Whenever I receive a car for review, I always have to think about great ways to show it off that doesn’t seem so forced. I got the Mazda CX-9 for review a bit back, and I happened to like it a bit more than I anticipated. For those of you here for the first time, we drive a larger crossover vehicle and are used to having lots of space for our four children to sit. Unfortunately, we don’t have a ton of trunk space. It’s the only issue that we have with it. The Mazda CX-9 gave us the same love, and the same issue. That didn’t stop us from loving it though. My camera bag even decided to use it as a backdrop for a photoshoot. 

We found a spot in the city that we loved. It’s a nice little park in our neighborhood (we can walk there, and just might one of these days) if we want to, and it happens to have a park district building on the land. Just a perfect spot for little people to get their wiggles out, and their mothers to sit on a bench and read, or take photos of them enjoying life as a kid should. 

This photo makes the car look like it’s smiling. It’s a happy car, and we were happy being in it. This crossover vehicle sits pretty low to the ground, so I had to get used to that as well. Most Mazda’s sit low to the ground, so it’s not a big deal, it’s just that the first day always catches me off guard. It feels like my body is hugging the street. It’s an adrenaline rush, even if you aren’t speeding – which you should not do. Full disclosure, it’s only a 4 cylinder, and that may be a deal breaker for some. It’s all wheel drive, so it works well in Chicago during the winter! 

The three littles of course always enjoy the car reviews that we have, but they especially loved this car. It was the red, and the sound system, and how smooth the ride was. The ladybug stated that she didn’t feel all the lumps and bumps of our current car, gee thanks kid. I’m always on the lookout for a second vehicle since we’re only a one car family, and being able to test drive these has me thinking. Would I be able to sacrifice the trunk space, that I know we so desperately need, or do I look for something larger, and maybe a bit harder on the gas money? I can’t lie, this is a beautiful car. Beautifully designed, inside and out. It has a great amount of space on that third row, even with two car seats on it. 

Here are some of my favorite specs for this vehicle: 

Mazda CX-9 Grand Touring

• • Rain sensing wipers
  • Power open/close lift gate
• Interior Features
  • 7-passenger seating
  • 3-spoke tilt/telescopic steering wheel w/audio and cruise controls
  • Power FR windows w/auto up/down with remote open
  • Leather wrapped shift knob and steering wheel
  • Heated 8-way power driver seat and power lumbar w/3 position memory
  • Heated power front passenger seat
  • 60/40 split fold down 2nd row
  • 50/50 split fold down 3rd row
  • USB audio input
  • Bluetooth handsfree phone/audio
  • AM/FM/CD audio w/6 speakers 
  • 3-zone auto climate control
  • 5.8″ color display w/rear camera

It made a great backdrop while I was catching shots with my brand new camera! 

Drive Shop provided a car loan for me for one week in exchange for my review.