Automotive Review, 2008 Mazda CX-7
By Brian Lebow

We're on the Road in the 2008, Mazda CX-7

The Good: Nice styling, good handling, decent list of standard features, good curbside appeal, very safe.

The Bad: Road noise is somewhat pronounced, rear seats are low.

Overall: The CX-7 is a sharp looking small SUV, sporty styling while offering a well designed, handsome and functional interior.

The CX-7 is Mazda's five passenger crossover sport-utility vehicle, initially introduced for 2007. The powertrain consists of a 2.3 Liter 4 cylinder turbo engine, outputting 244 horsepower and 258 lb foot of torque, coupled to the front wheel drive, six speed automatic transmission with sportshift! Mazda offers the CX-7 in three trim levels: Sport; Touring; and Grand Touring.

The CX-7 is very sporty, from the five-pointed grille and prominent front fender, up to the A pillar slanting at a 66 degree angle, the Mazda holds true to "the soul of a sports car" slogan. The integrated rounded xenon headlights round out the front corner of the vehicle nicely! It's retains the sharp handling and responsiveness of a car, while offering light duty utility as well.

Safety

The CX-7 scored best marks in Government Front, Driver and passenger, side driver/ rear passenger test as well as good marks in government rollover tests. The 5 passenger SUV has many standard safety features, including: ABS with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution and Brake Assist, as well as Dynamic Stability Control and Traction Control System. Also standard find side impact door beams, Front/Rear crumple zones, an anti-theft immobilizer and TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System), four wheel ventilated disc brakes; Front wheel or Active Torque-Split All-Wheel Drive. The CX-7 has thick D pillars, but the area is very visible using the side mirrors. This Mazda also features a good compliment of six airbags for front and back.

Driving Impressions

The CX-7 is a handles well and although you might expect a v-6 to be necessary for this size vehicle, you'd be surprised how well the 4 cylinder turbo performs. Unlike the turbo of the past there's almost zero lag. The turbo does a great job of compensating for what could otherwise be a lighter duty engine for this rather hefty vehicle. Handling is solid, responsive and tight (without being numb) and thanks to the four wheel independent suspension you'll feel little road, the response is direct. Road noise is a bit more audible than others, but it's not enough to be troublesome. Consumer Reports rated Mazda's CX-7 as less than average for first year reliability, but we did not note any potential issues during our test drive.

The Way You Feel Inside

Jump into the CX-7 without needing a boost, it's not a huge SUV. Mazda's red and blue lighting combine for a pleasing hue across the clean and simple analogue gauge cluster. Interior styling is handsome and build quality is good, inline with the category.

Function meet form, form meet function: nice looking front/side defrost vents are smartly integrated into the dash, which is stacked to include a centered LCD display, for clock and audio info. Discover a large lockable center console, large enough for a music junkie's CD collection, and more space for snacks. Got power? Plug in to either of the 12v power outlets. Drivers will also appreciate lighting accents that make it easy to see the interior while driving at night, thanks to the indirect blue cabin illumination (on the upper trim). Drivers and passengers delight with lumbar adjustment on front seats, that are also heated (love the heated seats, also on upper trim).

The CX-7 has a good long list of standard features, they include: Cruise Control, AM/FM/CD audio with automatic level control (automatically adjusting the volume (smooth and non intrusive) based on noise levels) fold away brake pedal assembly, LATCH rear child safety seat anchors and tethers, A/C, power door locks, plus more. The CX-7 offers fun, a sporty drive and a bit of utility as well, and gives you alot for your money!

Stowage

For a five passenger SUV, you'll likely be taking the weekend road trip and the CX-7 is ready for the road, with decent and versatile stowage space. Fold the rear seats down (although they don't lay entirely flat, check the photo below) and you'll have 58.6 cubic feet. With the rear seats up find 29.9 cubic feet about average for this class vehicle, and decent space for the weekend warrior or occasional camper. Options exist to extend your storage with a roof rack (100lbs max); and the tow package (towing capacity up to 2000 lbs).

By the Numbers

By the new 2008 fuel rating the FWD CX-7 is rated at 17 city / 22 highway, and we averaged 17.8 MPG on premium fuel, combined (city and highway) driving. (AWD model gets 16 / 21MPG)

Mazda CX-7 Sticker Price

FWD Sport Trim starts at $23,750.

FWD Touring Trim starts at $25,500. and

FWD Grand Touring starts at $26,300.

AWD Sport Trim starts at $24,450.

AWD Touring Trim starts at $27,200.

AWD Grand Touring Trim starts at $28,000


Publisher: Brian LeBow,
http://www.GoOntheRoad.com
LeBow Media, LLC is the original author of this new car review.

A chocolate-coated car was placed in front of a supermarket in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China, on Valentine's Day. This eye catching car was the work of seven employees from a local car company. The car was wrapped in a plastic wrap before being painted with melted chocolate. A total of 200 kg of chocolate was used in its making.

Article from Spluch

Results? Could've been better. I finished higher in two of the three road races I completed in during 2007, my first year racing.

But all that happened in between the start and the finish? The actual racing part? What a difference a year has made.

The morning of Hillsboro-Roubaix, the intermittant sunshine didn't do much to warm the cold morning or calm the unexpectly quick winds whipping out of the east. I procrastinated a bit too long inside the registration area of the church before finally getting on the trainer an hour before go time. I got in a solid, if abbreviated, warm-up with a couple of superthreshold efforts in about 25 minutes, before heading out onto the course. I rode out about a mile past the feedhill to get a feel for the headwinds and the gearing I'd need for the big, decisive hill before divebombing onto the race's namesake jolting, jarring brick streets on the way to the finish line.

The night before I'd scouted the course in the car with Tamara and Katy so I knew what we were in for. Even then we'd known there would be some kind of wind out of the east, so being able to see that much of the cross-wind section would be though technical, narrow, rough, and winding roads helped much with the mental preperation.
There was a centerline rule in effect for all but 300 yards of this race, not-with-standing the fact that there was no yellowline at all, and much of the back part of the course was only one lane to begin with.

I knew staying at the front would be key during the entire race.

Everything timed out well, and I found myself at the front, awaiting the 4/5 field's start, without too much time to get cold, but I still stood there shivering next to my xXx teammates: Jeff, Newt, Sheriptis, Bob, Loukis, Leonard, and Jim. I'd be lying if I said the shivering wasn't mostly due to the nervous antipation of my first time attempting this very famous regional road race. But thankfully, the neutral start was soon rolling.

Spin easy, big boy. Right turn. Down hill through the feed zone. End of the cones in sight. Just as Newt said to me, "Yo! It's a race!" at least 8 were immediately attacking. But the uphill right after reeled all but two in. The Ghisella and Killjoy riders were soon only on the periphery of our attention. Immediately xXx set the pace for the main field, and we were well into our first lap.

Newt, Chris, and Jeff did wonderful job keeping all the subsequent attacks in check, and the pack stayed together in the tailwinds heading west on the long stretch of Interurban road. A very good thing, too. Any gap would have been much harder to bridge once we turned south and took on the 15-20 mile an hour crosswinds.

It was here that two decisive crashes happened, right after another. One, right behind me, seemed to stretch on forever, "crack! bang! snap! crack!" and riders yelling the obvious. I heard later those split the field and left a lead group with about 40 riders. It then hit me that last year, in Spring Prairie or Proving Grounds, two much easier races, technically speaking, I would've been behind that crash.

Yet even then, as Newt churned a furious pace at the front, I found myself, along with Jeff, one too many wheels back. The echelon was out of room, and it was either hang myself in the wind or ride in the shoulder. I asked Jeff to move up so we could start a second echelon, but nobody behind us was paying attention or had already found another group, and it was immediately intuitive that with just two us, a gap would form pretty quick.

I don't know how, but someway it was easier to dig down and try and grab a pinch of draft here and there until we reached the straight headwinds on Walshville and headed back east. It was still not without supreme effort, and through a 10 minute stretch was at near-max fighting only to hang on to my place in the pack and not give up an inch even then.

I was able to recover in the straight draft, with Newt still at the front. A couple of attacks flew off in the headwind, but nothing got far at all and were overtaken on pack dynamics alone. He took us up the big hill at increasing speed and down over the bricks and onto our second and final lap. That last effort split the field again I heard, now down to under 30 riders. Again, last year I would've known for sure, as I would surely have watched that lead group growing smaller while I counted every rider.

Back onto Farm Trail and Interurban, the pack was much calmer and more thoughtful. The breakaway was still about 45 seconds ahead, and we could see them, tantalizingly close. Upon reaching the headwinds of Walshville, one more crash behind me sent a few more riders packing, and the front group got down to a bit of business.

The chatter started as two lines naturally formed, and when the right leader pulled through, I yelled "your clear!" and to the wheel in front, "it's you, man!" A nascent rotation began to form.

But all we had left in the main group were myself, Jeff, Newt, and Bob. Bob was conserving himself for his strong pack finish, and Newt was in desperate need of recovery after cracking the whip for nearly the entire first lap. It was up to Jeff and I to keep things moving. But we had enough Killjoy and Ghisella riders to disrupt things, and other teams were either too tired or unknowledgable to get in the flow. The work to fill the resulting gaps was too much in that wind that close to the finish.

Soon the fields ahead were going past on their 3rd lap on the out and back stretch, and it was obvious the break woudl stay away. And the end game was on.

The pace immediately slowed to a near crawl in the wind, no body making a move at all. It quickened a bit up the feedhill, but mostly to get around dropped 3/4 riders without gapping. I moved up to second wheel and rolled down the hill on a Vision Quest wheel, again with no one making any moves. Except for the lead wheel I was on half-heartedly trying to move off. I stuck on like glue and waited.

Waited until my impatience to make a decisive move got the better of me.

I jumped and attacked at the base of the hill. It felt wonderful. I spun and danced and fast and big as I could and imagined the separation growing behind me. I really thought I could make it. In the depths of my oxygen-deprived brain, I really thought I could.

The line of demarcation from ecstatic endorphin rush to the painful crash of cracking is one of brutal contrast.

It happened so fast.

I sat down about 2/3rds from the top and tried to grind out that last little crest as they caught me. I clung onto the back as I hit 40 going onto the bricks. And was dropped sharply out the back on the second to last turn before the finish.

I watched them float away. I kept my pace up as fast as possible to fend off the rider behind me maybe 75 yards away. But I wasn't going to catch anyone else. Jeff was maybe 30 yards ahead, and Newt at the back of the pack maybe 25 in front of him.

While not entirely down on myself, I flashed a huge smile through my anger as Katy took a picture as I crossed the line while Tracy held the huge red sign Katy had made on the sly before the weekend. I knew I was dating a former cheerleader, but damn.

It was a thoughtless, ill-timed move that wasted all the gains I'd made thoughout the day, not to mention the efforts of my other teammates for a stronger overall finish. But then I realized, of course, that I had still made those gains.

Last year, I waited and had to react. Today, I'd been making the decisions and moves that made others react. I'd heard so much and so often that the race is at the front. Today, I lived it. I'd avoided the crashes, barked the orders in the chase group, and made the first move.

Eggs, omelet, blah-blah-blah...big lesson learned.

What a difference the year has made.

-----------------

I ate it animal style on the way back to town: a Culver's Double with bacon and cheese, not to mention half a bag of orange slices and candy corn from the gas station before.

We saw the Sears Tower go dark as we arrived in Chicago, for Earth Hour.

I even had a gig that night believe it or not. A benefit show on the far northwest side, it was luckily a show/play/split show on account of provided equipment and understanding bandmates.

We found that Hatchi's Kitchen in Logan Square was still serving. I ate about a 5 pounds of sushi, before heading to bed and almost immediate sleep.

Convert Your Car To Run On Water - Can You Really Turn Your Car Into A Hybrid?
By Marios Crawford

Is it possible to convert your car to run on water and own a hybrid car, without having to buy one?

Many years ago, Nicola Tesla discovered the almost "magical power of water. He realized that water can be used as a fuel and produce energy. Unfortunately, his invention was never released to the public, probably because water can be seen as the cheapest source of energy and there was not much profit involved for any company to develop his system.

Lately many people are using the HHO gas based system, in order to increase gas mileage and save money on gasoline. Buying a hybrid car costs around $20,000, but this apparatus costs less than $200 and can be easily installed on almost any car.

The Hydrogen-On-Demand system is environmentally friendly, because it reduces car's emissions that contribute to global warming and pollution.

Turn your car into a hybrid and enjoy these great benefits:
Boost gas mileage by up to 70% and save hundreds of dollars every month
Prolong the life expectancy of your engine
Reduce the noise of your engine and ensure a smoother operation
Remove carbon deposits
Enhance your engine's performance
Reduce your car's emissions and protect the environment

This is how the device works: by using the battery of the car, water can be turned into Brown Gas or HHO (Oxydrogen), which can serve as an energy source and move the car. As a result the car needs a much smaller quantity of gasoline, because it will run partly on water. Everyone who uses this revolutionary apparatus will be able to save money on gas and protect the environment, at the same time.

Hydrogen-On-Demand is a home made system that can be assembled by simple and cheap products found in any hardware store. The device can be easily installed and removed. The car's engine is not harmed in any way, in fact this system will clean the engine everyday.

Thousands of people are already using the HHO system and have successfully increased fuel economy by up to 70%.

This site can provide you with details and videos about how to convert you car to run on water and save thousands of dollars on gas every year.

It's on. Just don't blow your wad too soon.


Best of luck.

Kisses.

CW

Actually, he rides a bike.



That's the music that's gonna be in my head in Hillsboro on Saturday.

To all of you racing with me:

Do it for fun.

Do it for love.

Do it 'cause you must.

Do it for yourself.

But whatever the case, make it real, and don't leave with anything except satisfaction and crossing the line.

It's a long season, and kicking it off with anything less would be a shame.

For it's what is good in life (thanks for the reminder Newtron):



Oh! And 200th post! (And fuck Bob Huggins.)

I think the upcoming racing season has me a bit rattled...or maybe this is a sign I'm finally becoming a real cyclist?

Monday night:

The scene was a random, vague looking office party, and I was with some teammates and friends are there. I am told Floyd Landis is in the building and that he’s looking for me. He’s mad and blaming me for some reason about his positive test and ban from cycling. Note: the suspension of disbelief is total here. Of course I know Floyd Landis.

I’m moving from room to room to avoid him, thinking at worst he’s gonna pick a fight with me or slap me around some...as I walk through a foyer, Landis comes out of a stairwell or elevator or something, and looks pretty dirty, unshaven. Like things have been pretty rough. All he says is, “Yo Morrissey,” and pulls out a gun and shoots me dead.



Last night:

This was obviously a Hillsboro dream. I am racing in Hillsboro, IL this weekend, in probably one of the biggest spring races in the Midwest, the Hillsboro Roubaix. It's in honor of the European one-day spring classic, ala Paris-Roubaix. There's even a section of brick for a few blocks before the finishing straight. My first race of the season. I had a great camp, but I'm still pretty nervous. I really want to have a good finish and help the team success as much as possible.

Oh...sorry, the dream. It's all pretty normal, except for the following:

• at the start, everything was on FIRE,
• I abandoned the race when I got to the half-pipe,
• but I got to the finish in time to see Ed and Luke sprinting for 1st, but it was down the front hallway at my Jr. High School in Anchorage, AK…

I don't know what it means, other than maybe I need a massage...huh? Oh, no thanks. I'm short on cash. I can do that myself.