Of all the Japanese automakers, Mazda has recently done the most to create attractive, really nice to drive "average" cars.
The Mazd3 and Mazda 6 sedans are good-looking, well-made units that will keep most families quite happily wrapped in safety and comfort.
And they drive sweetly too, with energetic and economical engines. They do so quietly, without much fanfare.
It's easy to forget about this brand when thinking which car to buy, but it is a silly omission, for the Mazdas certainly deserve to be high on the list of options.
This opinion was reinforced when I recently had the pleasure of test-driving Mazda's new CX-7 sports utility vehicle.
I had not been on the media launch of the vehicle, so it was a fresh introduction and I must admit that I knew nothing of it and had no clue what to expect but but I found it was actually good to meet a new car without any expectations.
We motoring journalists are enthusiastic about putting cars into categories. We need to say this one competes with that, that one measures up to this, and so on.
And here, with the CX-7, I run smack into a brick wall. Because I do not really know with what to compare it to. In a sense, it reminded me of that monster from BMW, the X6. It is an SUV, it seats only four people no matter what you do, it has a curving roofline that serves to reduce the headspace and luggage space in the rear (only nominally though, it is still huge), it handles well, goes like the proverbial clappers and has all the bells and whistles.
But it is not in X6 territory at all, because it does not go quite like that set of clappers, does not have that level of bling and is not nearly that monstrous. Although the 2.5-litre petrol engine cannot be described as a fuel sipper at an average urban/open road mix of 12.1 litres over 100km, it is of course also not as thirsty as the Beemer.
And it obviously does not cost nearly as much.
Since the launch of its RX8 rotary-engine sports car some years ago, Mazda has succeeded admirably at coming up with designs that follow a clearly recognisable family resemblance. Pronounced wheel arches, a bonnet with sweeping lines, and a sexy grille that has just enough aggression built into it to make the vehicle look predatory.
The CX-7 follows that trend and it's quite easy to see the car is a Mazda.
With a specialised two-seater bench in the rear, its mom's taxi duties will probably be limited to mom's kids only - not the whole soccer team. And mom's kids will certainly be wrapped in luxury, with enough legroom and elbow room for siblings up to the age of 101, who might qualify for the front row of the Stormers.
EXTERNAL LINES
In the front, space is equally liberally dished out, don't worry. One Andries Bekker could drive, while another could ride shotgun to the left, with enough room for the shotgun too.
Yet when you look at the external lines of the car, you wouldn't say so. You'd call it sleek. Maybe even slim.
In fact, in a strange way I found the Mazda more, er, realistic, than the Beemer. And despite the fact that I could not really bracket the Mazda, just as I could not the Beemer, I quite liked the concept. As I did the Beemer.
At R340 380 in its 2.5-litre Dynamic guise, the CX-7 plays in a price bracket where you could do a lot worse. But you could also do a bit better. Kia's Sorento plays around in that size of sandpit, for example, and that is not opposition to be sneezed at.
I enjoyed driving this car, but would I buy one? Given the choices in that price range, it would be a difficult decision, but not necessarily the wrong one. - Cape Argus