Short Take Road Test
Does big become more attractive when it gains a half-step in the 0-to-60-mph dash?
The question is pertinent because reducing that time-to-speed sprint is more than mere visceral gratification. When a vehicle is quicker to 60 mph, you can also expect it to be quicker through the quarter-mile and—of greater importance to most drivers—quicker in passing acceleration from 30 to 50 mph and 50 to 70 mph. Although few full-size-SUV drivers will engage in frequent stoplight drags, passing acceleration acquires real meaning when you pop out to pass on a two-lane and another car suddenly rolls from a hidden driveway into the oncoming lane, a.k.a. your lane.
Which brings us to the 2008 Mazda CX-9.
Agile for Its Size
Introduced for the 2007 model year, the CX-9 gave Mazda its first-ever entry into the full-size-SUV market. Looking like an inflated version of the nifty CX-7, the CX-9 traces its architectural roots to the front-drive Mazda 6 sedan, although the structure has obviously been stretched and strengthened for this far bigger vehicle.
The engineering work yielded a unibody that's arguably the best in its class for structural rigidity, which in turn yields benefits in ride and handling, two of several areas where the CX-9 gets high marks.
The parent company, of course, claims things like the "Soul of a Sports Car" and "Zoom-Zoom," the athletic dynamism that allegedly separates each Mazda product from its competitive herd. It's not untrue to say that the CX-9 is agile, especially when measured by the water buffalo standards of the full-size-crossover class.
We should also note that agility expectations in this growing class are escalating steadily, as exemplified by GM's new crossover trio—the GMC Acadia, the Saturn Outlook, and the Buick Enclave. And we'd say further that when it comes to fancy footwork, the CX-9 trumps them all, another plus on the active-safety score sheet.
Of course, fancy footwork is a relative term in vehicles that weigh more than two tons—4398 pounds in the case of our front-drive tester (add about 200 pounds for an all-wheel-drive model). And getting that much mass to move quickly takes muscle.
More Power, More Performance
At introduction, the CX-9 was propelled by a then-new 3.5-liter V-6 supplied by Ford, with 263 horsepower and 249 pound-feet of torque, the same engine that has more recently helped to make the Ford Taurus (previously known as the Five Hundred) a much more desirable offering in the full-size-sedan market. Hitched to a 4400-pound SUV, though, forward progress becomes a bit more deliberate: Our test of a front-drive '07 CX-9 measured a 7.8-second 0-to-60-mph time and a 16.2-second quarter-mile at 88 mph.
