Mazda loads the 2007 CX-9 with plenty of standard equipment, including air conditioning, power windows, power door locks with keyless entry, and cruise control in the base price. Options include a power operated liftgate with one-touch open and close, leather upholstery, HID headlights, and rain-sensing wipers. Mazda’s also got you covered on the safety front. The 2007 CX-9 comes with six standard airbags including dual front, dual front side impact, and side curtain airbags for all three rows that remain inflated for up to six seconds during a rollover accident. The front headrests are designed to limit whiplash, too.

Mazda strove to improve materials quality and panel fit in the 2007 CX-9, and upon first inspection, it shows. The inset gauges cluster is reminiscent of Audi Q7 and Subaru B9 Tribeca, bathed in a soft blue backlighting. Metallic trim accents give the CX-9 an upscale, technical ambience, and Mazda equips the SUV with indirect lighting elements for the door panels and center console. Rear seat riders get a 60/40-split bench with five inches of legroom-expanding fore/aft travel, while folks in the third-row sit on a 50/50-split seat basking in what Mazda says is class-leading space – though we thought head room was rather tight. Access to the third-row seat is simple thanks to a one-handed seat collapsing mechanism for the second-row bench. And if you must carry seven passengers, the 2007 Mazda CX-9 offers 17.2 cubic feet of cargo space behind the third-row seat.

Note that Mazda’s Robert Davis told the assembled press during the CX-9 press conference that it’s third-row seat has the “best natural seating position of any three-row seat SUV in North America.” We’re pretty sure that Davis, who did not use a prepared speech or a Teleprompter during his presentation, meant to qualify this statement by comparing the CX-9 to other vehicles in the class.