Each year, MotorWeek puts more than 150 new cars, trucks, and SUVs to the test, providing consumer-oriented vehicle reviews.

The MotorWeek team included master technician Pat Goss (1941-2022) who brought viewers practical advice for keeping cars on the road and out of the shop.

One of the main staples of MotorWeek is the Road Test, where the team of testers puts a new car through various conditions to see how it operates.

In the show’s early years, testing was primarily done at either Martin State Airport in Baltimore, using one of the airport’s seaplane tarmacs, or at 75-80 Dragway in Frederick, Maryland; MotorWeek also had access to a stretch of unfinished highway at an indeterminate location outside of Baltimore in its early days.

For the show's fortieth anniversary season, MotorWeek permanently moved its testing to Mason-Dixon Dragway in Boonsboro, Maryland.

MotorWeek has also done tests at the Ford and General Motors proving grounds in the past as well as at several famous racetracks such as Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course near Lexington, Ohio, and Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia.

A test is also done to determine fuel economy ratings against the ones provided by the Environmental Protection Agency; to perform this, the testers use a 100-mile loop that combines city and highway driving and averages their figures.

Older episodes also tested a car’s speed at 500 feet to simulate entering a highway as well as its turning diameter.

Once the road test is complete, the car’s hits and misses are revealed as are the reasons why the testers felt a certain way about various issues.

For many years, MotorWeek has conducted periodic competitive tests to determine what cars, in their opinion, are the top in a certain classification.

The vehicles, like every other tested by MotorWeek, are supplied by the manufacturers themselves and each must adhere to the set of criteria selected for the competition (for example, transmission type or maximum cost).

Originally called “Motorshop” and featuring Craig Singhaus (who would later host the Taking the High Road segments) as the main maintenance expert in its pilot, the producers approached Washington, DC area mechanic Pat Goss to appear and show viewers solutions to common issues that one might face with their vehicle at one time or another.

As mentioned above, from late 1981 to early 2021, MotorWeek conducted most of its testing on a drag strip that was known as the 75-80 Dragway (also Dragaway) in Frederick, Maryland.