SQ has been the back of the class for decades --
"the golfer and not the club" - so true, love that, but it does seem that SQ has entered the PGA Tour with a bent club.
While most of us wouldn't have approached a stained fabric this way in daily washing practice, it is a reliable measure of a machine's ability to remove soil. All other variables controlled for, water quality, detergent brand and amount, incoming water temps, etc., I'm pretty confident that CR is giving each machine a level playing field and a fair shot. They have simply put the identically stained fabrics in each washer and pushed "start".
How each machine controls it's water temp could be a variable, some measure temperature directly, others may just be 60/40 mix of hot & cold for "warm", but this doesn't invalidate the testing procedure, only measuring the washer's ability to produce results as the machine is designed.
Speed Queen has rarely had more than an average rating from CR testing, going back decades. In the 70's, they were dinged for small capacity, average or below cleaning results and poor spin performance. In the 80's many of the same problems were found but with the perforated basket. CR didn't care for their front-load models early on and results only improved slightly with the change in cycle length in the second iteration of f/l washers with the larger door. While cleaning improved some, they were hit with a narrow range of cycle options and inflexible settings as well as poorer spin results when held up against machines that were spinning above 800 rpm. The top loaders have been maligned in recent years for below average (of all the machines they test) in cleaning and again, capacity and extraction ability. Apples to apples comparisons have never been shining moments for SQ, and they aren't now, obviously.
For those who wanted the "old school" washer with a full tub of water and an agitator, those low CR ratings meant little vs. their expectations and results. The same is true with this new washer, there will be some who get the results they expect and those who do not in the varying ways they utilize the washer.
I love my small-door SQ front load washer and get great results load after load despite CR's findings. Real-world laundry isn't in a lab, it's in a basement or laundry room and YMMV.