Jim Ellis Mazda Atlanta

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Driving Impressions

The Mazda CX-7 is fun to drive, especially when compared with the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, and other compact crossover SUVs.

We found it stable at high speeds. The brake pedal returns a solid, firm feel, and the vented disc brakes deliver reassuring, controlled stops when called upon. Driven fast on winding, two-lane roads, the CX-7 tracks cleanly, with minimal body lean despite its somewhat upright stature. Yes, its design default mode when carrying too much speed into a corner is understeer (where it wants to go straight instead of turn), but the electronic stability control system shields all but the most lead-footed driver from ever experiencing this. There is some head toss in quick left-right-left transitions, not a lot, but it's notable.

The steering wheel, brake and accelerator pedals and shift lever are properly juxtaposed for spirited driving, or at least as spirited as is comfortable in the CX-7. In support of which, Mazda points out that the wheel/shifter geometric replicates that of the RX-8 sports car. Over rough pavement, the suspension tends more to stiff than firm, with a hint of harshness. This no doubt contributes to the disappointing amount of road noise the tires transmit into the cabin, which otherwise was fairly quiet, even over poorly graded railroad crossings.

Power from the turbocharged four-cylinder engine builds smoothly, with impressive torque at low engine speeds. It's worth noting here that the CX-7 develops more torque at significantly lower engine speed (258 pound-feet at 2500 rpm) than the Toyota RAV4 V6 (246 pound-feet at 4700 rpm) or Honda CR-V (161 pound-feet at 4200 rpm). That's worth noting because it's torque, not horsepower, that propels you from intersections and up steep hills. More torque sooner is always better.

However, the CX-7 pays a price with the poorest EPA fuel economy estimates of the group.

Underway, the mechanical tones from the Mazda's engine compartment are decidedly low-key, more buzzy than throaty.

The transmission shifts well and adapts well to different driving situations, quickly learning a driver's preferences and holding lower gears longer and adjusting shift points to match. That's in Drive. Shift into the Sport mode and it executes manually directed shifts smoothly, up or down. To change gears manually, slide the shifter into the Sport slot, which is conveniently placed on the driver's side of the primary shift gate. Then simply push the lever forward to downshift, pull it back to shift up. This is similar to the way it works on many race cars.

There's some torque steer (where the front tires pull one way or the other, most commonly to the right) under hard acceleration, and we've noticed it in both the front-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive models. It's somewhat less in the latter, which redirects up to 50 percent of the power to the rear wheels in extreme conditions.

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