Mazda CX-7

Mazda CX-7

Recommended. A stylish return to the SUV market for Mazda - though without a diesel option it's hard to see it as a long-term commitment.

The compact SUV sector is a busy place, but Mazda reckons the CX-7 is one of a kind. It calls the vehicle a 'sports crossover', reasoning that it's the first SUV designed with the style of a coupe rather than an old-school 4x4. Needless to say, it argues its case using the words 'zoom' and 'zoom' with tiresome regularity, but let's not hold that against the car itself. After all, the CX-7 certainly does stand out in a crowd. It's perhaps not as dramatic to look at as the RX-8, but the family resemblance is clearly there.

So is the turn of pace its image demands. The CX-7 is one of only a very few 4x4s with a turbocharged petrol engine - the 2.3 DISI from the 6 MPS, which puts out 256 bhp and 280 lb ft, allowing you to hit 62 mph in 8.0 seconds and press on to 130. The vehicle does feel brisk, if hardly searing, but the engine needs to be revved. And, that means the six-speed gearbox gets a lot of action. There's no auto option, but in truth you wouldn't really want it in a car like this. That's because this is an SUV with the heart of a real sports car that lets you have loads of fun through corners, and you'll want to be involved in the action. There's plenty of steering feel, too, and the well-judged suspension settings mean the CX-7 is an agile, confidence-inspiring SUV to chuck around. It stops well, too, as any true sports car should.

What's more, all this fun doesn't come at the expense of refinement or practicality. There's a useful flat-folding rear seat system, for example, and the one criticism is that the cargo limit of 774 litres is drastically poor by SUV standards. You'll get almost twice as much in a RAV4.

Up front, however, it's outstanding. The dashboard has a really attractive twin-deck design, which makes it an exciting car to sit in, let alone drive, and the quality of the materials is admirable.

For all these reasons, the CX-7 is best viewed as a cool form of personal transport rather than a zesty SUV. It's fast, fun and stylish, and with Mazda predicting sales of only 1000-1500 a year, it'll be pretty exclusive, too. That'll change if Mazda gives it a diesel engine, but this won't happen any time soon, if ever. In the meantime, 27.7 mpg is not too bad for an SUV with this much performance - and, with the amount of kit you get for £23,960, the CX-7 actually looks like a bit of a bargain.