Take a look at our At A Glance or In-Depth articles and you'll see a number assigned to every vehicle: The Family Friendliness Index. This is our way of telling you how well suited a vehicle is to the duties of family hauling. The closer the number is to 10, the better suited it is for families.

The number is calculated using a proprietary algorithm that takes into account safety, price, fuel economy, the vehicle's size and cargo capacity, and a number of other factors. These are all distilled into a single number that you can use to compare different vehicles.

It's important to keep in mind that the Family Friendliness Index is a mathematical calculation of objective data. We don't Recommend a vehicle until we've driven it. Why? Because, for example, a spec sheet can only tell you how many seats a vehicle has, how high it is off the ground, or how much cargo space there is. It can't tell you if those seats are comfortable, if your kids can get in and out easily, or if you can fit a stroller in the trunk along with your groceries. Our In-Depth Reviews and First Drives deliver the whole picture, and let you know if a vehicle meets our rigorous standards.

If a car has a high Family Friendliness score, then that's good. If it's Recommended, it's even better.