Observers of Consumer Reports' "security through obscurity" 100-point grading system got a peek under the kimono with the arrival of the July 2008 issue. The Hyundai Elantra SE got a class-leading 82 rating, up from the Elantra GLS's 70. How so, without a full model changeover, one asks? Simple, says CR: well-tuned ESC and wider tires = better handling & braking. The re-do represents chump change– compared to going back to the drawing board. The small effort got the Hyundai some free publicity by becoming CR's Top Pick. Other recipients of tuning & suspension finesse: the Toyota Prius Touring (up 14 points to 82 from the base model). The Chevy Malibu LTZ V6 got a rethink, rising 13 points, beating-out the Saturn Aura XR andearning itself a place as a middling contender into a near-class leader. The upgrade's not enough to help the bottom-barrel Chevy Aveo/Pontiac G3 and Toyota Yaris, all stuck at 36. But for most other carmakers, there appears to be a not-so-difficult way to goose those ratings. Now, automakers, get to it, before CR changes their secret formula!
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Consumer Reports seems to place a lot of emphasis on safety, and have done for decades. It seems laudible, given the notoriously awful record that most auto companies had regarding safety (until they were dragged into compliance by Congress and other governmental decrees elsewhere in the world).
Notable exceptions were Tucker in 1948, Nash Rambler in 1950 (first standard seat belts – later made optional in a policy reversal), Studebaker (first US company with optional disc brakes), Volvo, Saab and Mercedes-Benz (first cars with crush zones starting in the 1960’s).
“Goosing” isn’t really a fair term; there’s an implication that they’re designing for the test, rather than the real world. This is simply making a better product: Hyundai et al improved their suspension tuning and used better tires.
An example of “goosing” a test would be the CAGS skip-shift feature in the Corvette that, while great for the EPA cycle, doesn’t actually help much if you drive a Corvette like it’s meant to be driven.
Simple, says CR: well-tuned ESC and wider tires = better handling & braking.
Sounds sinister. Why would anyone prefer a car because it can stop and handle better than the others?
Sounds sinister. Why would anyone prefer a car because it can stop and handle better than the others?
Except, it can’t. The Elantra is easily out handled by the likes of the Mazda3, Civic, Astra, and Rabbit, even without ESC.
This was an oddly written article. I don’t understand the purpose of this “peek under the kimono” metaphor. Are you trying to say Consumer Reports is Japanese? If you were referring to Hyundai (a Korean company) perhaps you meant “hanbok.”
Except, it can’t. The Elantra is easily out handled by the likes of the Mazda3, Civic, Astra, and Rabbit, even without ESC.
Outhandled on a track, yes. In day-to-day driving, maybe not so much. If the Elantra doesn’t slide, spin or lose composure, the absolute number might not be that important.
CR tends to frown–heavily–on cars that slide (especially tail-out) during the avoidance maneuver even if said behaviour would be indicative of good handling by performance drivers. Slides and drifts are cool–and potentially useful–but not if your a harried soccer mom driving home at night in a snowstorm. You want the car to, at worst, push gently.
Subaru gets called on this fairly frequently: they handle well from an enthusiasts standpoint, but many CR reviews will blackmark them with “wags it’s tail at the limit”.
I own a previous gen Elantra (cash strapped and 11K for a new car sold me) and have driven the new one. I’ve never driven a car on a track, but can say with certainty that the Elantra (mine and the new one) just doesn’t transmit the same level of security and feel at high speeds as its higher quality competitors, regardless of whether they have electronic gizmos such as ESC.
Consumer Reports is very predictable. They recommend a diet of steamed Brussels Sprouts.
Meat is out of the question. It depletes the rain forests and causes heart attacks. Potatoes are even worse since the lead to high blood pressure and diabetes. Cookies? Get real, do you want to die?
Only cruciferous vegetables will do. Their sulphureous bitterness proves their virtue. Brussels Sprouts are the best because there is no method of cooking them that will render them sweet or un-bitter. Even soaking them in butter, which can make cardboard edible, only partially masks the taste. And, besides, butter is out of the question, as are salt and sugar.
They reason the same way with cars.
…just doesn’t transmit the same level of security and feel at high speeds
Feel isn’t the same thing as actual handling ability in an emergency. The Elantra SE, by CR’s testing, makes it through the avoidance maneuver at 55mph, faster than the 3 (not Mazdaspeed) or Civic (including Si) and tying the Rabbit. And it does so without drama. That last point is important: the Elantra does the right thing, even if it feels less “at one with the road” when it does it. There’s some value to good road feedback from a safety perspective, but the Elantra isn’t a dangerously poor-handling car, just a somewhat soft one.
It’s the opposite logic for sports cars: you want a fun car (Viper, 911), not one that coldly racks up superior numbers (GTR).
Feel isn’t the same thing as actual handling ability in an emergency. The Elantra SE, by CR’s testing, makes it through the avoidance maneuver at 55mph, faster than the 3 (not Mazdaspeed) or Civic (including Si) and tying the Rabbit. And it does so without drama. That last point is important: the Elantra does the right thing, even if it feels less “at one with the road” when it does it. There’s some value to good road feedback from a safety perspective, but the Elantra isn’t a dangerously poor-handling car, just a somewhat soft one.
Pretty much stole my thunder there. Consumer Reports deals with the objective, more than the subjective.
Good for them. There are a lot of sources for subjective opinions about cars. (Some are a lot better than others, of course, but you knew that.)
When it comes to cold, hard practicalities, CR is one of the only games in town. They have their place, and I see no reason to criticize them for having a testing method and sticking to it. Those who don’t like them don’t have to use them, and smart shoppers will use them as one, but not as their only, source.
The Elantra is top-heavy, due to the high roof and seating position, and it’s a bit softly sprung. So, it’s designed for the somewhat “mature” crowd. That said, after some initial body roll, the car does “hang on” pretty well in corners, though linked turns (which I haven’t tried yet), would probably test the car’s (and driver’s) mettle.
Oh, and 33MPG average (30% HWY 70% ‘burbs) is just fine, too.
I know we’re all car-guys & car-gals here, but there is still validity to the Consumer Reports positions.
They aren’t a magazine for us, they’re a magazine for Mr & Mrs average, looking to not get snookered with yet another a POS down at the local stealership.
I actually look at Consumer Reports, in addition to the car-buff websites and magazines, before ever going for test-drives.
For example, after 28 years of being stung by the Detroit three, I finally woke up and abandoned them about 6 years ago, never to go back. Yeah, I’m a slow learner, I know… Partly, it was a case of looking at CR over many years and thinking “surely (name the US manufacturer) will be able to improve their reliability soon…”
Finally, I bought a Hyundai in 2002, and it was “better than average” (damning it with faint praise, I know) but good enough to give them another try in 2007.
It was 2005 that I finally woke up fully and let the scales fall from my eyes. Toyota reliability.
Yes, please. I like to get where I plan to go instead of standing out in -15 degrees F. waiting on a flat-bed truck during the winter time, or standing in 80 degrees F. during the summer, or a storm, or whatever. I like reliability!
I’ll give this to CR: They buy every car they test. Refusing manufacturer perks must mean better information right?
Robert Schwartz –
You may end up with steamed brussel sprouts, but they’ll be the hardiest, freshest, greenest, least worm-eaten sprouts you can find.
CR sometimes makes some minor subjective judgements that I think are counter to their “rational’ and “objective” . They do not have the same priorities that I have, and that is OK. They still are a very good source of data.
My experience bears out their reliability surveys to be quite credible indicators of how a model or brand will pan out.
sean362880: “You may end up with steamed Brussels sprouts, but they’ll be the hardiest, freshest, greenest, least worm-eaten sprouts you can find.”
Yes, but they will still be Brussels Sprouts and I will hate them.
ttacgreg: “CR sometimes makes some minor subjective judgements that I think are counter to their “rational’ and “objective”.”
They recommend Brussels Sprouts.
I thought CR covered the new grading scale a few months back. They are giving bonus points for any car that has ESC as a standard feature and only cars with ESC Standard will be eligible for the “best buy” label.
Oh crap, now you guys know I’m a CR subscriber.
Got an `07 or `08 Sonanta out in the driveway as a rental. God damn warning chimes are enough to drive someone absolutely bonkers! About lost my freakin mind(maybe I did or already did? ;) ).
6 cars. 2 in the garage, 4 taking up all the driveway. Had to play musical cars and move some to move some others.
Had to back the Hyundai up the street. Didn’t bother with the seat belt. Warning chime like no other! All I could think about was locating it and disabling it.
Drive it somewhere, pull up, passengers get out rear door, chimes!! Start the car with no seat belt already buckled beforehand? You get punished by the warning chime!
That’s a big ass heavy car. The whole time I’m driving it, “this car is huge!”
They put a freakin maze on the shifter. Can’t just grab it and go. Have to route it through the maze and it gets hung up on every turn. I hate that clunky, ratchety system.
The car has a rubber gas pedal. It’s all springy, and impossible to take off smoothly and passengers get whip lash every time. Press down and it’s like nothing, nothing, nothing, too much! Gutless under 3,000 rpm and then takes off like a turbo spooled up(if it only had one).
Floor it and it’s a dog. Too heavy of a car and too little of an engine in it. Cycled through the ~200 XM channels a few times. I’d never pay for that. Should be free just like am/fm.
Sum it up: Warning chimes, annoying shifter, funky gas pedal(springy/drivebywire?), no power, no deal.
They’d sell more of them if it was a straight up electric. It would also be the fastest car Hyundai makes as a byproduct of being electric!