By
LATEST ARTICLE
Saudi Woman Faces Charges For Driving During Emergency
Residents of the United States likely take their driving privileges for granted. Not so in Saudi... Read More
Saudi Woman Faces Charges For Driving During Emergency
Residents of the United States likely take their driving privileges for granted. Not so in Saudi... Read More
- N/ALEADERBOARD RANK
- 639ARTICLES CONTRIBUTED
- 0COMMENTS POSTED
13,297 views
Sporty SUVs are somewhat of an oxymoron, but Mazda has been trying hard to prove that such a creature exists with its CX-7 and CX-9 crossovers.
And for the most part, the company has been succeeding. With the 2011 Mazda CX-9, the "zoom-zoom" gang has cooked up a large SUV that won't disappoint drivers with sporty intentions.
Mostly unchanged from the 2010 version, the CX-9 offers just one powerplant: A 3.7-liter V-6 that puts out 273 horsepower and 270 lb-ft of torque. It mates to a six-speed automatic transmission.
This seven-seat SUV is available with either front-wheel or all-wheel drive and comes in three flavors: Sport, Touring, or Grand Touring. The tester that graced my presence was a Grand Touring with all-wheel drive.
Grand Touring is the top trim, and it doesn't come cheap, clocking in with a base price of $34,535. That base price does include 20-inch wheels, leather-trimmed seats in the first and second rows, a tilt/telescope steering wheel, heated front seats, rain sensing wipers, a roof spoiler, blind-spot monitoring, ABS, roll stability control, fog lamps, an antiskid system, traction control, an auxiliary jack, a wireless cell phone link, keyless entry and starting, and a trip computer.
Options included a rear bumper step plate ($150), a power lift gate ($400), a navigation system with a rearview camera, voice recognition, and real time traffic updates ($1,665) and the Moonroof/Bose Package, which included a power moonroof, Sirius satellite radio with a six-month subscription, a Bose audio system, and 10 speakers, all for $2,255. Those options and the $795 destination fee brought the as-tested total to $39,800.
That's a bit steep, but for the most part, the CX-9 felt worth every penny. I drove from Chicago to Detroit and back, and felt plenty of comfort, and the all-wheel drive gave me plenty of confidence while traversing the interstate during a tough snowstorm. Only once did I have cause for worry--a careless driver cut me off at speed and I needed to hit the brakes hard. The rear end did get squirrely, but before I could even begin to take evasive, the safety systems kicked in and kept me and the CX on the straight and narrow.
