Consumer Reports' 50th Anniversary Auto Issue: Biggest We've Ever Published! Looking Back While Helping Consumers Get the Right Vehicle At the Best Price.

Business Editors/Automotive Writers

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 10, 2003

BEGINS ON PAGE 21

Looking back: Special 50th Anniversary Section

When Consumer Reports(R) (CR) published its first cover-to-cover auto issue in 1953, the automotive world was a dramatically different place. This year we cover a 210-vehicle mix of cars, pickups, minivans, and SUVs. By comparison, our May '53 issue covered 50 cars. This issue covers 37 brands from automakers based in six countries. In '53 we included only 20 major brands, all American and several of which are long gone. CR presents a special retrospective section looking at the past five decades and the evolving role of our test program and safety efforts. Some highlights follow:

Design and performance: How far we've come 

CR offers a brief history of how today's sleek and efficient models evolved and a look at styling and power trends to come:

=> 1950s - Power and tail fins soar: The horsepower race begins;

automatics and wagons get rolling; imports arrive and Detroit

reacts.

=> 1960s - Choices grow, and so do engines: Smaller cars grow

sexier; the "muscle car" is born; cleaner air becomes law.

=> 1970s - Cars get cleaner, oil gets scarce: Bodies get leaner;

engines become cleaner, power drops.

=> 1980s - Wagons are out, minivans are in: Stylists think

outside the box; engines wise up.

=> 1990s - SUVs and pickups proliferate; electric vehicles zap

in, fizzle out.

=> Today - New and old coexist: Bodies are edgier; hybrids go

mainstream; average fuel mileage drops.

An interactive timeline feature based on this report is available free at www.ConsumerReports.org.

CRs role: Testing then and now

CR's Auto Test Department is the nation's largest, most comprehensive auto-testing operation devoted to the consumer interest. Each year, our team of 18 automotive specialists tests dozens of vehicles at our Connecticut test track and drives them thousands of miles on public roads over a period of several months. Our goal: To tell consumers which models offer the best performance, safety, comfort and reliability. But we started more humbly. Our testing methods have evolved significantly over the years.

Some highlights follow:

When we began automotive testing in 1936 we borrowed new cars from friends, our test operation was based in a service garage, and we rented nearby race tracks.

Back then we used a "fifth wheel" to gauge a vehicle's speed for acceleration and braking tests. Today we've started to conduct some tests using state-of-the-art computerized equipment that employs Global Positioning Satellites.

Fifty years ago we used a downhill slope to test brakes. Since the 1960s we've tested brakes on a flat straightaway. In the early 1990s, when antilock brakes became widely available, we built a customized stretch of blacktop to test them.

In the early years to test fuel consumption, a glass beaker piped fuel from the cabin to the carburetor. As one engineer drove the car down a stretch of highway, an assistant manipulated valves to empty a measured amount of gasoline into the engine. Today we use a digital metering system.

In the early decades we drove around the track at high speeds to conduct tests for emergency handling. Today we use three tests -- skid pad, quick laps around a serpentine handling course, and an avoidance maneuver -- to give us data on how safely a vehicle would handle in an emergency.

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New cars: Best bets for under $25,000

A low price doesn't always denote a good value in a car. That's why we put together our list of recommended vehicles costing less than $25,000. To make the list, a recent version of the vehicle must have performed well in our tests, have average or better reliability, and have performed acceptably if crash-tested. This year's list includes nine CR top picks for 2003:Honda Accord LX (4-cyl.); Honda Civic EX; Honda Civic Hybrid (CVT); Pontiac Vibe; Toyota Corolla LE; Toyota Matrix (2WD/4WD); Volkswagen Passat GLS (4-cyl.); Honda Odyssey LX; and Toyota RAV4 (AWD). This report is available free on www.ConsumerReports.org.

Reader report: Would you buy that car again

This year CR features expanded coverage from our Annual Questionnaire revealing how satisfied our readers are with the vehicles they own. Nearly half the vehicles earning the highest satisfaction scores from our readers are made by Toyota. Four German vehicles also reached the top tier. But only three American vehicles earned high marks. This report is available free on www.ConsumerReports.org.

Also in this issue:

The CR Safety Assessment

Landmarks: The 10 most influential vehicles

Reliability histories (for used cars) and forecasts (for new cars)

Car Buying: 10 dealer tricks