LOOKING for a stylish SUV that's packed full of attitude, then Mazda's CX-7 could just be the machine for you.

The Japanese marque's crossover offers something that's just a little bit different from the norm, thanks to its sports car handling coupled with the usual imposing road presence you expect from vehicles of this ilk.

To achieve the car's superb road-holding and handling agility, the fully-independent suspension set-up is tuned specifically for European roads, giving it an advantage over most other cars in its class.

Under the bonnet sits Mazda's 170-brake, 2.2-litre diesel unit mated to a six-speed gearbox which pumps out 400Nm of grunt from a lowly 2,000 revs. This in turn propels the big machine to 62mph from standing in 11.3 seconds and on to a top speed of 124mph.

These figures also mean the CX-7 makes a great towing vehicle, a fact recognised by Practical Caravan, What Car? magazine and the Camping and Caravanning Club, who have all bestowed it with awards.

Unique in this important, yet highly-competitive sector, Mazda offer the CX-7 in just one high-end specification, so owners get leather upholstery, climate control, 19-inch alloy wheels, heated front seats and a nine-speaker BOSE surround sound audio system.

Inside the cabin, there's masses of space for five adults, while there's also a decent-sized boot which can accommodate 455 litres of luggage even with the 60-40-split rear seats in place.

With the back seats folded, this extends to a true load-lugging 774 litres, but sadly there's a lip to the bottom of the boot opening which makes loading and unloading mountain bikes and larger, more awkward-shaped items, a bit of a nuisance.

With its near 38mpg fuel economy, the big Mazda can't be criticised from that aspect, but fleet managers and business users have struggled to justify the CX-7's relatively-high 199g/km of CO2 emissions.

From a safety point of view, the car's stability control system and variable four-wheel-drive system helps glue the car to the black stuff, while the CX-7 includes an emergency stop signalling system which automatically activates the hazard warning lights should the driver brake hard.  

Other features include lane-changing and blind-spot warning, anti-lock braking system, traction control, dynamic stability control, electronic brake-force distribution and emergency brake assist.

And like most Mazdas, the CX-7 is equipped with a full array of front, side and curtain airbags along with front seatbelt pre-tensioners and load-limiters. 

With the CX-7's great driving dynamics coupled with the brand's unrivalled reliability and large array of safety features, it's certainly one machine worth checking out if you're in the market for a classy used full-size SUV.

Price-wise, you should be looking at paying from around the £5,800 mark up to £7,890 for a 2009 09-plate motor with 50,000 miles on the clock and between £7,155 and £9,440 for a 2010 10-plate model.

A 2011 11-plate model in Sport Tech trim with 30,000 miles will cost anything from £13,400 to £17,500, but because the CX-7 is not the most common machine around, it does mean that what you get is something of a gem for not an awful lot of money considering its £27,000-plus price tag when new.