Autoblog

Click above for high-res gallery of the 2008 Mazda CX-9 Grand Touring

If you keep up with the print mags, it would be easy to think that every journalist, PR flack and blogger loves Mazda's CX-9. Automobile Magazine made a spot for it on their All-Stars list, Motor Trend named it Sport Utility of the Year, Car & Driver thinks its one of the 5 Best Trucks of 2008, SEAMO crowned it their Family Car of the Year and USA TODAY even went as far as calling it "about perfect." We put 380 miles on the 7-seater in our best attempt to debunk the CX-9's mythical aura of SUV perfection and found most of the legend true.


All photos Copyright ©2008 Chris Tutor / Weblogs, Inc.

Click above image for more coverage of the 2008 Detroit Auto Show

Though four out of the six finalists for the North American Car and Truck of the Year Awards were GM vehicles, only the new 2008 Chevy Malibu managed to earn the honor of 2008 North American Car of the Year. On the truck side of things, the Buick Enclave and Chevy Tahoe Hybrid lost out to the Mazda CX-9.

The Malibu was competing for North American COTY honors against the new Honda Accord and 2008 Cadillac CTS. The judges use a point system to determine the winner, and the Malibu achieved the most among the cars at 190, with the CTS fairly close behind at 165 and the Honda firmly in third with 95.

The Mazda CX-9, meanwhile, blew out its truck competitors with 201 points. Surprisingly, the Chevy Tahoe 2-mode Hybrid came in second with 140 and the Buick Enclave, which we believed (and you, too) had a chance to win, only managed 109 points.

What say peanut gallery? Is the Malibu a better choice for this year's honor than the CTS. Was the Accord snubbed? And what happened to the Enclave in this competition?

The CX-9 was Mazda's first vehicle designed specifically for US consumption, and one Motor Trend SUV of the year award later, Mazda may be on to something. Sales momentum has increased steadily for the seven-seat utility vehicle, with 3,000 units flying off dealer lots in October alone. Mazda's flexibility allowed the automaker to transform in 18 months a minivan that would likely retail for less than $30,000 into a hot CUV with a price tag reaching $40,000. The Hiroshima-based automaker will leverage those lightning-fast production capabilities and its Ford-shared global architecture bin to produce more vehicles for US tastes, and we're happy to hear it.

Since Mazda seems to have a handle on CUVs (it has four in the US already), we can only guess what exclusive product the development team in Irvine, CA will give us next. A zoom-zoom version of the Honda Ridgeline would be interesting, as would a US-unique Mazda2. We'd like to put in a vote for Mazda utilizing the RX-8 platform to create a sporty RWD sedan, but we're sure everyone the world over would want that.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]

While Autoblog was busy checking out the new Rogue, Grand Caravan, SRT4 and C30, everybody else at the recent South East Automotive Media Organization ride and drive was apparently loving on Mazda's CX-9. Out of a possible 100 points, journalists at the event gave the SUV a score of 91, putting it way ahead of the 32 other vehicles from which to choose.

The contenders were rated on attributes that included safety, capacity, accessibility, value, amenities, ergonomics, NVH and styling. Personally, as both a family man and a member of the automotive media, my vote went to the new Dodge Caravan overall. It definitely loses out to the CX-9 on looks, but as a kid-hauler, it obviously ruled in all other categories. So how does a minivan with dual DVD players, seating for seven, a fold-away table, hookups for video games and wireless headphones lose to an SUV with many of the same options, but costs as much as $8,000 more?

After driving each car at the event, journalists were asked to submit their ratings for the vehicle on all the above attributes. We were told by someone in the know that Autoblog's rating sheet was one of very few submitted for the Caravan. Which means it didn't get driven a whole lot. We're not suggesting any wrongdoing, just saying that a bunch of automotive journalists with limited time and miles of twisty roads to drive will rarely choose a relatively slow and ugly minivan over a sleek, luxury-like SUV. Unless their boss, (that's you, John) asks them to.

Hey, John, next time, dang it, I'm driving the R32 instead of the Rogue and the CX-9 instead of the Caravan.

[Source: Mazda]

In what must have been a tough decision, Motor Trend has chosen Mazda's 2008 CX-9 as their SUV of the Year. The Associated Press quotes the magazine's editor-in-chief, Angus MacKenzie, as saying the CX-9 is "arguably the most enjoyable sport utility to drive, and a great reminder that SUVs can be as exciting as any car."

Motor Trend is expected to make the announcement early Monday, while those still relying on dead trees and the postal service will learn about it in the November 6th issue of the print pub.

The seven-seat, 273 hp SUV won the honor by beating out tough competition like Buick's Enclave, Toyota's Highlander and Land Cruiser and the Land Rover LR2. Others in the running were Hyundai Veracruz, Jeep Liberty and Patriot, the Nissan Rogue, Saturn's Vue and the Subaru Tribeca.

[Source: The Associated Press]

With memories of last July's Cougar Ace disaster presumably heavy on their minds, Mazda just shipped out their first batch of new Mazda CX-9 CUVs from Hiroshima to North America. This time the crossing will be aboard the Coral Leader car carrier. It left Hiroshima yesterday for its voyage to California via Tacoma. The ship is expected to reach the U.S. before the New Year. With the Cougar Ace's payload of Mazda3s and CX-7s ultimately written off, we can only hope that this batch of vehicles, which includes the new 7-passenger CX-9, will have a much less eventful crossing. Bon Voyage.

The two-row, 5-passenger CX-7 has been something of a hit for Mazda with its stylish good looks and equally attractive combination of good performance and affordable pricing. The bigger CX-9 is hoping to be just as endearing in the ever more popular three-row segment. When they finally hit U.S. showrooms in late January, the sticker on the CX-9s will read $29,035 and up. That's the base price for the front-drive Sport model. There's also going to be Touring and Grand Touring versions with awd available across all trim levels. No matter which one you pick, you get Ford's award-winning corporate 3.5-liter V6 mated to a 6-speed auto trans. In this Mazda CUV, the engine is rated at 250 hp. It was designed primarily for the U.S., but it is also rumored to be on its way to Australia in 2008.

[Source: Just-Autos, sub req]