Which Car Brands Have the Highest Road-Test Scores?
With data from more than 50 tests conducted by Consumer Reports, our ratings reveal which automakers create the best all-around driving experience
With more than 270 new cars, SUVs, and trucks on the market, buying the right vehicle can be a monumental challenge. We can help. Consumer Reports purchases more than 40 cars every year, and we put each one through a multiweek testing process in which our experts conduct more than 50 tests and evaluations. The result of that review is a single composite score—the road-test score—that encapsulates all of our findings. That score, along with our comprehensive written review, is available only to CR members.
How CR Conducts Road Tests
The experts at CR’s 327-acre Auto Test Center study the market to identify the new models and specific trim levels that will be most relevant to car buyers in the U.S. We then spend more than $2.2 million each year buying cars anonymously, as soon as they go on sale, to test.
We deliberately purchase cars from dealerships rather than buying from the automakers themselves, or relying solely on vehicles loaned to us by manufacturers. This helps us purchase the versions of vehicles that will be most popular, and we can avoid testing vehicles that have had special preparations. This method ensures that our testers have the full car-buying experience, the same as any customer.
Before we begin instrumented testing on our six miles of track, we drive each vehicle at least 2,000 miles. This gives the engine, tires, and brakes time to break in. Next, our mechanics inspect the vehicles before testing, performing alignments and other work to ensure that the cars are problem-free and that the test results will be relevant, repeatable, and represent what most car buyers would experience.
Our experts—many with specialties based on graduate work and employment at major automakers—then conduct a series of tests, including acceleration, braking, ride, handling, and accident avoidance. To test fuel economy, we use a fuel meter spliced into the fuel line to get precise independent results. We also evaluate interior space, measure cargo room, and assess controls and infotainment systems. These findings add up to a road-test score, allowing us to rank vehicles by class and compare brands based strictly on performance. For electric vehicles, we also independently measure driving range, review the ease of charging, measure charging rates, and evaluate the helpfulness of apps and route planning.
To create a vehicle’s Overall Score, we combine the road-test score with reliability and owner satisfaction survey results. The result is an even more comprehensive, but still succinct rating for a vehicle.
You can see the detailed test results, in numbers and words, for any tested vehicle on its model page. The quickest way to find that is to search at the top of CR.org/cars) and in our Ratings A-Z interactive chart.
Learn more about how Consumer Reports tests cars.
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