Test drive Mazda CX-7 2007-2009 SUV

Mazda CX-7: Features of the National Crossover

Directors and film critics have such a professional word - Hook. It means a scene or an unexpected plot turn that leaves a certain lack of non -orderly, incompleteness in the film’s final, which can be used to filming the continuation of the film (sequel) and logically explain its form.
 
Not so long ago, we introduced our readers to the Mazda CX-7 crossover, whose European premiere was not so long ago in France. The car showed itself perfectly and, it would seem, the test drive proposed to reporters put all the dots over I. However, the Russian representative office of Mazda provided for its Hook in the European presentation script: it was announced in advance that the European version, on which the writer's writing was happy, was certainly good, but the modification developed specifically for the domestic market will be even better. The presentation of the dark horse was scheduled for September.
 
Along two months passed, and so my colleague and I land in the ancient Russian city of Yaroslavl, chosen for the premiere of the Russian version of the crossover. In the parking lot, we are already waiting for our old acquaintance Mazda CX-7, tucked under the eyeballs and ready for adventures. After short formal procedures, we get keys from Mazda employees (or rather, a small keychain that provides access to the cabin without a key), and resuming an interrupted acquaintance with the car.
 
Both externally and from the point of view of the interior, the Russian CX-7 crossover is practically no different from European twin, with the exception of an automatic gearbox selector (the European version is equipped only with a mechanical box) and the parking brake pedal instead of the usual handbroke, which is used in a European woman. The rest of the governing bodies, finishing, the exterior are completely identical, the French who accepted us in Paris would call this Deja Vue.
 
Well, making sure that outwardly the car did not lose anything (as, indeed, did not acquire), climb inside, start the engine, open the Pilot-Book and leave the city our path lies in Uglich.
 
The most significant difference between the Russian version and European is an automatic gearbox and a deformed (from 260 to 238 hp) engine. And it was these changes that caused us special alertness, did the CX-7 lose its sports enthusiasm? However, the first distillation on the highway dispelled our fears - subjectively the Russian CX -7 lost only slightly in dynamics. The 6-speed automatic machine is practically not stupid on Kikdown, and the 2.3-liter MZR turbo engine provides powerful, intense acceleration. Go around the wagons and the leisurely our fashion on a two -lane country highway is a pleasure and a continuous feeling of confidence! And magnificent, without exaggeration, brakes, completes this rainbow picture.
 
Of course, if you put the European and Russian versions of the car nearby and hold a test race, then, probably, the European would demonstrate somewhat more agility. However, do not forget that, as compensation for lost horses, the Russian owner of the CX-7 gets the opportunity to refuel with 95th gasoline, while the European version peremptorously requires the 98th. On the way from Yaroslavl to Uglich and back, we specially paid attention to the presence of 98th gasoline in the assortment of associated gas stations and did not find it at any of the gas stations. So the decision of Mazda to maintain a more common gasoline at the cost of a slight loss in the dynamics and maximum speed can only be applied. Moreover, despite the maximum of 180 km/h, the car confidently developed speed up to 200, according to the speedometer.
 
Another significant difference between the Russian version, the declared Mazda is a suspension, altered towards greater softness. Honestly, we did not notice any special differences. Of course, as in the case of acceleration, it would be nice to directly compare both modifications to each other, but in our opinion everything that is written about the suspension in the European modification test is true for the Russian new product: CX-7 is almost perfectly balanced in terms of comfort. /controllability. The car is steering perfectly, his habits are more like a sports car than a crossover, which was also confirmed by a test on a specially prepared racing highway, arranged on the territory of the old military transport airfield. It was necessary to see what professional motorborers, invited by the Mazda representation, had done an average metatic crossover from such maneuvers, had to, in our opinion, simply overturned.
 
As for the noise level, the Russian version seemed much more loud to us: if the engine sound is still almost not heard at low speeds, then the noise of the wheels is transmitted to the cabin very clearly (at high speed there is a feeling that one of the windows is not completely closed). However, we are inclined to attribute this not to the differences in the design, but to the difference as French and Russian roads (we still did not ride an autobahn).
 
As we already wrote in the previous review of the car, France did not give us a single chance to try out the car in an off -road on our path, which had to be passed quickly enough, there were simply no suitable lanes! The Yaroslavl region provided us with such a chance in the form of a whole abandoned field. What can I say? Of course, the off-road qualities of the CX-7 are infinitely far away, for example, from the Mazda BT-50 pickup of a special guest of the presentation, which we also had the opportunity to ride. Even Tribute, the previous generation Mazda crossover, would give CX-7 a double head start. Of course, to overcome the last kilometers along a dirt road to a country house, a new crossover will completely allow, but flaasses of suspension even on small bumps make the driver move with maximum caution. In addition, despite the rather large road clearance, the lower edge of the front bumper is too close to the surface of the road, and any random bump or high border in urban conditions can make your insurance company sob. However, of course, the CX-7 is not at all positioned as an all-terrain vehicle, so it is hardly worth considering the above as a significant drawback. In addition, no one has canceled the connected all-wheel drive of this car, and the CX-7 is obviously more adapted to the conditions of the Rasputer or the Russian winter than any car with a drive for one axis.
 
To summarize our old-new acquaintance with the Russian version of the CX-7, we can confidently say that the car not only did not disappoint, but also dispelled all the fears associated with the peculiarity of the Russian version (automatic transmission and reduced engine power). CX-7 is, of course, a great choice of speed lovers in the format of the crossover and, in our opinion, this model is predetermined by an excellent commercial future.
 
 

Source: Auto.mail.ru