ORILLIA, Ont. -- The trick to making the perfect model lineup for any car is to make sure the base trim level is just good enough to fend off the competition but not so competent it steals sales away from your more expensive, top-of-the-line money-maker.
Get the balance right and you'll attract a whole slew of prospective customers to your showroom to see the price-point leader, but your well-schooled sales staff can move a significant portion of them into the more profitable top-trim level.
At least, that's the theory.
Then, there's the situation when your base model performs so well and is so attractively priced no one bothers shopping the more profitable models. Obviously, it's not a problem of the same magnitude as having a car no one wants to buy, but it's not the optimum road to padding the corporate coffers.
Which leads me to think Mazda is playing fast and loose with this situation in adding a new GX trim level to its CX-7 lineup. Priced at $27,995, the GX is $4,300 less expensive than the current GS thanks to the foregoing of the top-of-the-line car's 2.3-litre turbocharged engine for a more pedestrian, normally aspirated 2.5L four-banger.
The numbers paint a dismal comparison for the new engine. It's down 83 h.p. (161 versus 244) and an even larger 97 ft-lbs. (161 versus 258) of torque. Read the brochure spec list and the base GX is the knock-kneed weakling.
Only, someone forgot to alert the engine its role in life is to underperform. Perhaps it's because it's so smooth you don't mind revving it. Maybe Mazda measures one engine in kilowatts and Newton-metres and the other in horsepower and pound-feet (the conversion is decidedly not one-to-one). Whatever the case, the CX-7 GX performs remarkably well, never once hinting it is powered by "only" a 2.5L four-banger.
I suppose it's not that much of a surprise because the same engine powers the base version of the new Mazda6 and the speediest version of the Mazda3.
Nonetheless, it is quite impressive how effortlessly it goes about its business. Passing, even at elevated highway speeds, is accomplished without drama and there's an air of sophistication to its performance (perhaps because of its vibration-quelling twin balance shafts or maybe it's just some well-tuned engine mounts) that belies its budget status. The one item that does offer some incentive to move up to the $32,295 GS is that the 2.3L turbo mandates a switch to a more traction-conscious all-wheel-drive format rather than the base car's front-wheel drive.
The rest of the smallest CX remains largely as before. Mazda Canada's news release makes much of some exterior styling changes, but it's not as if anyone is going to mistake the CX-7 for a new RAV4 from Toyota. Think evolution rather than revolution. That's not a bad thing, because for families not needing a minivan-like three rows of seats, the CX-7 is plenty roomy.
Sitting in the rear seat with the driver's bucket adjusted for my five-foot-11 frame, I had at least 75 millimetres of spare knee room. This is all accomplished while accommodating a trunk that will swallow a substantial 848 litres of cargo behind the rear seats (1,658 litres with the rear seats folded). The rear hatch opening is also commodious with a low 788-mm lift-over height.
When equipped with a new Luxury package (available on both the GX and GS), the base model's cabin is also quite hospitable. With power-adjustable leather seats, a power sunroof, front-seat heaters, climate control air conditioning and Bluetooth connectivity, there's precious little to complain about. Oh, it could use a better audio system, but even the top-of-the-line GT's system is a Bose, not the best of the premium upgrades and hardly worth the move up to the $39,990 GT.
Meanwhile, all trim levels get a tire pressure monitoring system, a trip computer (we averaged 9.4 litres per 100 kilometres in some spirited urban and rural driving; the new 2.5L is rated at 10.4/7.2 for city and highway use by Transport Canada) and a telescoping steering column. That's not bad for the $30,990 Mazda Canada wants for the GX with the luxury package.
Indeed, there's just not a good reason to trade up from the GX unless you need the AWD offered on the GS and GT. Yes, depending on the trim and packages chosen, you might add larger wheels, the available backup camera and the aforementioned Bose audio system. But none of those is strictly necessary, and the base GX, especially with the Luxury package, is great value.
Mazda Canada estimates the GX will make up about a third of its CX-7 sales. If Canadians have really learned the lessons of the supposedly departed recession, I suspect it will account for a far greater number.
-- Canwest News Service
