1. Air Conditioning: It's the 21st century and nobody, not even economy car buyers, should have to put up with stifling summer heat. Our editors were adamant about the need for air conditioning and feel that it should be standard on today's vehicles, including economy sedans. With the possible exception of Alaska, there's no part of American soil that doesn't, at some point during the calendar year, get uncomfortably hot. Thankfully, every vehicle in this test had air conditioning as standard equipment except for the Hyundai Elantra GLS, and that vehicle offers it as part of a $925 option package.

2. Antilock Brakes: Economy sedans may not be the fastest group of cars on the road, but they still have to stop quickly and confidently. Our performance testing revealed that the three non-ABS equipped cars needed considerably more distance to stop from 60 mph than those cars packing antilock brakes. The exceptions were the non-ABS-equipped Dodge Neon that managed an impressive 138 feet, and the Toyota Corolla that needed 147 feet to stop despite having ABS. ABS was standard on the Chevy Cavalier LS and Daewoo Nubira CDX while being unavailable, even as an option, on the Honda Civic LX.

3. CD Player: CD players have been around for almost two decades and, we believe, it's safe to consider them a fixture of modern society. While cassettes haven't been relegated to the same status as 8-track tapes, they're still woefully inferior, at least in terms of sound quality, when compared to the modern compact disc. For the economy sedan buyer who wants to forget he's driving an economy sedan, a CD player is essential. This item comes standard on the Daewoo Nubira CDX, Mazda Protege ES and Nissan Sentra SE. You can get it as an option on all the other cars, but with the Honda Civic LX it can't be ordered from the factory. You have to pay a hefty dealer charge to enjoy the clean, hiss-free sound of a CD.

4. Cruise Control: Like air conditioning, cruise control is a luxury item that doesn't seem like a luxury item in today's world. Because it's rare to find a modern car that doesn't have cruise control, when you do it gives the immediate impression that you're driving a frugally optioned rental car (which, if you're driving a Cavalier, is probably the case). Cruise control is actually pretty useless in big cities like L.A. where highway speed is anything but consistent. However, it makes long road trips much easier on the legs because you can stretch and reposition your legs without affecting your speed. Cruise control was standard on all of these cars except the Dodge Neon, Ford Focus SE, Hyundai Elantra GLS and Toyota Corolla LE. On these vehicles it is an option.

5. Power Door Locks: Remember the days of locking your sedan that involved climbing over seats and straining across vast interior cabins? In a two-door vehicle power locks aren't that big of a deal because one door is right next to you and the other one isn't all that far away. But slide into a sedan without power door locks and every stop at a mall, movie theatre or restaurant becomes an annoying game of "locate each door's locking mechanism and check to see if it's locked and, if not, lock it." Can you live without power locks in a sedan? Certainly. Is it a pain in the ass? Absolutely. Thankfully, this feature was present on all of our test cars, and only the Chevy Cavalier LS didn't come with it standard (it's part of an option package).

6. Power Mirrors: Here's another option that doesn't seem like a big deal...until you have two drivers of the same vehicle, each with vastly different seating positions. Suddenly, every time you swap vehicles, you're cranking a small lever to get the driver's side mirror properly angled and, even worse, leaning across the front seat to adjust the passenger's side mirror. Of course, if you're leaning across the seat to reach the manual control, then your head is out of position to properly adjust the mirror. So you flop back and forth across the seat trying to adjust the mirror and subsequently check its angle. Not fun. Once again, only the Chevy didn't have this feature as standard, but it was on our test car as part of the same option package that got us the power door locks.

7. Power Windows: Just as with cruise control, power windows are a "luxury" option that has managed to become commonplace. They are so common that many car shoppers, when driving a new car, instinctively reach for a switch and are surprised to find a crank when its time to lower the window. On sedans, a lack of power windows makes getting cross ventilation at the end of a hot, sunny summer day a contortionist action involving stretched arms and twisted torsos. And then there's the toll gate/parking garage situation that requires frantically working the window crank while simultaneously rifling through your belongings looking for money or that elusive key card-leaving neither hand free to actually steer the vehicle. Power windows were standard on every car in this test except the Cavalier LS, Dodge Neon ES, and Ford Focus SE. Of course, you can't get power rear windows on the Dodge Neon...at all.

8. Rear Disc Brakes: Do non-performance cars really need rear disc brakes? No more than they need electric windows, air conditioning or power locks. The point here isn't that rear disc brakes greatly improve a vehicle's stopping ability; instead it goes more to the argument that economy sedan buyers shouldn't have to put up with blatantly out-of-date technology, especially when it relates to brake system components which, ultimately, are a safety concern. Some cars, like Mazda's Protege, used to offer rear disc brakes, but in recent years the company has gone back to drum brakes as a cost-cutting measure. This reasoning makes little sense when you consider that Daewoo's Nubira, the second cheapest car in this test, comes with rear disc brakes as standard equipment. Rear disc brakes are not available, even as an option, on the Cavalier LS, Ford Focus SE, Honda Civic LX, Mazda Protege ES or Toyota Corolla LE. They're standard on Daewoo's Nubira CDX, Nissan's Sentra SE and Hyundai's Elantra GLS, and optional on Dodge's Neon ES.

9. Remote Keyless Entry: This is an option that, once you have it, you can't imagine how you got along without it. Simply put: Remote Keyless Entry offers tremendous convenience every time you enter or exit your vehicle. If you are carrying a bunch of crap or want to get all the doors quickly unlocked for multiple passengers to enter, it's even better. Like air conditioning and cruise control, the lack of a remote keyless entry system is a glaring omission on any modern vehicle. In our test this omission was obvious when entering the Honda Civic LX, Hyundai Elantra GLS, and Toyota Corolla LE. You can get keyless entry on each of these vehicles, but it is a dealer- or port-installed option. The rest of our test vehicles had keyless entry as standard equipment, except the Cavalier LS, where it was part of an option package.

10. Driver's Seat Height Adjustment: As you might expect, economy sedans aren't known for their spacious interiors (though the Ford Focus does an impressive job of feeling larger on the inside than it really is on the outside). This often leads to cramped quarters and insufficient legroom for larger humans when they ride in these cars. A sure-fire cure for lower limb discomfort is a seat height adjuster that lets drivers raise and/or tilt the seat bottom to get maximum leg support and room. It's amazing how much roomier an interior can feel when your feet aren't getting tangled in the pedals. A driver's seat height adjustment was standard on the Daewoo Nubira CDX, Ford Focus SE, Honda Civic LX, Hyundai Elantra GLS, Mazda Protege ES, and Nissan Sentra SE. It was unavailable on the Cavalier LS, Neon ES, and Corolla LE.

11. Side Airbags: A few short years ago, side airbags weren't even available in top luxury cars. Now they're popping up in select economy sedans, and we see them becoming an industry standard in the not-too-distant future. We prefer the seat-mounted side airbags that remain in position no matter where an occupant positions his or her seat, but even door mounted airbags are likely to reduce pain and suffering during a side impact collision. Side airbags are optional only on the Ford Focus SE, Mazda Protege ES, Nissan Sentra SE and Toyota Corolla LE.

12. Tilt Steering Wheel: A tilt wheel means that humans ranging from tiny to titanic can easily find a comfortable and functional steering wheel position when seated in an economy sedan. Nothing is worse than trying to read gauges or operate steering column stalks that are blocked by a steering wheel rim. Tilt wheels can also be raised to increase legroom or lowered to keep an airbag from deploying directly into a smaller driver's face. Along with seat height adjustments, tilt steering wheels greatly increase the likelihood that a particular economy sedan will "fit" you. Thankfully, this item was standard on every vehicle in the test except the Dodge Neon ES and Ford Focus SE, and both of those test cars had them as options.

As you can see from the accompanying chart, none of our contestants scored 100 percent in feature content, but a properly equipped Nissan Sentra SE could manage a perfect score, and the Daewoo Nubira CDX, Ford Focus SE and Mazda Protege ES come very close.