| Week at the Wheel | Mazda CX-7 2.2 TD Sport Tech |

Inside & Out:

The extra cabin space afforded by the CX-7's big proportions make Mazda's propensity for quite button-heavy design more palatable. There's a lot to look at, typically Japanese, but it's laid out neatly and it mostly feels high quality. The mismatched orange information and tiny colour navigation screens are aesthetically poor, but it's all-in-all a nice place to sit. Ergonomically sound, spacious front and back for legs and heads, and a usefully large boot.

Despite the CX-7 being a proper 4x4 (in the sense that power can be distributed to all four wheels), its looks somehow say 'crossover'. Sharply styled, aggressive yet not tastelessly so, the CX-7 hides its exterior bulk well.

Engine & Transmission:

Mazda has mercifully ditched the 2.3-litre petrol engine that was the only choice for CX-7 buyers and served as commercial hara-kiri for Mazda. It's been replaced by the somewhat more prudent 2.2-litre turbodiesel with 171bhp and, more importantly, 295lb.ft at 2,000rpm. Lots of torque, good economy, job done.

And while it never feels quick, it's relatively quiet and develops a useful slug of low-rev urge, right where it's needed. Sadly, Mazda is still intent on hamstringing the car's sales success by not offering an automatic option. The six-speed manual gearbox is perfectly adequate and pleasant of throw, but in the big crossover market in which the CX-7 competes, a lazy auto would be a compelling choice.

Ride & Handling:

It's a 'sports crossover' that Mazda says 'blurs the boundaries between sports car and SUV'. Read beneath the marketing spiel of those two quotes and you'll be able to guess how the CX-7 rides and handles: quite hard and quite well, respectively. Like a big front-wheel drive car, actually - though it is, of course, four-wheel drive.

It grips well enough, and because it's 'sporty' Mazda has seen fit to give it a sprightly steering ratio that makes it quick to turn in and, thus, agile. It also corners flatly, though there's so little feel through the wheel that if you to twist it a little too enthusiastically at speed, you'll usually hear the understeer before you feel it through your hands.

But as these things go, it's all rather pleasant. And who cares about understeer in a family SUV crossover thing? It's set up just on the firm side of the cushioned ride you might want sometimes, but its agility makes it easy to manoeuvre around shopping centre multi-storeys, and it's a million miles from uncomfortable.

Equipment, Economy & Value for Money:

The single Sport Tech trim level (if there's one thing you can't accuse Mazda of it's making choosing a CX-7 difficult) is highly specified and good value. Satnav is standard, as are electric leather seats, a reversing camera, parking sensors, Bluetooth and air conditioning. All that for about £27,000, and that's once you've added the only option - metallic paint.

Its 37.7mpg combined economy figure isn't too bad either, and because it throws out 199g/km it just falls into the £235 per year VED band. That's pretty pricey, granted, but blame the Government for that - plenty of cars are officially 'gas guzzlers' these days.

Overall:

There's nothing much wrong with the smart looking, dynamically composed, well-equipped, good value and spacious Mazda CX-7. And now that the blindingly obvious 2.3-litre Achilles' heel has been removed from under the bonnet, only the lack of an auto 'box remains a potential issue. The sum of its parts still comprise a compelling car.