Consumer Reports is out with its top auto picks for 2014. After testing 260 vehicles from eight automakers, the influential magazine recommended two car makers--Honda and Subaru--for its top picks as crashworthy performers in all three of the survey's criteria: overall performance, reliability, and safety.
The criteria for auto reliability were formed based on how the vehicles performed to respond to the problems that subscribers had reported on more than one million vehicles in the most recent Annual Auto Survey. Automotive safety ratings, on the other hand, were given according to the vehicles' response to multiple test programs that were designed for the cars to crash on impact, or rollover. Crash tests for vehicle safety were also devised to address ever improved safety standards and designs for cars and SUVs to minimize loss of life, injuries, and property damage.
After its 2014 redesign, the Subaru Forester was unveiled and rolled out into established New Orleans, LA area Subaru dealerships, and other places nationwide, to eager public reception and acclaim from auto critics in multiple reviews. It drew the Forester back into the limelight as one of Consumer Reports' all-around winners:
"With a space-efficient design and large windows and doors, this user-friendly SUV provides the easiest access and best visibility in its category. It has an excellent driving position, simple controls, and one of the roomiest rear seats in the category. Plus the Forester delivers a class-leading 26 mpg overall and a frugal 35 on the highway."
The Subaru Forester's redesign offers roomier interior with comfortable front seats and more spacious leg room in the back. For a midsize crossover SUV, this Subaru Forester incarnation offers better fuel economy, while enhancing its robust turbocharged engine and retaining its standard all-wheel drive. As expected, the Forester continues to abide by its excellent off-road capability that serves itself up as an ideal vehicle for family-sized, long-distance driving.
The Subaru Forester's 18" powder-coated wheels are also impressive in a sea of small to mid-sized SUVs. Perhaps the reason why reliable Subaru dealerships near New Orleans, LA and dealerships elsewhere, sell this Subaru model quite well is that this strapping, athletic crossover somehow still drives like a car, yet manages to climb through steep elevation, or drive through serious snow-packed roads without anyone taking on any skittish on-steering-wheel drama. A sensible machine that looks like a truck, but drives like a car--undeniably, a marketer's dream--and a car hound's.
(Source: Consumer Reports' Top Picks 2014, Yahoo! Autos, February 25, 2014)
