Modern ones feel totally fine at highway speeds. We have a 2017 CVT Suzuki Spacia and it feels totally safe (not wandering steering or vibrations or anything), normal, brakes still stop it quickly, and the engine is not strained on the highway at 120 km/h (of course the crash safety of these things is terrible due to the lack of crumple zones so you should not drive at that speed, but it feels totally fine, to the point where I've accidentally started speeding without noticing)

The loaners we've had during shaken are all like 10+ years old and terrible, just as you describe.