Consumer Reports Releases 2014 Most and Least Fun to Drive List
Leave it to the experts over at Consumer Reports to find a way to quantify something as nebulous as a vehicle’s fun factor and turn it into a list. In the lead in to their 2014 Most and Least Fun to Drive list, they lay out what their idea of fun is:
“[A] car can have a very powerful engine and accelerate quickly, but without handling agility, it’s not much fun. For us, fun is a combination of factors such as handling response, sound, and the nature of the power delivery that lead to grin-inducing satisfaction. To come up with our list of the most fun cars to drive, we first took a slice according to our scores for handling, steering feel, and body control. Then we looked at acceleration, but found most cars today have plenty of power. Finally, we took a secret ballot to give our testers a chance to capture those elusive subjective qualities, including sounds.”
That all sounds well and good to us. So who were the winners? Take a look at Consumer Reports’ list below:
Most Fun:
Sports/Sporty Cars
- Scion FR-S, Subaru BRZ, BMW 135i, Ford Focus ST, Ford Mustang, Mazda Miata, Mini Cooper S, Porsche Boxster, BMW 328i, Cadillac ATS
Luxury Cars
- Infiniti M37, Jaguar XJ, Audi A6, Porsche Panamera, Tesla Model S
Compact/Subcompact Cars
- Volkswagen Golf, Ford Focus
Small SUVs
- Mini Cooper Countryman, Nissan Juke, Volkswagen Tiguan, BMW X1, Ford Escape
Midsize SUVs
- Porsche Cayenne
Least Fun:
Sports/Sporty Cars
- Nissan 370Z, Chevrolet Camaro, Acura ILX, BMW Z4 Roadster
Luxury Cars
- BMW 750Li, Volvo S80 3.2
Compact/Subcompact Cars
- Nissan Versa, Scion iQ, Smart ForTwo
Small SUVs
- Jeep Compass
Midsize SUVs
- Toyota 4Runner
We want to hear from you: did Consumer Reports’ 2014 Most and Least Fun to Drive miss anything? Let us know which vehicles you think are most enjoyable/yawn-worthy.
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