EVER thought of an ideal hybrid? Whether it's the perfect home, holiday or even partner, picking the strongest elements of each and blending them should result in perfection. Even the most skilled builder or plastic surgeon couldn't pull that off, but car manufactures can. Take the best aspects of different sectors, throw away the drawbacks and you should have something that is off the scale when it comes to appeal.

Mazda aren't the first to have a crack at combining the height and size of an SUV with something more road-based, but they are the first to unleash a beast created by the fusion of a soft-roader and a sports car. The CX-7 is just that, and on paper it has plenty of potential - it could be a work or genius or match made in hell.

Take a first look at the CX-7 and your brain may struggle to take it all in. The size and proportions are undoubtedly SUV, being relatively tall and wide, but the shape is far from traditional: the window line is curvy and complex, the roof is low and the windscreen steeply raked. It's a car that can't be instantly pigeonholed, and that alone is enough to make it something of a desirable choice.

The other crucial element of the CX-7 recipe is the hot stuff underneath. It uses the same drivetrain elements as the very athletic 6MPS, which is a 2.3-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol unit, a six-speed manual gearbox and a smart four-wheel drive system. This is not for off-roading however: the four-wheel drive layout is designed for maximum traction and handling balance, splitting the power front to rear and side to side.

Climb inside the CX-7 and the cabin feels sporty and luxurious, with a single model packed with the kind of equipment which usually lurks on the options list. It's a simple dashboard to understand and use, with the clever split display at the base of the windscreen - out of the way yet easy to read. There's still the SUV view out, even though the CX-7 is not the tallest of its kind. The advantages of the lofty driving position are all the more useful given the responsiveness of the car underneath.

The CX-7 can do all the boring stuff easily: high speed cruising is a breeze, the urban grind is no problem either with the torquey engine and light controls, but it is when pressing on that it really beings to impress. If it wasn't stupidly dangerous, driving the CX-7 with your eyes closed would lead you to believe you were in something far smaller and less capacious.

The kind of body roll and general wobbliness that normally comes as standard with an SUV is absent: it grips, steers and goes in a straight line with an impressive degree of finesse. This is a genuinely enjoyable car to drive. What makes that all the more impressive is that you get the sports car feel without sacrificing the space or versatility that you expect from an SUV. The CX-7 will happily seat five in comfort, carry loads of luggage and gives the security of a high driving position.