Posts Tagged ‘Mazda’

2011 Mazda CX-9 Grand Touring AWD Review

July 7th, 2011 Comments Off

Pros
Spacious interior for 7 passengers + luggage
Sliding second row seats that recline
Standard equipment list longer than Snoop Dog’s rap sheet

Cons
Exterior is too similar to the less expensive CX-7
Interior materials and designs are boring
The nav screen is hard to read in sunlight
Improved MPG, but not stellar

I always thought the pair of Mazda crossover SUVs, the CX-7 and CX-9, to be some of the most handsome ones on the market when they were introduced back in 2006 as 2007 models. Even in today’s crowded crossover SUV market, the Mazdas are still lookers although the styling is getting a little long in the tooth. While the larger CX-9 shares styling cues with the CX-7, it shares almost nothing else with its smaller sibling. The CX-9 is based on the same platform and shares the same 3.7 liter V6 engine as the Ford Edge/Lincoln MKX, an example of the long-term partnership between Ford and Mazda, which continues even after Ford reduced its stake in the Japanese car maker back in 2008.

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Posted in Auto Shows, Car Reviews, First Look, News | Tags:

2012 Mazda 5

April 10th, 2011 Comments Off

The 2012 Mazda 5 is an all-new model. For 2012, Mazda 5 has been redesigned inside and especially outside, where it uses Mazda's Nagare, or flow in nature, design, the first Mazda to be designed using this philosophy.

The Mazda 5, a small, six-seat, front-wheel-drive minivan, currently resides in a class of one, since no other manufacturer offers a minivan in this size class (although the Ford C-Max will be coming along later in the 2012 model year). For comparison purposes, Mazda uses the Honda CR-V and the Toyota RAV4, which are not true minivans, since they don't use sliding doors as the Mazda 5 does, and are generally $2400-$2800 more expensive.

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Mazda3 SP25

December 23rd, 2010 Comments Off

The new Mazda 3 SP has reason to smile, for behind that gaping grille is a bigger engine formerly powering a weighty 6 sedan, and enough revs to power its position at the top of the sales table both here and overseas.

Straddling the small and medium segments with four spec variants in hatch and sedan body styles, the 3 is Mazda’s most important seller accounting for 30 percent of the Japanese carmaker’s sales.

But instead of playing it safe with its second generation, Mazda has embraced brave design lines both inside and out which may polarise its sometimes conservative following, and stepped up the engine size despite the associated financial implications and social stigma connected to corpulent cubic inches.

One may wonder if success has affected Mazda to its detriment: the grinning new face tantamount to contempt and carelessness. But after a few hours behind the wheel on test, the SP25’s broad grin definitely transfers to its driver….

The 3 range already hails as a dynamic, fun and lively hatch and sedan, so the Sport Pack variant must up the ante on performance without compromising every-day drivability. It is a fine balance, but one the Mazda range in general handles very well.

The handling itself is a 3 specialty, and the SP25 improves on its predecessor with a tighter electro-hydraulic rack and communicative feel through the heel even on centre.

The 17-inch alloys speed up the turns, and a quick flick into a tighter country corner moves the rear around with cheeky bum-steer. Traction control and stability control are standard but switchable and well-calibrated, and any intrusion is judicial.

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2011 Mazda 2

September 29th, 2010 Comments Off

Overview
The 2011 Mazda 2 has been completely redesigned inside, outside and underneath. The all-new five-seat, front-wheel-drive subcompact was designed to take on a wide range of competitors, such as the Toyota Yaris, Nissan Versa, Ford Fiesta, Hyundai Accent, and Kia Soul and Rio.

First introduced in 2007, the Mazda 2 has been extremely successful, selling more than 400,000 units in Europe and Asia, and being named World Car Of The Year in 2008. Now, the U.S. market gets the third-generation Mazda 2 before any other market.

The styling is fresh and we find it arrestingly good-looking. Like all Mazda products of recent vintage, the 2011 Mazda 2 has been made to look much bolder and sportier than its previous incarnations. The body itself has been reshaped in a much more sporty fashion, with more sculpted sides, a laid-back windshield, and a jaunty little rear roof spoiler on one version. There's a new grille, hood, fenders, lamps, bumper and air intakes up front, with new body-colored door handles, new taillamps, a power liftgate, new 15-inch wheels, and exhaust system outlets at the rear. Underneath, there's a redone suspension and an improved braking system.

Under the hood, there is a single engine choice, a time-tested 1.5-liter double-overhead-cam 16-valve four-cylinder engine with variable valve timing to give it more flexibility in delivering low-rpm torque and high-rpm horsepower.

Fuel economy for the Mazda 2 is an EPA-estimated 28/35 mpg City/Highway.

Aiming for higher gas mileage without damaging the driving fun, Mazda focused on reducing weight with a vengeance, using a much higher ratio of high-strength steel in the body to lose 50 pounds, or 10 percent of the body's weight, with more welds and more weld-bonded adhesives in the body and its openings. And then they looked for hundreds of places to save a few pounds, like the wiring harness, the door locks and latches, the engine's radiator, the automatic transmission shifter, the pedals, and even the speakers in the stereo system. The final result was a car that weighs just a bit over 2300 pounds in basic form, a five-door hatch that is actually lighter than a two-seater Miata.

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