2010 Mazda CX-9

Mazda's largest crossover, the CX-9, is completely inoffensive, entirely functional and totally boring. It does everything it's supposed to do: It carried the kids, stowed the cargo, provided the entertainment, but it never inspired me to love it. I really couldn't find anything wrong with it, but at the same time, I just didn't love it.

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Mazda does a great job balancing the line between sporty and luxury in the 2010 CX-9, with a smooth ride that handles the speed bumps of daily life as well as the highway on-ramps. The CX-9 accelerates well enough to take on the hills of my hometown, but I wouldn't call it "zoomy." It's a subtle power, the kind you don't really have to think about. In fact, driving the CX-9 doesn't require much thought at all. It goes. It stops. It turns. Nothing was terrific enough for me to say wow, but nothing disappointed me, either. It just kind of fades into the background. I like a car that doesn't demand anything of me, but I'd like a more memorable ride.

One thing is for sure about the CX-9: It's priced as a great value. Starting fat $28,805, my fully loaded all-wheel-drive test vehicle, a CX-9 Grand Touring, was $40,065. That price includes standard leather seating, an optional rear entertainment system (part of a $3,055 entertainment package), an optional navigation system ($1,665) and all-wheel drive. Sadly, though, that value doesn't extend to the gas station. I only managed to average 14 mpg; the CX-9 gets an EPA-estimated 15/21 mpg city/highway using regular gas.

EXTERIOR

The 2010 CX-9 is the sleekest three-row crossover on the road. Unless you look closely, you'd never know that this is a vehicle that comfortably seats seven people. The front of the CX-9 looks like a friendly face, with wide-set headlights and a big, smiling grille. You can't help but smile back at the thing. The rest of the exterior is less personable but still attractive. The lines are smooth and rounded, with no sharp edges to be found. The roof slopes gently back to a snub of a spoiler and subtle touches of chrome wrap the windows and door handles, bringing a bit of sparkle to this crossover.

My favorite thing about crossovers is they manage to offer the room and function of an SUV with the moderate height of a minivan. The CX-9 sits only a bit higher off the road than a sedan, but doesn't require the climb of a truck-based SUV. I slid right in, while my kids only had a small hop to make. The wide doors mean that it's easy to help little ones in or pop in a child-safety seat. I'm also a big fan of the power liftgate (I support anything that enables my innate laziness). Opening the CX-9's liftgate manually isn't difficult, and it doesn't go higher than I can reach comfortably, but man, pushing a button is just so much easier. And cooler.

The CX-9 comes with a 3.7-liter V-6 engine that puts out 273 horsepower. That's respectable but not impressive. The engine, which uses regular gas, gets the job done without any of that obnoxious noise or temptation to race sports cars, a move to which I am sadly vulnerable.