Comparison Test Countdown: #1 2008 Mazda CX-9 Grand Touring
The 2008 Mazda CX-9 takes the top spot on the overwhelming strength of the editors' personal picks. Had we counted only what we recommend to Average Joe Consumer, there would've been a tie with the Buick and Hyundai. But the CX-9 is the seven-plus-passenger crossover all but one of us would take home. Quite simply, the Mazda's sportier driving demeanor made us forget we were driving a vehicle that can comfortably schlep seven adults and some luggage.
Read the complete 2008 Mazda CX-9 Review
Let's quickly get the CX-9's biggest drawback out of the way first. With this Grand Touring AWD model's 20-inch wheels, the firm ride gets old on highway journeys as you end up feeling way too much of the road. It's a shame the 20-inchers are standard with the Grand Touring. However, if you're used to a sporty sedan and/or most of your driving is done around the city, the CX-9's sporty ride-handling set-up should be well received. In concert with well-weighted and highly communicative steering (the best in the test by a wide margin), the CX-9 hides its size very well and certainly better than the other crossovers.
With 273 horsepower and 270 pound-feet of torque, the 3.7-liter V6 motivates the CX-9 adequately for the task at hand. Its 0-to-60 time of 8.5 seconds was second-worst, although based on previous testing of all-wheel-drive GM Lambdas, an AWD Enclave would've been equal. Fuel economy was at the bottom, though, at 15 mpg city, 21 mpg highway and 17 mpg combined. While the Enclave's transmission aided in its good fuel mileage, the CX-9's probably hurt it, as it was much quicker to downshift and less eager to get to top gear. This made the Mazda feel more responsive. The CX-9 also produced the best braking distances.
Like most Mazdas, the CX-9's cabin goes for a sporty ambiance -- especially the red and blue instrument lighting. The seats are well-bolstered and snug, with good long distance support, although larger occupants may find the seats to be a bit pinching. Of all the contenders that featured automatic climate control, the CX-9's were the most straightforward, although some nicked it for nebulous markings and a display placed high on the dash. The navigation system was the least intuitive here -- we'd skip it, buy a portable unit and enjoy the well-designed conventional audio controls found in our long-term CX-9.
The Mazda was mid-pack in terms of passenger space. The driver seat had the huge array of adjustment, but the CX-9's low roof and radically sloping windshield could be confining for some. The second row was well-contoured, comfy and offered loads of space. The third row had the same sizeable amount of legroom as the Buick and Pilot, however, its headroom was tight for our 6-foot-3 editor. The third row also lacked the air vents found in all the other crossovers. With all seats raised, the CX-9 offered a large cargo space, but its sloping roofline hurt it compared to the Pilot and Enclave. Maximum cargo capacity was also only behind the Pilot and Enclave.
Although the interior looks and works OK, many plastics are hard and have an unsubstantial feel and look to them -- particularly the dash cover around the passenger airbag. The CX-9 also had the fewest storage cubbies and presented a stark contrast to the Pilot.
So the CX-9 certainly isn't perfect and our own scoring shows that it's probably not the top choice for the majority of crossover shoppers. We'd frankly recommend the top 3 finishers to anyone. The Mazda is our choice, however, and for those who find themselves being dragged kicking and screaming out of their sporty sedan toward a family hauler, there's quite simply no better choice than the 2008 Mazda CX-9.
Pick Score: 24
Recommended Score: 17
Weighted Total Score (40/60%): 39.6
Each editor ranked each crossover from first to last for what they would personally buy (picks) and what they suggest the average consumer buy (recommended). First place was awarded five points, last place got one.
- Posted by
- James Riswick July 11, 2008, 12:00 PM
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- Car Buying
Thanks for posting this today instead of waiting 'til Monday!
I'm pretty sure I'll find the CX-9 comfortable. Many people criticise the 3-series for being uncomfortable, but when I test-drove two 335i's, I though they were very, very comfortable! I was like "why do people complain about this?"
JRiz, this in unrelated to the topic at hand, but I'm still waiting for your update on how you managed to get the TSX sold for a fair price.
I think it's interesting as to how publications let things things like handling break a tie. I guess it makes sense. Car nuts are going to be very interested in handling. Evaluate a sports car in the morning and a family truckster in the afternoon. Of course, you're going to appreciate any positive handling characteristics of the truckster.
I just wonder how important that is to someone who really is in the market for a family truckster. I look at people I know who need to haul their families (and stuff) around, yet have budget limitations. They really go for practicality and don't consider handling to be much of a factor.
Nothing against the CX-9. I just wonder how such comparisons would go if non-car people reviewed them. By that I don't mean Edmunds Consumer Comparison (or whatever it's called). Those are car people too.
Why shouldn't it? I see a whole lotta women driving the CX-9 and whenever I ask about it they said it was the best choice for them because it was so easy to drive and it was the right size. Non-car people would probably go for the soft-riders, but you never really know, slap the 18's on and the ride smooths out considerably. What I got was that the CX-9 struck the perfect balance, it has potentially huge cargo area(with the seats down), and the 3rd row can handle real adults(given that they're not tall). Offers excellent braking, a refined V6, and the best look. IMO it's reliability isn't looking as shaky as the GM competition, as of right now the only problem was a loose knob? Most of the GM's in the fleet have had some sort of issue. It would be ashamed if there was something major to pop up but the CX-9 seems well put together.
The only think I disagree on is the interior materials, most of the places you touch are padded(except for where the leg rests on the center console), and the sand interior is really sharp and not dark like the black. The upper door (which is black on sand and black CX-9's) is soft.. the seat insert on the doors is also well-padded, the center console and armrest on the door is padded, and the door for the cupholders also has a good feel to it, the glove box feels cheap when it closes, but all of the knobs have a good fluid feel to them. The headliner on the Sport and Touring models is cheap, the woven stuff on the GT models is what should be on all of them.- The CX-9 is always given credit for it's well put together interior and this is maybe the first time I've heard of most of the hard plastic being thin/unsubstantial. The black stuff around the gear selector does feel a little cheap(good in appearance though), but the rest of the plastics we're pretty good to me.
The things it needs is a softer suspension option for all of the people that think it's too firm, and a kickdown switch on the gas peddle, because on the highway it would often shift into fourth, it had enough power, but it was much better in third where it had a very athletic feel/harder pull and the V6 really started to get into the meat of it's powerband(4K and up).
I really dig that color. Also that dark blue I see around every now and then.
CX7Lover: THe CX-9's interior is actually OK and I could certainly live with it -- and I'm an interior snob. It's just that the other vehicles were better.
BRN: Had the CX-9 been a blast to drive, but it lacked the spacious, family friendly interior, I guarantee that it would not have won. Although it didn't bring home many top "recommended" picks from our editors, it did rate high enough to keep its overall score high, combining with its overwhelming "pick" score. Although we're all enthusiasts here, we do our damndest to remember that we're a minority -- in addition we also weighted our scores toward the "recommended" picks offset our personal pick bias. Either way, the CX-9 is a good crossover whether you're an enthusiast or otherwise.