Mazda constructed one thing completely different with its first crossover, the CX-7. Nevertheless in doing so, the model needed to borrow some components from various random locations, making the CX-7 type of an automotive Frankenstein.
Mazda had an extended historical past of borrowing from Ford for issues. It is smart because the Detroit automaker held a controlling stake within the Japanese automaker for years. The one two SUVs the model ever offered have been primarily rebadged Fords: the Explorer-based Navajo within the early Nineteen Nineties and thinly disguised Ford Escape Mazda Tribute after that. When crossovers grew to become the brand new hotness within the 2000s, Mazda wished in with one thing of its personal.
The model’s engineers set to work and ultimately debuted an idea on the 2005 Detroit Auto Present known as the MX-Crossport. With an athletic wanting design, Mazda described it as combining the sportiness of the RX-8 with the practicality of the Tribute with the model saying that it “steps into the realm of sports activities vehicles the place the motive force can expertise the world of sports activities vehicles each time they get behind the wheel.”
The fact was that the MX-Crossport was a thinly disguised preview of the CX-7, which made its official debut the subsequent yr on the L.A. Auto Present. Constructed at Mazda’s Hiroshima plant, the automaker needed to pull components from far and wide to make it. The guts of the CX-7 was most likely its most original half.
Mazda used the identical 2.3-liter turbocharged I4 from the Mazdaspeed 3 and 6. It made 244 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque. That was routed to both the entrance wheels or all wheels by means of a six-speed computerized transmission. Different markets obtained both a 2.2-liter diesel or a 2.5-liter I4 with both a five-speed auto or a six-speed handbook.
Different components got here from off the shelf. The entrance suspension got here from the MPV minivan whereas the rear setup and steering column got here from the Mazda5 MPV. The steering wheel got here from the NC technology of the Miata whereas the optionally available all-wheel drive system additionally got here from the Mazdaspeed6. Even the platform it rode on was bizarre. Mazda used Ford’s C1 platform for the CX-7, which additionally underpinned autos like the primary technology Ford C-Max, the second gen Focus we didn’t get and Volvo’s C30 and C70.
Regardless of that, Mazda acquired the driving dynamics proper, paying off the model’s “Zoom Zoom” tagline. Testers praised the driving dynamics. Automobile & Driver described it as “an SUV doing a rally automotive impression.” A part of these good driving dynamics got here from the truth that it had a comparatively low curb weight — for what it was — of three,916 kilos. It was additionally able to pulling .80gs on the skidpad.
It wasn’t all good although as some impartial testing discovered just a few flaws. The dearth of a handbook transmission was one. The engine was one other. Though it was utilized in Mazdaspeed fashions, the efficiency of the turbocharged engine fell flat within the CX-7. Some described it as thrashy, coarse and gutless. Its zero to 60 mph time wasn’t all that nice both at 7.4 seconds. Energy for the engine fell off too, manner earlier than it’s 6,500 RPM redline. Gasoline economic system was additionally surprisingly poor, one thing that one other engine possibility might have helped. Automobile & Driver identified in its testing that its general 19 mpg score was one worse than a Hemi powered Dodge Magnum R/T (R.I.P) that was not too long ago examined.
In the end, the CX-7 would final in Mazda’s lineup for simply 5 years. A refresh in 2010 added revised entrance and rear fascias and a little bit of tech in bluetooth connectivity and a blind spot monitoring system. It appears although that the years haven’t been form to the CX-7 both as they appear to have had reliability points. On-line analysis signifies that the hodgepodge of varied off the shelf components gave individuals issues, like blown turbos within the engine. Whereas that will tarnish its historical past a bit, with out the CX-7, we might by no means have gotten almost each Mazda crossover to exist since then, just like the CX-5 (which changed the CX-7), wonderful CX-9 or the present CX-70/90.
