NEW YORK -- Size matters at the Sutton House garage. You pay $10 more a night to park a sport-utility vehicle than you pay to park a car. I was parking the 2007 Mazda CX-9 Grand Touring, and that was a problem.

"You know you pay $10 extra for that one?" an attendant asked as I handed him the key.

"No, I don't," I replied.

"Yes, you do," he said. "You got a SUV."

"It's no SUV," I said. "It's a wagon, you know, a crossover utility vehicle on a car platform."

I spoke rapidly with authority. I caught the attendant off guard. He was backing down. But he regained composure and rallied. "It looks like a SUV to me," he said.

I opened the driver's door and showed him the CX-9 Grand Touring's interior Ð leather seats, elegantly long door handles with wood and brushed aluminum accents, a center console that looked like a super-slick home entertainment center.

I opened the left rear door. That was a mistake. The CX-9, available with front-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive, has three rows of seats Ð more than some full-size SUVs. The attendant smirked. I knew what he was thinking: SUV.

He was a short fellow Ð about my height, 5 feet 5. But I could touch the top of the CX-9 without standing tiptoe. I told the attendant to touch the top. He did, also without standing tiptoe. He smiled. I understood.

Short men are intimidated by tall SUVs. We can't touch their tops without standing tiptoe, or standing on a foot ladder. They make us feel smaller than we really are. We like being able to touch the tops of vehicles without standing tiptoe.

I pointed out that I did not have to fold the CX-9's two side-view mirrors to make the vehicle fit between the garage's support pillars, spaced about eight feet apart. And I showed him that the ground clearance of the CX-9 was not much higher than that of a Lexus sedan parked nearby.

The attendant relented Ð sort of. He told me to "wait a minute" while he checked a list on the garage's office window. He came back smiling. "OK," he said. "You park for regular price." It was a good thing he didn't have access to www.edmunds.com, an online vehicle rating and pricing service. Edmunds lists the CX-9 as a "large SUV," which is wrong, because the CX-9, a work of unitized steel construction, is built on a car-like platform.

People familiar with Mazda's latest product offerings might regard the CX-9 as just a stretched version of the Mazda CX-7, a smaller crossover utility vehicle.

They'd be wrong, too. The door panels and underpinnings of the CX-9 are quite different from those of the CX-7. The CX-9, in fact, shares much of the architecture and many of the components of the Ford Edge Ð another tall wagon masquerading as a sport-utility model.

The truth is that all three are family haulers, vehicles that would be regarded as station wagons in another age. The Edge, as its name implies, is for families that want more sport-utility attitude and intimidation factor without the bother and expense of owning and operating a real full-size SUV.

The CX-7 is for small families who need a small wagon or minivan but who would rather have a sports car. The CX-7 gives them both.

And the CX-9, especially the tested all-wheel-drive Grand Touring version, is for families who seriously have considered purchasing a full-size SUV, but who would like to park for $10 less in New York, or be treated as worthy guests by valet parking attendants at the Helmsley Park Lane hotel overlooking Central Park Ð but who also want to maintain their good standing in the Sierra Club.

Thus, the CX-9 is both a triumph of automotive compromise and a perfect example of the craziness that reigns throughout the North American automobile industry, where companies are scrambling to give consumers all the space and power they want without running afoul of the image of environmental correctness, or undermining consumer sensibilities about personal status. It is no wonder the garage attendant was confused.

Complaints: The CX-9 is a heavy runner with a factory weight Ð vehicle weight absent cargo and passengers Ð of 4,546 pounds. That weight is noticeable in low-speed city traffic, where the CX-9 feels a bit cumbersome.

Head-turning quotient: Some people thought it was a slick minivan, while others saw it as a slick SUV. But nearly everyone who had anything to say about its appearance gave the CX-9 high marks for styling.

Body style/layout: The Mazda CX-9 is a large crossover utility/tall wagon. It is not a sport-utility-vehicle. Its body and frame are integrated Ð unitized Ð much in the manner of a car. It has four side doors that open and close like those of a large sedan or wagon. It has a rear lift-gate; and it's available with front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive.

Engine/transmission: The CX-9 comes with a standard 3.5-liter, 24-valve V-6 engine that develops 263 horsepower at 6,250 revolutions per minute and 249 foot-pounds of torque at 4,500 rpm. The engine is linked to six-speed automatic transmission that also can be shifted manually.

Capacities: There is seating for seven. Maximum cargo volume is 17.2 cubic feet with middle and third-row seats upright, and 47.5 cubic feet with seats folded. Maximum payload, the weight of what can be carried onboard, is 1,479 pounds. The CX-9 can be equipped to tow 3,500 pounds. Fuel capacity is 20.1 gallons of regular unleaded gasoline.

Mileage: I averaged 20 miles per gallon in highway driving. My assistant, Ria Manglapus, averaged nearly 16 mpg commuting in the Washington metropolitan area.

Safety: Standard equipment includes electronic traction and stability control, head and side air bags, and four-wheel antilock brakes.

Price: Base price on the all-wheel-drive 2007 Mazda CX-9 Grand Touring is $33,875. Price as tested is $36,660, including $2,190 in options (sunroof, Bose premium audio system, Sirius Satellite Radio) and a $595 destination charge. Purse-strings note: CX-9 prices start at $29,035 for front-wheel-drive Sport version, which this column recommends for better fuel economy and for people who live in low-snow and no-snow zones. Compare with Buick Enclave, Ford Edge, GMC Acadia, Lincoln MKX, Saturn Outlook, Subaru B-9 Tribeca.