After going back and reading it more thoroughly, I found some more things to criticize. They whined about the characteristics of a pushrod engine and that they didn't like the sound of the engine note. If Motor Trend actually wants to actually attempt to be objective, then they need to get a staff of writers with a variety of opinions. I happen to prefer the sound of a pushrod engine over an OHC engine.

They of course complained about the interior for the millionth and first time, but of course they choose the car they knew had the cheapest interior.

They should have included some of GMs larger midsized cars such as the supercharged Grand Prix GT (GTP is now discontinued). It still wouldn't be as fast as the Camry or the other two but the acceleration for the price would have been unbeatable. They should have included the Mazda 6 Speed model. The turbo 2.3L would have wipped the Toyota. I could go on all day with what they should have included.

In short, it is being unfair to compare a lower priced budget car against a more premium priced and packaged car. They need to make sure in the future that they have more similarly priced cars, because the premium ones will always win in their competition.