This year the crossover market is supposed to outsell the sport utility market by a pretty fair margin. Big feat if you ask me especially with gas prices falling each day. With newcomers like the new Mazda CX-7 this seems more likely. The typical crossover has been a fairly bland vehicle, part sport utility and part mini-van. A mid-size vehicle that is not very sporty with overall handling decent at best. The CX-7 is here to change that. With sporty lines and an aggressive stance the new Mazda is a good-looking vehicle that combines sport and comfort.

At first glance I walked up to the Mazda with an ice blue metallic color, which was near flawless with very little orange-peel in the paint. The CX-7 has a pretty aggressive stance sitting on 18” wheels and tires giving it a nice high perch to look down at its competitors. The lines are smooth and aggressive with a raked backed front end flowing back to the rear windows which vertically narrow. A fairly dramatic drop in the roofline just past the B-pillars causes the narrowing and adds to it’s radical design look. Luckily once inside you won’t notice the drop in roofline as it really only affects the cargo area in the far aft.

Inside the design inspiration doesn’t die. With upscale features from leather trim to metal bezels around the instruments there are very few corners that are cut. The driver side boasts an 8-way power adjustable seat and a 3-spoke steering wheel with redundant controls for stereo and cruise control. The leather is nicely appointed and all seats are comfortable with plenty of legroom. The power windows are one-touch up/down in the front, which is convenient, but I wish they ‘d made all 4 one touch operational for when the kiddies are in the back. Inside you will find plenty of cup-holders and storage bins and 12-volt power outlets for your entire accessory charging. So as discussed the inside and out are nicely designed with plenty of style and creature comforts. However this is not where the CX-7 truly shines. The driving of this crossover is second to none in this class. The 4-cylinder motor, which steels some design from the Mazda speed 6 motor, boasts 244 h.p with 256 foot-pounds of torque. More than enough to motor this sporty vehicle in any situation from downtown traffic jams to highway cruising. The braking is excellent with 4-wheel ventilated disc brakes and an active braking control system.

I actually put about 700 miles on this car in a week taking a trip up north with my friend C-bear who commented time and again how comfortable and convenient everything was. I was overly impressed with both the styling and handling of the vehicle and felt that for the money this is a sure fire seller for the folks over at Mazda. With an arsenal of vehicles that all boast good performance and pricing Mazda should be able to continue its growth in the market and creep a little closer to the bigger giants Toyota and Honda.