Repair-It

Sounds weird at first. But it makes sense. These are sorted by figure-8 which is reasonable.

http://www.motortrend.com/news/15-non-s ... 0C8DD8AAAA

Everything was going great. Like when the Avalon was a little better than a Fusion Titanium. I enjoyed that. Frankly that is embarrassing. It got even better when I saw GM Epsilon II vehicles at the bottom ahead of some VERY good competition (Mazda 6, Accord Sport - oddly the Chrysler 200 was ahead of them, too). By the way, Epsilon II debuted in 2008. 2008!! Well as an Opel. In the US market, it was in 2010 under the LaCrosse, 2012 Malibu and Cadillac XTS and 2014 Impala. I am sure it has been tweaked but still.

But then the last vehicle really depressed me.

A 2015 Subaru Outback we tested with a 2.5-liter four-cylinder went around our figure eight in 26.3 seconds at 0.63 g (avg). What else completed our figure eight in 26.3 seconds? A 2004 Cadillac CTS-V, a 2013 Subaru BRZ, a 2003 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra (yes, the Terminator), and a 2015 Mini Cooper S Hardtop four-door. Those all posted a higher average g number, but from start to finish, the numbers don’t lie. The Outback is mighty capable.

I have no idea what to say to this, other than tires are a lot better than they used to be, even 13 years ago.

Compounding this confusion, the last place vehicle (listed first) is the Subaru Legacy, which is also available in 3.6R trim. That car had the same figure 8 time with either that or the 2.5 engine. Ok, that makes no sense. And again, the heavier Outback with the 2.5 engine did better than all the cars listed on the figure 8. I don't get it.

I would like to see a version of this list with emphasis on steering/chassis feel and responsiveness as opposed to just figure 8 numbers.

@ThrottleBlip Agreed - the confidence a car inspires at 75% is a lot more relevant to daily driving than a figure 8 at 100% that no one is going to simulate on their daily drive. I mean I get that this is an enthusiast mag, but no one takes their Camry XSE to the track.

True enough.

The fact that the Outback was number 1 makes me think the figure-8 test must not be a very good one. The Outback is the tallest one with the softest suspension out of all of them. How did it beat the Legacy by that much? They are both the same car, except the Outback is a wagon and is lifted up like 2 inches. If raising the center of gravity, increasing suspension travel, and making it softer improves handling, then apparently we've been doing it wrong for the last 100 years.

I am sure there is an explanation, but this is just weird.

Good to see the Malibu and Impala do so well.