A while back, we had heard that there are a few dedicated car guys within the hallowed halls of Consumer Reports. At the time, we were a bit surprised, but now that they've rated the Porsche 911 as the "Top Ultra-Performance Car," their gear-head cred may have just been confirmed.
The vehicles tested in the performance arena included the Corvette Z06, Dodge Viper and the aforementioned 911. Those coupes, along with a BMW 650i, Cadillac XLR, Jaguar XK, Lexus SC430 and an M-B SL550, made up the magazine's first foray into the world of luxury sports cars.
This inaugural exam of high-end motoring proved to be the most expensive yet for the magazine. As we're sure you're aware, C.R. doesn't accept any press vehicles for evaluation, so they purchase their test subjects on the open market, just as any other car buyer would. The total for all vehicles came in at over $650,000.
The 911 was rated by C.R.'s wonks as "excellent" overall, just barely nudging out the Z06, which also received an "excellent" score. The Viper, brought up the rear with a "very good" rating, although it had the distinction of being the fastest vehicle to sprint to 60 MPH in Consumer Reports' history (4.2 seconds, if you didn't already have it firmly implanted in your cortex).
Interestingly, of all the vehicles rated in the test, only the Lexus SC430 received the 'recommended" designation, due to a lack of reliability information on the rest of the models.
Follow the 'read' link for a synopsis or wait until September 5th, when Consumer Reports hits newsstands everywhere.
[Source: The Auto Channel]
The vehicles tested in the performance arena included the Corvette Z06, Dodge Viper and the aforementioned 911. Those coupes, along with a BMW 650i, Cadillac XLR, Jaguar XK, Lexus SC430 and an M-B SL550, made up the magazine's first foray into the world of luxury sports cars.
This inaugural exam of high-end motoring proved to be the most expensive yet for the magazine. As we're sure you're aware, C.R. doesn't accept any press vehicles for evaluation, so they purchase their test subjects on the open market, just as any other car buyer would. The total for all vehicles came in at over $650,000.
The 911 was rated by C.R.'s wonks as "excellent" overall, just barely nudging out the Z06, which also received an "excellent" score. The Viper, brought up the rear with a "very good" rating, although it had the distinction of being the fastest vehicle to sprint to 60 MPH in Consumer Reports' history (4.2 seconds, if you didn't already have it firmly implanted in your cortex).
Interestingly, of all the vehicles rated in the test, only the Lexus SC430 received the 'recommended" designation, due to a lack of reliability information on the rest of the models.
Follow the 'read' link for a synopsis or wait until September 5th, when Consumer Reports hits newsstands everywhere.
[Source: The Auto Channel]
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