Mazda CX-7

An agile 4x4 that offers masses of equipment for the money and is roomy enough for all the family

Perhaps it’s still not as desirable as a Q5 or Freelander, but at least now it’s capable of competing on level terms.

The drawback is the price – at almost £26,000 it’s encroaching on the territory of more premium compact SUVs...

Group test - Mazda CX-7 vs Audi Q5. Result - The Audi wins, thanks to its better residuals and interior.

To equip rivals in a similar fashion - stuff like the Land Rover Freelander or perhaps the BMW X1 - you'd have to dip into £30k territory.

...a good-looking, well-specified alternative to the more obvious competition in this class.

It's great to drive too and feels like a sporty saloon rather than a 4x4 with responsive steering and excellent body control.

...the very firm ride is harsh and uncomfortable and there is no automatic transmission option.

There's nothing much wrong with the smart looking, dynamically composed, well-equipped, good value and spacious Mazda CX-7. 

So dare to be different: get yourself down to your nearest Mazda dealer and take a test drive.

The Mazda CX-7 doesn't suffer from the wallowy ride of some other SUVs. Nor does it seem to have the same restriction of power as some do.

Though we downsized from a Range Rover, I'm actually suitably impressed with the Mazda. The engine is powerful as well as quiet. It compares to a sportscar rather than a typical 4x4 - lots of fun to drive and accelerating surprisingly quickly. You get loads of equipment as standard, the Bose sound system is great, leather, cruise control, ISOFIX all come with it. Sat nav would have been appreciated though. The boot is large, there's tons of headroom and leg room.

The biggest cons are fuel consumption (we're getting on average 34 MPG) and crazy depreciation. Therefore, in hindsight, I would actually suggest getting a used one instead of a new one! A one year old Mazda could cost far less than half the original price.

It's a solid car which is well built and reliable. Quality brand with great service experienced so far. No major quips yet.

I picked up my CX 7 GS AWD today, January 16th, 2012. I live in Calgary Alberta, Canada. Today the mercury never got got above -26 degrees C (for you Americans that’s about -10 degrees F) or colder than most freezers. Now add to that a fine snow with a bit of wind that ices everything up very nicely so it’s impossible to keep the roads clean and dry. Now you have the background for this review.

Any car can handle well in warm weather on dry or even wet roads but, believe me, if you’ve never driven in weather like today, you won’t appreciate how difficult it can be to have a car actually feel like it’s driving on dry roads most of the time. All professional reviews are done in conditions that don’t come near the Arctic conditions of this review.

My car was delivered, as expected, with all season tires (Goodyear Eagle RS A). Now all season means pretty much anything except weather where the temperature drops much below freezing as the rubber gets hard and the tires lose traction. With any other car I’ve ever owned this weather and the all season tires is a very scary experience (a roller coaster is a walk in the park by comparison).

Of course, I didn’t expect much more from my Mazda and for the first few minutes I was as careful as if I was walking on hot coals. However, the car felt so stable and safe, that I loosened up at bit and, though not being excessive, started trying the car out in spots that would have been very difficult for other cars I’ve driven even with snow tires on. The result: AMAZING.

This car handled better with it’s not-meant-for-Canadian-winter tires than any other car I’ve ever owned with brand new made-for-Canadian-winters snow tires. I actually had to work to make the tires spin or to experience a little slide. I would NEVER have tried the same things with other cars I’ve owned.

Sure the Mazda has traction control and ABS brakes but so did other cars I owned but the Mazda also has a much more powerful engine, yet the handling was the most pleasant surprise I’ve ever had with a car in these conditions. Sure, I wouldn’t do what I did in heavy traffic but there was no traffic where I drove and so pushing it a bit for the pitiful road conditions I drove wasn’t really unsafe.

My hat’s off to Mazda engineers. For Winter driving here in Canada, I couldn’t ask for better.

I think this must be one of the most under-rated cars ever to grace the pages of the UK’s ‘unbiased’ car magazines. This is our kids runaround in which we’ve covered over 60,000 during the last four years. For everyday use this thing has proven more than a match for my BMW X5 35d and when the snow occasionaly falls the X5 stays in the garage and gives way to the considerably more competent CX-7. Ok it’s not as solid or refined as the X5 but value for money it’s unbeatable. No, I wouldn’t choose it over the X5 but if I were on a budget it would be a fantastic choice.

Downsides: ok, so economy isn’t great but then it will easily live with your Golf GTi’s and it weighs 2 tonnes! What do you expect? That said it has still averaged 27mpg over the four years we’ve had it compared to the X5’s 26.4. Other minor gripes are there was no sunroof option nor DAB available.

Upsides: it’s fast. Trust me, this thing will easily outgun my X5 on a country road blast. In fact, it would be more than a match for our old Mini Cooper S anywhere other than a go-kart track! It’s comfortable. It will cover long journeys with ease using cruise control. The 4x4 system works fantastically well for those moments when you need it as the tyres give good traction whether it be on snow or in muddy fields. It’s also relatively cheap to maintain. The main dealer servicing is around £220 a pop and the tyres last over 35,000 miles a set. Reliability is standard brilliant Mazda, just one small suspension component has failed to date at a charge of £100 including labour to repair.

Finally: If you’re considering buying one, so long as you know it won’t be as cheap to run as a Polo 1.0 then you’ll not regret your purchase.