The Camry's comfort-oriented set-up comes to the fore here: it's a phenomenal cruiser, with a superb ride (even with the taller, stiffer springs) and the best stability out of the three. However, it's clear that this is a comparo between Oriental, not European cars, for even the Camry tends to tramline and wander around at high speeds. The handling is unenthusiastic, but it doesn't bite — it just doesn't like being hustled. The vague steering is disappointing — it's usefully light in the city, but on the highway, it feels dead on-centre. The best thing to do is throttle back, and enjoy the cloud-like ride; the suspension thumps over
bad bumps, but it's still the quietest. There's no traction control, unlike the others, but the ABS-equipped brakes are absolutely fantastic.
The Sonata's chassis is typically Hyundai: an acceptable ride and light steering in the city and on smooth roads, but increasingly poor manners as you press on. Grip is pretty good, but the ride thumps over potholes and the steering lacks a linear feel, which is a shame given the performance the car has on tap. It also tends to ‘float’ at high speeds, and highway stability isn’t great. Standard traction control would give some assistance should you choose to do some hard cornering, but trust us, you wouldn't.
The Accord is the sportiest, and although it understeers easily, it's willing to go into corners. The lows are a harsh and audible ride, particularly at low speed, and as you go fast, the steering starts to feel vague, especially around the straight-ahead position, and the car doesn't have a reassuring, planted feel at highway speeds.