speedflex

By James Riswick, Automotive Editor
Photos by Kurt Niebuhr

The sedan has always been the vehicle that drives America. Wagons, trucks, minivans, SUVs and crossovers have each had their day, but the traditional family sedan has stood the test of time, accounting for nearly 2.2 million sales last year. Today's batch is better than ever, but the choices are varied, and differences are sometimes difficult to discern. After all, most have roughly the same dimensions and deliver the same sort of performance, and many even look similar to the untrained eye. Moreover, all five participants in this test scored five stars in the government's frontal and side-impact crash tests.

So which is the best midsize family sedan for the greatest number of car buyers? And which cater to specific buyers? To find out, we compared the top sedans that have been recently updated, namely the 2010 Ford Fusion and 2009 Hyundai Sonata, along with three we've rated highly in previous testing: the 2009 Chevrolet Malibu, 2009 Honda Accord and 2009 Mazda 6. The 2009 Nissan Altima was invited, but there wasn't one available in Nissan's press fleet. And that's correct, no Toyota Camry. It finished a distant last in the two Inside Line comparison tests it participated in (four-cylinder test, six-cylinder test), and was universally panned by our six real-world consumer testers. Great sales don't necessarily equal a great car.

Each of the cars on hand features the most powerful V6 engine available. We readily admit that the four-cylinder versions of family sedans are the volume sellers, but most media outlets aren't interested in volume sellers, so finding enough four-cylinder models in manufacturer press fleets proved to be an impossible task. However, many of the conclusions regarding these vehicles apply regardless of engine choice.

After a lengthy comparison drive, a full day of track testing, two weeks of real-world driving and a few hours of number crunching, the results were in -- and they may surprise you.

read on
http://blogs.edmunds.com/strategies/...mktid=cj260233

LexFather

Egads I agree with the rankings!!!

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Nice comparison. I'm happy for Ford and the improvements they've made to their product line. Maybe I'll go back to them in a few years!

MPLexus301

iTrader: (3)

A few choice quotes...

I have been saying this for a while now. By GM standards, the Malibu made progress in interior quality but when compared to the rest of it's class, it really falls behind. Even the Camry and Accord which cheaped out on interiors are better overall than the Malibu.

Also something that I have been saying for a long time, though so many people and mags disagree. The Accord, like the Camry, slipped significantly in interior quality this generation, and the overall layout is bad IMO.


I didn't really get that vibe when I checked out the 6. Interesting...

Nice win for Ford

dunnojack

that fusion looks sharp

that was a bigtime overhaul to the front end.

I wish lexus could overhaul the GS front end.

bruce van

Kudos to Ford for winning a comparsion. I hope they continue their recent turn around and don't drop the ball. A Ford may be my next new car purchase.

FinalBurst

I love the new Accord, such a great car. As is the Mazda 6. Not a big fan of the Fusion, but good for Ford.

I love Toyota, but they really dropped the ball with the Camry this generation. I hope 2012 brings a major redesign.

-J-P-L-

Another win for the Fusion.

And this doesn't even factor in the reliability ratings where the Fusion is among the best.

Remarkable that we're talking about Ford.

LexFather

Yes b/c still being tops in quality, acceleration, features and #1 in sales while offering the only hybrid in class until the Fusion came along means it needs a redesign bad.

mmarshall

Having seen, driven, or reviewed all of these cars myself, here's my reactions to their commments:

Malibu: A pretty good overall description, but they didn't mention its very tight rear headroom and difficult rear entry/exit for tall persons. They also didn't mention the hybrid option.

Sonata: They panned its suspension too much. Not everyone wants a sports sedan when they buy something in this category, and I found it quite comfortable. They are correct, however, when they say that is now marginally better than the Camry, as the Camry took a serious interior-quality decline in the latest generation.

Accord: They are generally correct about the road noise and wimpish brakes (more or less Honda traditions), and also correct about the Swiss-Watch build quality, but they panned the interior too much. I strongly disagree with their view that the Accord has suffered the same interior quality decline as the Camry; it simply hasn't.


Mazda6: They are correct about the handling and steering pecision (Mazda is not known as the Poor Man's BMW for nothing), and also correct about the questionable interior materials, especially for the 32K Grand Touring model price tag.

Fusion: Again, a good overall description, but, like the Malibu, forgot to mention the class-leading hybrid option and the tight rear headroom. The Fusion also seems to have the best and most solid sheet metal in the group....something they also didn't mention.

FinalBurst

Tops in acceleration and sales is the most accurate statement in your post. Why was the Camry excluded from this comparison? I believe the article gave an excellent reason why.
I recently test drove an Accord and a Camry recently, and even I was disappointed by the Camry. I'm not saying the Camry is a bad car, but the fact remains the competition has gotten decidedly better, so much so that Toyota has to step up their game with their next iteration. They themselves have even admitted to it. I think the Camry is extremely attractive and I applaud Toyota for the bold design they took with the exterior. However, it's interior is not what I'd expect. I'm hoping for better with the next generation. (The Mark X interior would be quite welcome, it's one of the best looking interiors of any sedan and yet it's not shared in either Lexus or Toyota, not even with its platform mate the GS)

Also, it was not the only mid size sedan to have a

LexFather

Altima was excluded too and a few other cars. I've reviewed both cars here I do like the Accord a lot and I stated myself, it is IMO best in class. That said Camry is not that bad at all and out of them all the Camry hybrid makes the most sense to me.

The Accord is so good, it makes Acura's entire lineup seem like redundant dog poo. Accord is as good, as fast, has nearly everything with features and is as big.

I would tell people get the Fusion hybrid over the Accord but not a petrol Fusion over the Accord.

mmarshall

Not the entire Acura line-up. The Accord is indeed a good car, but it lacks the Acura SH-AWD option, and its interior is more in line with the Acura TSX and TL models than the superb RL. The RL, granted, isn't much bigger than an Accord, and has a V6 engine like the Accord (a more powerful one), but, otherwise, there's no comparison. And there shouldn't be, for the RL's 45-50K price, roughly twice that of the Accord.



Agreed.

LexFather

Mike I agree it doesn't have AWD but paying basically 15-20k more just to have that? And its still FWD biased 70/30? The 3.7 has more HP but performance is the same as the Accord and worse than the Accord coupe.

I'm really impressed with the new Accord. Hell the new TSX will use the same 3.5 from the Accord and that will be FWD for 35-40k. Makes no sense.

In Japan the our USDM Accord is sold there as a Honda Inspire. Its actually positioned above the Euro Accord, our TSX. THis is the Honda Insprire inerior

mmarshall

I'll agree with the Accord interiors. Like I said in an earlier post, I disagree with Edmunds, in the article, panning the new Accord interior down with the Camry's. The Accord interior, despite too much (IMO) hard plastic, is a noticeable cut above the Camry's.....with MUCH better-operating buttons/*****.