Cars.com's Dave Thomas walks you through the new 2008 Mazda CX-7.
Transcript
(rock guitar music) The Mazda CX-7 SUV was all new last year. And for 2008, not much has changed. The car is almost identical to what we saw last year, except the engine gets a small change, so it takes regular gasoline, instead of premium.
That means this affordable SUV's, a little more affordable. One of the CX-7 strong points is its standard turbo engine. It's got 244 horsepower, which is plenty for an SUV this size. The CX-7 is one of the more fun to drive SUVs around. The steering is precise, yet light enough for any driver to master. The turbo engine has plenty of power for passing on the highway, and believe it or not, it is nimble for an SUV. The CX-7 definitely has one of the better interiors in its class. We're in a Grand Taurine, which is our top level trim, which has really nice leather, steering wheel with all kinds of radio controls on it, a six disc changer. But even if you get a base model, most of the same elements are exactly the same. You still get that high quality for a lower price. One downside of the CX-7 swoopy curves, is a noticeable blind spot over the right shoulder. As you can see from my height, you can see the windshield of the car in our blind spot, but a few inches lower where my wife would be sitting, her height. You can't see it at all. So it is a noticeable blind spot, and a subtractor from CX-7. CX-7's cargo area is actually quite big. You can fit tons of luggage with the seats up, you know? We have a pretty large size bag. And the best thing about it is, to expand the cargo area and flip the seats down just have to pull a latch right there in the back, and the seat will eventually flop down. And one on the other side, and then you have a full flat cargo area. Because of its price, a CX-7 competes with a lot of SUVs. From the Honda CRV and Toyota RAV4, up to the Ford Edge. So it competes with a lot of them. It does beat 'em, mostly because of its great standard engine. Has a lot of cargo room and utility, and it's a lot of fun to drive. We just want to make sure everyone, who actually test drives it, checks out that same position for that blind spot. Otherwise the CX-7 is a great SUV. <v Narrator>For additional information on this car, or any other, go to cars.com and our blog Kicking Tires.
