A series of 60 newly synthesized and known quinolone antibacterials, including quinoline- and 1,8-naphthyridine-3-carboxylic acids, pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine-6-carboxylic acids, and some monocyclic 4-pyridone-3-carboxylic acids, were tested and compared in a newly established, easy to perform, DNA gyrase assay. The results were correlated with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) against a variety of organisms. Among the known quinolones were 14 clinically significant drugs (oxolinic acid, norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin, enoxacin, etc.) which were used as standards and compared side-by-side. The study focused on the changes in DNA gyrase inhibition brought about by certain features of the molecules, namely, the C6-fluorine or the nature of the C7 substituent. The intrinsic gyrase inhibition of the fused parent rings, quinoline vs. naphthyridine vs. pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine, was also explored. In all cases, loss of enzyme inhibition produced poor MICs, but some compounds with good DNA gyrase inhibition did not correspondingly inhibit bacterial growth. Possible explanations for this phenomena and the benefits of a DNA gyrase-MIC strategy for developing future structure-activity relationships are discussed.