Fourth Place
Toyota Camry XLE V-6

Highs: Unflappable composure, impeccable interior details, plush-carpet ride, best back seat of the bunch.

Lows: Too AARP in its control responses, too Martha Stewart in its attitude.

The Verdict: A Maytag with Lexus quality.

...

In acceleration, the Camry fell behind the others, although its 7.6-second run to 60 was barely behind the Fusion's 7.4. It finished last through the quarter-mile at 15.9 seconds and 89 mph, compared with 15.7 and 91 for the Ford, third best.

Cornering grip was also lowest at 0.77 g, surely attributable in part to the choice of Michelin Energy tires; they specialize in fuel economy and squeals of protest when pushed. They corner with large, loose, unfun slip angles.

...

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Third Place
Hyundai Sonata LX V-6


Highs: Spunky acceleration, shortest stops, and, of course, the price.

Lows: Infuriating seatbelt warning chime, overly decorated instrument pointers, driver's seat tries to slide you off the front.

The Verdict: All you can drive for $23,495.

...

This new four-door has frisky moves. In acceleration it leaves the Toyota and Ford far behind, tying the fleet Honda at 6.6 seconds from 0 to 60, then dropping back to finish the quarter-mile at 15.3 seconds at 93 mph. Left in the dust, too, is the previous Sonata, which needed 2.0 more seconds to reach 60 mph and was 8 mph slower in the quarter-mile. Clearly, this is a much improved and invigorated car.

In braking, the Sonata outstopped all the others at 181 feet from 70 mph. In cornering grip it tied the Honda at 0.79 g. The steering is light to the touch and very quick just off-center, maybe a little too quick. The tires report loudly of road imperfections. The automatic, alone in this group, has a manumatic gate off to the side that enables easy one-gear-at-a-time shifts. That's the good news. The bad news is that it can be crippled by a soda pop spilled into the mechanism. It happens!

...

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Second Place
Ford Fusion SEL V-6

Highs: Chiseled-steel body shape, best fuel economy, the feel of Euro muscle instead of mass-market mush.

Lows: HVAC controls located down around your ankles, door pockets so small that stuff falls out, and, "Has that hood come unlatched?"

The Verdict: Not your father's Taurus.

....

Most of the test drivers liked this car's controllability and the way they fit inside. It feels heavy in motion, very stable and deliberate. Road grip topped the others at 0.83 g. There were complaints, however, about the high level of road noise from a variety of sources, and particularly from tire impacts. Ride comfort is midpack, behind that of the Honda and Toyota.

...

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First Place
Honda Accord EX V-6

Highs: Muscular handling, quick transmission reflexes, serious acceleration, best-dressed interior.

Lows: Suspension muscles tell you about all the bumps, back-seat space tightest of the group.

The Verdict: The nice little Accord grew up to be a muscle car.

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The tweaked-up Accord for 2006 does what Accords always do—charm us with eager responses and superb control on the road. What we didn't expect was the newly developed muscle, as in muscle car.

First, the tweaks. The styling has been freshened with a new grille and bumper in front and a profoundly different look in back as the taillights, instead of spreading onto the decklid, now occupy the upper corners of the rear fenders, much as they do on Accord coupes. The center stoplight is carved most tidily into the top edge of the decklid. When the brakes are on, the Accord's tail glows red with LEDs, the latest fashion in rear lighting. As face lifts go, this one is a resounding success. Daylight running lights are now standard equipment, as is a stability-control system on V-6 models.

Honda claims a mild 4-hp increase in engine output, to 244 at 6250 rpm. We've never thought the Accord was underpowered; Honda apparently thought otherwise. The 2006 Accord ripped through the acceleration test to 60 mph in 6.6 seconds, a tie with the Sonata, then strongly broke to the front to clear the quarter-mile in 15.1 seconds at 95 mph. For the record, the old Accord needed 7.0 seconds to hit 60 and was 3 mph slower in the quarter.

In other categories of athletics, the Accord was always in the top half of the class—second best in stopping distance, tied for second best with the Hyundai in roadholding—and was the top performer in the emergency-lane-change test.

As a mid-sizer, the Accord is weakest in rear-seat capacity. Space back there is smallest of the group, narrow in the shoulders, low in cushion height, and least hospitable to a center passenger because of the hard backrest in that position.

For the driver, however, the Accord is easily the top choice. The driving position has enough adjustment to allow tailoring for almost anyone. The machine has an eagerness about it, a nimble feel, light and quick, the result of right-now steering response and a transmission that's always ready to drop down a gear or two when you squeeze on the power. Throttle control is so quick the car is almost jumpy, almost too eager, but not quite. The ride is firm, much different in character from that of the smooth Camry, or the noisy Fusion, or the less firmly tethered Sonata. You feel each bump, but only once. There's no bobbing on the springs in memory of a disturbance. So the Accord is always ready for its next move, much more so than the others in this group.

By a small margin over the Toyota, we thought Honda's selection of interior material was most pleasing. Both Honda and Toyota have more legible instruments by far than the others. This Honda transmits plenty of information up from the road, too. Call it road noise and tire noise, or call it part of the Accord's driver-involvement program.

With the introduction of two all-new mid-sizers, much has been accomplished in this class for 2006, but the Honda benchmark is still the standard by which the others must be measured.