Aside from a home, a car is usually the largest purchase most people make. Combine that with the vital role the family vehicle plays in day-to-day life—getting us where we need to go safely and reliably—and the job of the road tester takes on an obvious importance. Car & Travel bears all this in mind as it puts a vehicle through its paces for a “Test Drive” report.

Safety experts will tell you that at speeds above 30 mph, you simply can’t stop when trouble looms, so handling and steering response is critical. C&T testers often go to large, empty parking lots to simulate a slalom course to test vehicle response. They also seek highways featuring twists and turns along with elevation changes that bring out the best and worst in a vehicle.

To test suspension response, the drivers look for poor roadways with ripple bumps, especially in turns. Too stiff a setup leaves a car bouncing toward the outside of the turn. Too soft and you bottom out.

Acceleration and braking are also tested. How quickly a vehicle gets to 60 mph indicates how easily it will merge into highway traffic. Many roadways feature short on-ramps that create challenges getting up to highway speeds. A quick-running vehicle should make the task less nerve-racking.

Superior braking can spell the difference between stopping in time in an emergency and running into a car’s rear. These parameters are tested with an electronic performance meter at a former military airfield. Lots of long runways make such testing safe and objective.

Inside the car, Car & Travel looks for poorly designed dashboards that could cause dangerous distractions, such as multiple and poorly arranged buttons that require drivers to take their eyes off the road when performing simple tasks like turning on the radio or setting the climate control. The interior is also evaluated on how well items can be identified and used intuitively.

Sport-utility vehicles and pickup trucks are checked for their people- and cargo-carrying capabilities. So vehicle testers will take SUVs shopping at the home center and big box store, load them up with co-workers at lunch time and take note of convenient touches like hold-down hooks and electrical outlets. On pickup trucks, they’ve carried marble tile, granite countertops oxygen and acetylene tanks.

High gasoline prices and environmental concerns have Americans paying more than usual attention these days to fuel economy and emissions levels. Some vehicles have been built to excel in these areas, but by compromising their driveability. The road tests let you know.

Cheaper than a house but nearly as important to families, the right vehicle can make life safer and more convenient. Car & Travel’s “Test Drives” hopefully help car buyers make a solid choice.