.
Are there any other cars I should look at in this class?