Based upon a comment written the other day in regards to the last Q7 blog, I decided to compare our long-term Audi Q7 4.2 Quattro with a 2008 Mazda CX-9 Grand Touring I drove last week. With the exception of the Audi's exquisite interior quality and luxury brand cachet, it's hard to justify the Q7's $22,000 price advantage over the excellent Mazda. All performance numbers are based on a 2007 CX-9 Grand Touring that featured the older, slower engine.
Price as Tested:
2007 Audi Q7 4.2 Quattro - $62,420
2008 Mazda CX-9 AWD Grand Touring - $40,705
8.0 seconds for the Q7 and 7.7 seconds for the OLD 263-hp CX-9. The new one has 273, stay tuned for those acceleration numbers.
60-0 Distance:
143 feet for the Q7 and 136 feet for the CX-9
Slalom speed:
60.3 mph for the Q7 and 58.8 mph for the CX-9
Weight as Tested:
5,420 lbs for the Q7, 4,284 for the '07 CX-9 that generated the above numbers.
And speaking of numbers, they don't show that the CX-9 certainly feels more agile and happy to be flung about than the ginormous Q7.
Safety:
Both the Q7 and CX-9 got the same NHTSA crash scores for frontal and side protection.
Maximum interior cargo space with both rear rows folded
88.7 cubic-feet for the Audi and 100.7 cubes for the Mazda
Can 6-foot-3 Associate Editor James Riswick fit comfortably in the third row?
Not so much in the Audi Q7, but he can in the CX-9. Also, the CX-9's second row seats three, while our Q7's captain's chairs hold only two.
Features the Q7 has versus the (CX-9):
Four-zone automatic climate control (3-zone), 14-speaker Bose stereo (11-speaker Bose), Audi's MultiMedia Interface (touchscreen, a good thing), power steering column (manual), heated rear seats (nope), blind spot warning system (nope), eight-way power passenger seat (4-way), jumbo panoramic sunroof (front only).
Features our fully-loaded CX-9 Grand Touring tester has versus our (Q7):
20-inch wheels (19's), Bluetooth (optional integrated phone), auxiliary audio jack (nope), reclining middle row (nope), touchscreen controls (MMI).
Other than that, the CX-9 features keyless go-style entry and ignition, power tailgate, driver memory, six-CD changer, leather upholstery and several other items found on the Q7.
In the end, my friends may not ooh and ahh as much when I pull into their driveway with a Mazda CX-9, but the $22,000 I saved over the Audi is enough to buy a 10-year-old Z3 and a decent Yamaha WaveRunner. Sounds like a good deal to me.
James Riswick, Associate Editor @ 19,502 miles
P.S. And yes, that photo is fake. Tis a wee bit hard to take a two-car comparo photo with one person. Photoshop and I did the best we could.
dalaw says:
05:06 PM, 10/24/07
haha, that CX-9 looks kinda fake in the picture.
orangutan says:
05:10 PM, 10/24/07
I had no idea they increased the displacement on the CX-9 to 3.7. Interesting.
prndlol says:
06:36 PM, 10/24/07
The Q7's clamshell hatch design is beautiful... but 22 grand is a lot of scratch.
http://www.seriouswheels.com/pics-2007/2007-Audi-Q7-V12-TDI-Revised-Rear-Angle-1024x768.jpg
SubyTrojan says:
06:42 PM, 10/24/07
James fought dalaw and the dalaw won?
penboy says:
07:01 PM, 10/24/07
When you compare the wheel sizes, were you comparing the Q7 to a different CX-9 than the one you tested? The Grand Touring package has 20-inch wheels standard, only the Sport and Touring packages have 18" wheels.
iancar says:
08:07 PM, 10/24/07
Audi Q7 is designed to have 155 mph top speed and V10 TDI in mind, while Mazda CX-9 is not. Q7(Touraeg) is intended to offer allroad capability like crossing rivers or mud trails, while CX-9 is designed to be a soft-roader from the ground up. All these just show how much SUV line-up has to transform to keep up with the market.
firstwagon says:
09:12 PM, 10/24/07
A 155 mph top speed means nothing in North America and neither one of these is an off roader by anyone's description.
I think it shows how the minivan market has transformed to keep up with the trendy types.
That said, I really like the Mazda. Better reliablity and (at least amoung the younger generation) Mazda's are cooler then Audi's.
Being cheaper is just a bonus.
zoomzoom22 says:
10:30 PM, 10/24/07
interesting to note that the CX9 will be available with a blind spot warning system next year....mazda's first.
estreka says:
10:49 PM, 10/24/07
Iancar - Would you take a $62K luxury SUV offroad?
bennetpullen says:
11:39 PM, 10/24/07
Don't get a 10 year old Z3, get an 8 year old M Coupe :) That's what I just did, under 20 grand out the door.
zoomzoom22 says:
11:47 PM, 10/24/07
2008 Mazda CX9 = 2008 Motor Trend SUV of the Year....just announced
2002blksle says:
06:47 AM, 10/25/07
Thanks for the comparison, James. After test driving the CX-9 last weekend, I have to admit I've become quite smitten and can't get that vixen out of my mind.. I've always been impartial to Mazda due to average refinement and quality of interior materials. But If the 2008 CX-9 proves to be as reliable as the 07 version... and if the bigger and more powerful Mazda 6 looks as good in real life as it does on paper... then I really think Mazda might be the auto maker to watch out for in the next few years. They have a shot at nibbling away share in the midsize sedan and crossover markets and they already have sold a boat load of the 3's.
jriz says:
08:47 AM, 10/25/07
The Q7 is much longer and larger in general than the Touareg, and is definitely not in the same off-roading league.
Also, Penboy is absolutely right about the wheel sizes there. I knew I was bound to get something wrong, and that was it. So, if one is to assume bigger wheels are better, switch one Audi advantage over to the Mazda side. Also, that new blind spot warning system mentioned will even things out even further.
vvk says:
08:58 AM, 10/25/07
This exact logic is the reason Audi completely miscalculated demand distribution. Sales in North America are far lower than planned, while sales in Europe are far higher. Europeans value premium feel of Q7 and are willing to pay for it. Americans are much more pragmatic in their choices. Same reason premium Fords and GMs are not sold in North America.
1487 says:
11:31 AM, 10/25/07
are you guys still getting an LT enclave for the fleet?
dodo2 says:
11:46 AM, 10/25/07
CX-9 is one nice CUV !
tlcruz says:
03:28 PM, 10/25/07
If I had to choose between the two, It would definitely be the CX-9. It's definitely got the sporty look and it's one hot cross-over, at least in my opinion. Too bad I won't be looking into replacing my little green machine anytime soon :D
vvk says:
06:47 AM, 10/26/07
If I HAD to buy an SUV/Crossover and wanted to spend around $40k, I would buy a Porsche Cayenne. Let me see... Mazda vs. Porsche... I think I will go with Porsche.
It has a proper 6-speed manual, too.
actualsize says:
11:00 AM, 10/26/07
Cayenne = two row seating for 5 (barely). CX-9 = a legitimate three-row machine. They don't really compete for the same buyer.
If you only need seating for five, there are a lot more choices out there. If you need three...not so much.
bimmerjay says:
11:31 AM, 10/26/07
Yes, but does the CX-9 have 7 grilles? Grilles cost money too, ya know.
altimadude00 says:
04:42 PM, 10/26/07
More grills! That got a snicker out of me.
jaeger1 says:
05:42 PM, 10/27/07
Can't believe the Audi is packing better than an extra 1,000 lbs. What a porker. Did you factor in the extra $22 grand the Mazda owner will be hauling around when you gave the stats for weight?
esf says:
08:37 PM, 10/29/07
You know, you CAN get the Q7 with a three-seat second row... it's unfair to say the car doesn't have it just because your particular tester doesn't.
Not many people get the $60K Q7 that you have; at $40K, a base Q7's luxurious interior can go a very long way.
And for whoever said they'd buy a Cayenne... that is just stupid. I drove an '07 X5 4.8i and an '08 Cayenne S on the same day, shopping for my wife. Not even close! The Porsche felt sluggish and isolated after driving the BMW. It was also ponderous and very heavy... if the BMW was just as heavy, it didn't tell me.
So, I ordered an '08 X5 4.8i for my wife. It's coming in January.
carfreak8394 says:
06:44 PM, 11/ 4/07
esf,
good choice.
let us know how everything goes.
:).
quattroporte12 says:
03:05 PM, 12/26/07
i think this is prety biased comparison just from the way its written. first of all the q7 does come with twenty inch wheels, so although the tester has 19's for 800 more that option would also effect the handing and probably stopping of the q7 and make them much better. i also think there must be something wrong with the way edmunds tests cars because the q7 got a 60-0 stopping distance of 118 feet from car and driver and motor trend and it went from 0-60 in 7.2-7.5 seconds, not 8. plus the slalom speed was somewhere around 62 in these tests with the 20 inch wheels. also, it was written in the edmunds comparison that the q7's second row didnt recline, which is not true. it reclines in every model that is available. also the q7 in the test does have bluetooth, so i dont know why the mazda has an advantage over it. dont get me wrong i think the mazda cx9 is a great looking car and i always thought the design was very similar to the q7 (which is a good thing). but i think that these numbers dont represent the q7 well and it is easily the better driving suv of the two