Handling, steering, braking, refinement, ergonomics and the fun-to-drive factor — seven judged criteria and one measured one. What the grade rewards, how the fleet is distributed, and where body type matters.
By MotorGPAPublished September 5, 20267 min readFigures read live from the scoring data at build time
Driving Experience is the subject a road test is for, and the one the framework grades most carefully against the temptation to reward speed. Acceleration and horsepower live in Performance & Powertrain. This subject is about how the car handles, steers, stops and settles; how smooth and quiet its drivetrain is; how well the driver fits in it; and, last and lightest, whether it is any fun.
What the criteria measure
Dynamics is handling and agility (×2), steering feel, and braking confidence (×2). Refinement is powertrain smoothness and response (×2) and drivetrain noise and vibration. Everyday drivability is turning circle — the one measured criterion, inverted so tighter scores higher, and graded against a segment band so a truck is judged against trucks — plus driving position and ergonomics and the fun-to-drive factor. Braking confidence also feeds the winter composite, which is why it carries ×2 rather than ×1.
Id
Criterion
Kind
Weight
Applies to
9.1.1
Handling & agility — Dynamics
Judged
×2
All vehicles
9.1.2
Steering feel — Dynamics
Judged
×1
All vehicles
9.1.3
Braking confidence — Dynamics
Judged
×2
All vehicles
9.2.1
Powertrain smoothness & response — Refinement
Judged
×2
All vehicles
9.2.2
Drivetrain noise & vibration — Refinement
Judged
×1
All vehicles
9.3.1
Turning circle — Everyday Drivability
Measured (ft), lower is better
×1
All vehicles
9.3.2
Driving position & ergonomics — Everyday Drivability
Judged
×1
All vehicles
9.3.3
Fun-to-drive factor — Everyday Drivability
Judged
×1
All vehicles
The 8 criteria in Driving Experience, as published in the framework. Weights are relative within the category and renormalize over the criteria a vehicle actually carries. The full definitions, including the scoring guidance for each judged criterion, are on the report card.
How the fleet grades
The subject medians in the B− range, and it is the one where price class most reliably buys a better grade: refinement is expensive, and the criteria that reward it — smoothness, quietness, steering feel — are where luxury vehicles earn their premium in the framework. The bottom of the distribution is mostly the large, tall and cheap: vehicles that are competent and no more.
A 4%B 47%C 46%D 3%F 0%
Driving Experience across the 295 graded models, each at its latest scored year. Median 69.3 points (2.70, B-); the middle half of the fleet sits between 63.7 and 74 points, the extremes at 39.6 and 91.3.
Criterion
Models
Median value
Median score
Handling & agility 9.1.1
295
—
70
Steering feel 9.1.2
295
—
66
Braking confidence 9.1.3
295
—
72
Powertrain smoothness & response 9.2.1
295
—
76
Drivetrain noise & vibration 9.2.2
295
—
72
Turning circle 9.3.1
295
38.4 ft
43
Driving position & ergonomics 9.3.2
295
—
74
Fun-to-drive factor 9.3.3
295
—
66
Median score on each Driving criterion across the models that carry it, latest scored year each. For measured criteria the median raw value is shown too.
Who leads, and why
By body type, coupes lead at a median of 77.3 points and minivans trail at 64.7. The performance body types win on dynamics and lose on nothing this subject measures — turning circle is graded against their own band — so they lead comfortably, and it is the mirror image of their Comfort and Efficiency grades. That symmetry is the framework working: the same car that fails Efficiency should lead here, and does.
Body type
Models
Median (pts)
Median GPA
Coupes
20
77.3
3.25B+
Convertibles
7
76.3
3.18B
Hatchbacks
18
72.7
2.93B-
Sedans
55
71.4
2.84B-
SUVs
160
67.7
2.58C+
Trucks
22
67.2
2.55C+
Wagons
4
65.7
2.44C+
Vans
4
64.9
2.39C+
Minivans
5
64.7
2.37C+
Driving Experience median by body type, latest scored year per model. Body types with fewer than three graded models are left out.
Price class
Models
Median (pts)
Median GPA
Luxury
137
72.5
2.92B-
Premium
69
69.1
2.68C+
Mainstream
80
64.2
2.34C+
Economy
9
58.5
1.94C-
Driving Experience median by the registry’s price class.
Current-year vehicles whose Driving Experience grade most exceeds their overall GPA — the ones this subject flatters.
How to read the grade
The grade is graded within segment for the measured criterion and to absolute guidance for the judged ones, so an A on a minivan means it handles, stops and steers about as well as a minivan can, and refinement is graded on the same scale for everyone. Read the fun-to-drive criterion last and lightly; it is one point of twelve, and the grade would be nearly the same without it. If the criterion that matters to you is braking or ergonomics, the reasoning on the car page names the road tests those scores rest on.
