Fair review but lousy acceleration numbers (7.9sec ofr manual)??


http://auto.consumerguide.com/auto/n...09.htm#ratings

 

An earlier version (I think it was an earlier version) of this was posted on "the other side."

As I noted over there, this is WAY BETTER than a "fair" review; if you're familiar with their rating scale and what kinds of scores other cars get, THIS WAS AN EXTRAORDINARY REVIEW.

You have to understand that scores above 6 or 7 in any given category are rare -- although there are anomalies, because CG has some odd tastes. For example, Camry gets lots of high scores and winds up somewhere in the low 70's (and Accord gets pretty close to that). But besides rare instances like that, the scores make pretty good sense.

I know that a total score of 62 out of 100 doesn't sound like much, and if you look at what they say about the TSX in each category, none of it looks very special. BUT, just compare it to any of its competitors. Whatever you want -- BMW 3, Saab 9-3, Lexus IS300, even Jags, even NSX (I'm not kidding) -- you'll see that the TSX fares better than most of these, and on a par with any of them.

This was an extraordinary review.

 

I"m not that familiar with CG but perhaps the 7.9 they got was from a "normal" launch, in which case its not that bad. Its all relative anyways...they got a 7.8 in an RSX type-S.

 

It was a great review. It scored a total of 62 points and the highest score in the near luxury class was 62 points!!! The TSX outscored all others in this category - and rightfully so.

 

Exactly, BT. It's so easy to misunderstand it if you're not really familiar with the rating scale and the frame of reference, because "62 out of 100" just doesn't SOUND like a good total score, and 6 or 7 out of 10 sounds pretty mediocre.

The thing is, they really use THE WHOLE SCALE, so as to achieve the greatest possible separation between different cars. It's not like 65 is "passing" -- where in effect you're using only a 35 point scale, not 100, and you can't do as much.

Some cars get only 1 or 2 out of 10 on some categories, and the total scores can be as low as the 20's. Anything over 50 is decent, over 60 is truly terrific. I was pleasantly surprised the see the TSX get such a high score. I would have just hoped for something like 58 or better, which would have put it right in the running with those main competitors.