Went to a car focus group..

[cruzdreamer]

I went to a focus group where the cars were covered up and we got to go in and play around. They asked questions about the cargo areas, getting in and out of car, console storage areas, cup holders, arm rests, control switches etc. Five cars and not one a Mazda. I figured them all out except one which I am thinking was the Nissan Versa hatchback. The Rav 4, Saturn Vue, Subaru Forester, Honda CRV. I gotta say none of them impressed me at all. Rav, Vue and CRV had best cargo areas. The cheap looking materials were below par than in any Mazda I have seen. The cheesy arm rests and crummy console storage areas were bad. Worst car was the Forester....small, cheap looking....nothing appealing about it. Honda CRV had no center console storage except for a flat area that folds down next to seat with no depth to hold anything....useless. The Vue had a horribly uncomfortable back seat!! I guess I want to say that although our CX 7 may be a touch more expensive then some of these cars Mazda is on the money with styling, placement, size, overall aesthetics and comfortability. (Mazda 3 beats those out too) Mazda I know kicks butt on ride quality too on all of these no doubt. More convinced that Mazda's are the right choice for me!! There were some CX 7 owners there amongst the group and I chatted with them a little. It was cool to really compare those cars.....glad to get in my CX 7 though!! Enjoy your rides!! Sorry if I offended anyones cars they may own...not meant to.

 

[mikey1981]

for a cx-7 sport, if i were in the market for a smaller suv, w/o question id get this. The powertrain is standard across the board and nothing out of all the cars you mentioned comes close to MAzda's Sport package, even the touring pkg, in terms of the overall vehicle you get for the price. Add to that, ive been reading reports that the CRV is turning in MPG around 20-22+ thats just rediculous for an engine with 166 HP. Just think 166 HP or a turbo 4 244HP 258 torque that will get u similar numbers on the highway w/cargo capacity. Only thing would be the V6 rav, which is a nice engine - but other than that no thanks.

if the cx-7 came out as a Honda, theyd prob sell better than the current CRV, which does like 25k units a month. Good thing is, i like not seeing our ride on the road every single day. when one pops up, you kinda get excited to see it.

 

[papaalex]

Good thing is, i like not seeing our ride on the road every single day. when one pops up, you kinda get excited to see it.

That's how i also feel everytime i see another CX7.. I still stare at the car even if i already have one like it.. (wiggle)

 

[nkabak]

What did you like in the others?

[
I am sure that we all agree that the CX-7 is the one for all of us, which is why we are here.(cool)

But, were there anythings on the other vehicles that impressed you in a positive way that the CX-7 doesn't have?

 

[mikey1981]

i will say right off the bat, that the back seat in the 7 lacks the middle head restraint, and the doors lack any kind of storage on the bottom and any detail whatsoever.

 

[Otto]

i will say right off the bat, that the back seat in the 7 lacks the middle head restraint, and the doors lack any kind of storage on the bottom and any detail whatsoever.

I haven't seen many cars with storage on rear doors... However, I completely agree about the lack of detail. With the black interior, it's like sitting in a black hole back there. Would it have killed them to carry the silver accent stripe from the front doors onto the rears?

 

[mikey1981]

I haven't seen many cars with storage on rear doors... However, I completely agree about the lack of detail. With the black interior, it's like sitting in a black hole back there. Would it have killed them to carry the silver accent stripe from the front doors onto the rears?

map pockets on the sides near the floor, sometimes they put a cupholder in there too so you dont have to keep the armrest down.

 

[spike blue]

you right the mazda 3has the cupholders in the rear doors!!! And yes i love the fact that our cx-7 is not like the lexus r300 that you see all the time when you drive , my brother's girlfriend's mam bought the lexus and i compared her to my baby and the only thing they have is the luxury and thats it!!! No fun as the cx-7, the handling is horrible and i will say that the brakes in the cx-7 is way a lot better!!!

 

[cruzdreamer]

None of the cars impressed me with the styling inside at all.....a touch of wood along the radio/center stack in the Saturn and the seats in the Nissan were nice.....that's really it. And I am not just saying that because I have a CX 7. Mainly as far as the interior usefulness and the knobs and the way the overall interior looks Mazda has that down the best.

 

[mikey1981]

the inside of the murano, the dashwork & color scheme is flat out WEIRD