Mazda CX-9 is All Mazda, and That's a Good Thing

The 2010 Mazda CX-9 is all Mazda, which is a good thing, given the automaker's reputation for making quality, fuel-efficient vehicles that all seem to perform like sports cars.
It's also all you need if you want a stylish, enjoyable-to-drive family hauler.
The seven-passenger crossover is a formidable competitor against so many other extended crossovers on the market.
Both inside and out, it has luxurious undertones.
But it can also resemble a luxury vehicle in one other area -- the sticker price.
At its highest trim levels, the CX-9 gets a little costly.
The base model, know as the Sport, starts at just under $30,000, which is fairly reasonable and not too far off from most of its competitors. 
Move up to the mid-level Touring model, and you are starting at around $32,000.
At the top of the line is the Grand Touring, which starts at a shade under $34,000.
If you add all-wheel drive (available on all trim levels) to the Grand Touring, as well as all the luxury amenities, you drive the sticker price above $40,000. 
The engine is the same on all models: a 3.7-liter V-6 that makes a colossal 273 horsepower and 270 pounds-feet of torque.
That power plant is linked to a nifty six-speed automatic transmission.
Fuel economy numbers are rather modest.
Our tester, which was front-wheel drive, is listed at 16 mpg city, 22 higway. In a week of mostly highway driving, we got about 21 mpg.
The all-wheel-drive model is listed at 15 and 21.
But when you keep in mind that this is a relatively large vehicle, you can live with those numbers.
If you opt for all-wheel drive, Mazda says its Active Torque Split system will provide excellent on-road traction in less than ideal road conditions. But it's not really intended for any significant off-road conditions, which is fine because most buyers of this sort of vehicle aren't going off road.
Mazda says the CX-9's wheelbase is 113.2 inches, certainly long enough to make for a spacious interior.
The two-three-two seating configuration is comfortable for the most part, with the middle bench having a 60/40 split, and it is able to move fore and aft as needed.
The rear seat splits 50/50 and allows for a fair amount of cargo storage. But if you don't fold those seats down, you still get 17.2 feet of cubic space in the rear, which was enough for the luggage of five people who took a road trip in the tester.
Plus, the third row is easy to access; you just tug the middle seatback a bit.
More reasons to like the CX-9 are found in its safety features.
It gets a five star (best) rating in front- and side-impact crash testing conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Electronic stability control with traction control, front-seat mounted side air bags, roof-mounted side-curtain airbags and antilock disc brakes are some of the key safety features. But another one that we came to love was the blind-spot monitoring system, which uses a blinking light on either rear-view mirror to indicate when a vehicle is coming up beside you in an adjacent lane.
As for amenities, the CX-9 can give you Bluetooth phone capability, satellite radio, moon roof and rear-seat entertainment system.
The CX-9 shares some underpinnings with Mazda's popular Mazda6 sedan, and also shares some design cues with that model.
On the inside, you're sure to love the fit and finish of the CX-9, with its neatly arranged dashboard, comfortable seats and pleasant colors.
Yes, the CX-9 is all Mazda, and aren't we lucky for that.