Potpourri

LONG POND, Pa. -- On a given Sunday here, a right-hand turn onto the backstretch at Pocono Raceway would put you directly into the path of more than 40 hurtling NASCAR racers.

But this was not that Sunday and the cars I tried out on the infield road course and that long backstretch were not race cars. Every year here I try to find a common thread in a handful of cars (small cars, sports cars, family sedans) and stack them up against each other.

This year, as reflects an auto industry in wild flux, choices were found all over the place: hybrids, minivans, sports cars, pickup trucks, SUVs. The thread was diversity, lots of it.

What you learn about a vehicle on a track shouldn't be applied on public roads. But you can still learn much about a car's inherent stability and power, and the outer edges of its capabilities.

So, it's off to the racetrack, in a variety of vehicles, some of which you would never expect to find in such a venue.

More than 100 miles per hour in a hybrid? You bet, and quietly and smoothly as well. With 199 combined horsepower, this gasoline/electric blend felt like any moderately powerful sedan would when it's pushed hard. Considering that in earlier testing I got 32.9 miles per gallon in this hybrid -- which costs about $27,000 -- it makes more sense than its most direct competitor, the Honda Accord hybrid. The Honda is more powerful, but delivers fuel economy only in the mid-20s.

With horsepower approaching 300, I expected more brute force from this nifty two-seater. Instead it felt more like a comfortable cruiser than a quick sports car, something the track time revealed that I did not pick up in past road tests.

A minivan that can hit 110 miles an hour? Yes, and it's surprisingly stable and powerful. The Kia is a front-wheel-drive vehicle, so understeer in the corners was predictable -- though soccer moms won't be beating their minivans into corners the way we did with this one. It did show me, however, that if drivers do become a bit too enthusiastic during their commuting, this minivan can be forgiving of their mistakes. And it's priced below $25,000, fully loaded.

A marvelous car. You may remember my winter experience with this all-wheel-drive model in 3.2-liter form. A foot of unplowed snow was no match for its traction and power. On the racetrack, with all four tires driving as needed, it was surgical in its attack of the corners. The engine showed no lag when asked to perform on the long straightaway or to boost us out of apexes. Priced in the mid-30s.

If you're shopping for a small SUV (the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, or Subaru Forester, for instance), you should also test the new Outlander. It's all-wheel drive, quiet and smooth down the straightaway, and packs a decent punch for passing. It sat relatively flat in corners -- a carlike trait in an SUV. Prices for the Outlander run from just below $20,000 to around $26,000.

I haven't yet driven the hybrid Saturn Vue Green Line, which General Motors boasts will deliver good mileage in an SUV. Until then, the Escape Hybrid continues to be the best hybrid SUV when it comes to saving on gas: I got nearly 30 miles per gallon. This is another small SUV you'll want to consider if you're in that market. Plenty of zip and nice stability on the backstretch and road course. The price approaches $30,000.

Is it an SUV or a pickup truck? Both. And this is a much better model than its predecessor, which I found floppy and unstable when I ran it against the Honda Ridgeline in closed-course testing in California a couple of years back. Now it is far more rigid and it safely handled corners the earlier version would have found problematic.

Chevrolet wants to play with the manufacturers who have moved into the ``off-the-rack" tuner segment, and this car, in 205-horsepower supercharged form, is one way to get onto that track. It exhibited very little torque steer for a car with that much power going to its front wheels. And though it plowed just a bit in corners, it was predictable understeer. Low 20s should get you one of these little rockets.

My favorite revelation of the day. I like its looks far more than its stablemate, the Pontiac Solstice. It has a muscular gravitas that the Solstice lacks. With its 260 turbocharged horses, the Sky is a real romp to drive. Stable, quick, and flat in hard corners. This offers true drop-top sports-car performance for under $30,000.

Royal Ford can be reached at ford@globe.com.