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"  The growing disenchantment with SUVs means family-size sedans are finding their way back into American garages. We selected four of the largest, most powerful models--the Dodge Charger R/T, Toyota Avalon Limited, Ford Five Hundred SEL and Buick LaCrosse CXS, all new within the last year--and ran them through our testing protocol at California Speedway in Fontana. Then we stuffed them with people and luggage for a weeklong cruise around Southern California. Here&amp;#039;s what we found. Dodge Charger R/T  Guys everywhere are drooling over the Charger--and that includes us. Its aggressive, almost angry front makes the car look like it can chew up and spit out any other sedan. And at the Speedway that&amp;#039;s just what it did, dominating all our track tests: going, stopping and swerving. The Charger is the lone car here that has rear-wheel drive. It&amp;#039;s also the only one with an available V8 engine. The R/T version, our tester, has a Hemi V8. With that powertrain, it&amp;#039;s easily the most entertaining, engaging and rewarding car of this quartet to drive hard. The Charger shares its platform with the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Magnum station wagon, and various mechanical bits--like the smooth-shifting five-speed automatic--with Mercedes-Benz. That Hemi, though, is all-American. And as much as we love its prodigious power output, we&amp;#039;re disappointed (but hardly surprised) by its appetite: The Dodge drank more gas than any other car here, ducking under 20 mpg, despite its cylinder-disabling Displacement on Demand system. The Charger&amp;#039;s interior is also dark and dour. The gun-slit windows that look so cool from the outside are a hindrance for short drivers. The long nose and dashboard make the car feel bigger than it is. Still, the Charger has the best front seats of the foursome, with excellent side bolstering; rear-seat accommodations are midpack in this group. And because it is rear-drive, the Charger&amp;#039;s back-seaters have to deal with the dreaded driveline hump in the middle of the floor. That&amp;#039;s the price you pay for the ability to smoke those rear tires at will. Buick LaCrosse CXS  Buick&amp;#039;s newest big sedan, the Lucerne, hadn&amp;#039;t been introduced to the public at press time, so we chose the next-size-down LaCrosse. For those of you who missed the memo, the LaCrosse was introduced as an &amp;#039;05 model to replace two of Buick&amp;#039;s stalwarts: the Regal and the Century. Despite the fact that its chassis is not as modern as the others here, it handles fine. The car goes exactly where you point it, but there&amp;#039;s a lot of body roll in turns and the steering feels numb. At the limits of adhesion, the stability control system takes over and works flawlessly. The result is reassuring but uninspired handling, the kind your grandmother might appreciate. However, Granny might not appreciate the ride--the LaCrosse doesn&amp;#039;t have that magic carpet float that was the hallmark of past Buicks. The LaCrosse is quiet, though, the quietest of this bunch at idle. Our top-level CXS model had the 3.6-liter DOHC V6 mated to a four-speed automatic with wide gear spacing, so acceleration and passing suffered. It&amp;#039;s time for GM to gain some gears. The LaCrosse is smaller inside than the others we tested, and though the seats were comfortable around town, they have no discernible side bolstering. The passenger cabin also lacks panache. Both interior and exterior style scream &amp;quot;rental.&amp;quot; On the other hand, the Buick&amp;#039;s body panels fit together better than those of any other car here. In the end, the LaCrosse was just the average C student in our class of four. It never failed a test, but then again, it never excelled enough in any one area to make our honor roll. Ford Five Hundred SEL  If roominess is your only criterion, you can stop looking right now. The Five Hundred&amp;#039;s back seat has enough room for the Los Angeles Lakers backcourt. And its 21.2-cu.-ft. trunk may be the largest of any sedan sold in the United States. Thanks to a platform shared with Ford&amp;#039;s Freestyle SUV, the Five Hundred has an almost trucklike, commanding view of the road. Its interior is bright and airy. The gauges are easy to read and there&amp;#039;s aluminum trim around the transmission lever. But some plastic trim pieces feel hard and rough around the edges. This car also displayed severe windshield glare--the worst of the group--no matter how high the sun. Ultimately, the Five Hundred&amp;#039;s ability to carry a lot magnifies its inability to do so with any kind of verve. There&amp;#039;s only one anemic V6 engine available, though the six-speed automatic makes the most of what the engine has to offer. But this car is downright sluggish off a traffic light. Of course, the upside to a small engine is good fuel economy and this big Ford delivered nearly 25 mpg. The Five Hundred&amp;#039;s brakes are as lackluster as the engine: In our emergency stop tests, this car ate up far more real estate than any of the others. Its handling through the pylons at the track showed the big Ford has good grip on the road. And its behavior at the limits is predictable, though the large amount of body roll should deter most drivers from even squealing the tires. Out on the open road, the Five Hundred delivers a pleasant but passionless ride. Toyota Avalon Limited  If you think the Toyota Avalon is just the latest generation of sedate blandness, better think again. At the track, this Avalon was less than a second slower than the Hemi-powered Charger. Unlike the Dodge, the Toyota sipped gas like an econocar, easily besting the three others in identical driving situations. The Avalon does reveal its heritage, however, when you hustle it along in anything but a straight line. The Avalon is built on a new platform that it will share with the next-generation Camry. And the platform was created more for comfort than razorlike handling. The Avalon has almost as much body roll as the Buick and offered minimal grip at the track. (Toyota does have an optional Touring model with crisper handling.) Out in the real world, the big Toyota delivered the quietest and most comfortable ride of our group. Inside, the Avalon feels a lot like a Lexus. The materials used in the top of the line Limited--including the wood trim--are luxury-car rich and superbly installed. And though the Limited&amp;#039;s delightful heated and ventilated front seats are part of an expensive package, the reclining rear seats are standard. Those rear recliners make the back of the Avalon the most comfortable of any in this group, even though there&amp;#039;s actually a smidge less legroom back there than in the Ford. The Avalon simply delivers the most of what we want in a family sedan: It&amp;#039;s fuel-efficient, powerful, quiet and roomy. That&amp;#039;s why it takes top honors in our four-way faceoff.  border=&amp;quot;0&amp;quot; cellspacing=&amp;quot;2&amp;quot; cellpadding=&amp;quot;2&amp;quot;&amp;amp;gt; DODGE   CHARGER R/TBUICK LACROSSE CXSFORD  FIVE HUNDRED SELTOYOTA  AVALON LIMITEDBASE PRICE:$29,320$28,995$24,165$33,540AS TESTED: $35,400$32,647$27,475$36,854POWERTRAIN: 340-hp/390-lb.-ft. 5.7-liter V8, 5A240-hp/225-lb.-ft. 3.6-liter V6, 4A203-hp/207-lb.-ft. 3.0-liter V6, 6A280-hp/260-lb.-ft. 3.5-liter V6, 5ATIRES: Michelin HXMXM4 235/55R18Goodyear Eagle LS 225/55R17Continental Contitouring Contact 215/60R17Michelin Energy MXV4 215/55R17WEIGHT: 4150 lb.3640 lb.3760 lb.3650 lb.SUSPENSION: F:A-arm MacPherson strutMacPherson strutMacPherson strutR:MultilinkTrailing armMultilinkStrutBRAKES: Disc/Disc, ABSDisc/Disc, ABSDisc/Disc, ABSDisc/Disc, ABSACCELERATION:1/4-mile:114.8 sec./95.94 mph15.98 sec./88.43 mph16.71 sec./85.03 mph15.17 sec./93.64 mph0-30 mph:2.76 sec.3.07 sec.3.43 sec.2.43 sec.0-60 mph: 6.59 sec.8.2 sec.9.1 sec.6.93 sec.40-70 mph: 4.48 sec.6.21 sec.6.91 sec.4.98 sec.BRAKING:260-0 mph: 122.25 ft.132.78 ft.146.93 ft.130.77 ft.30-0 mph: 30.29 ft.31.35 ft.35.86 ft.31.47 ft.SLALOM:346.08 mph41.62 mph40.67 mph41.67 mphDBL. LANE CHANGE: 52.32 mph47.91 mph50.46 mph51.85 mphLATERAL ACCELERATION: 0.81 g0.765 g0.745 g0.758 gSOUND LEVELS:4Idle: 50.4 dBA45.5 dBA51.4 dBA48.6 dBAFull throttle: 82.4 dBA76.9 dBA78.9 dBA74 dBA60 mph: 68.5 dBA68 dBA70.6 dBA67.7 dBAFUEL ECONOMY:EPA: 17 city/25 hwy19 city/27 hwy21 city/29 hwy22 city/31 hwyPM test loop: 19.3 mpg23.9 mpg24.9 mpg28.6 mpg1. Best ET, trap speed may be from different runs.  2. Best stop, hot or cold.  3. Best speed through eight cones, 75 ft. apart. Index of transient response.  4. Average of two readings.ABOUT OUR TESTS PM automotive editors Don Chaikin, Mike Allen and Ben Stewart conducted performance tests at California Speedway in Fontana. Mileage tests were performed on a range of California roadways, with drivers rotating among vehicles. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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