The best small cars – driven, rated and ranked

Best for: Style

This distinctive small crossover boasts a unique, retro-infused design to stand out from the crowd, including its platform-mates, the Citroën ë-C3 and the Vauxhall Frontera. 

The Grande Panda is spacious and well priced. We just wish it could be a bit more fun to drive.

Mark Tisshaw, Editor

We've tested the model in both hybrid and electric form and we like both. The latter is powered by a 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine aided by a 29bhp electric motor, while the former gets 111bhp and 90lb ft of torque from a single front-mounted electric motor. As for range, the official claimed figure for the EV is 199 miles.

Either way you go, all versions of the Grande Panda should offer a frugal and characterful package. 

Best for: Price

This list began with a new iteration of the car that the original Renault Clio replaced, yet the famous 5’s comeback doesn’t signal the end of Papa and Nicole's supermini of choice.

Where other brands have stuck their heads in the sand, Renault has correctly observed the emerging trends in this class.

Jack Warrick, Staff Writer

A recent facelift revitalised the pared-down Clio range, with the remaining petrol and 'self-charging' hybrid options focusing on where the car's appeal is strongest. 

As the cheapest full hybrid on sale, undercutting even the Dacia Jogger Hybrid, the Clio E-Tech doesn’t feel like a budget-priced option. Yet the Clio's value feels even more extraordinary in pure-petrol TCe 90 guise.  

The Clio’s handling still bears the hallmarks of an enviable lineage of hot hatchbacks, with well-weighted controls and reassuring feedback through bends.

Renault’s commitment to the Clio might not survive the switch to full electrification, but it has outlived at least one significant rival so far. 

Best for: Value

The simple and sensible Skoda Fabia is a more traditional offering, that forgoes mild-hybrid technology and heaps of digital addenda for a conventional, back-to-basics approach. 

Those 'Fabia' inserts atop the instrument cowling and the geometric dashboard texture are some nice touches in an otherwise sober interior.

Illya Verpraet, Road Tester

It rides exceptionally well on standard springs, with a comfortable ride that would embarrass many dearer cars from classes above. 

It’s generously equipped, and while it lacks a bit of material quality inside, it feels modern and practical, with ease-of-use at the centre of its overall design, as showcased by its array of buttons and switches for secondary controls. 

Lower specifications still offer great value compared to rivals, with prices starting from around £21,000. Sure, it’s not the most stimulating to drive, but as an overall package it's a brilliant small car. 

Best for: All-round ability

If overall competence and quality are your benchmark, then the Volkswagen Polo occupies a solid place as ‘the essence of small car’.

The standard-fit digital instrument cluster is pretty clear to read and the screen makes good use of its real estate, with proper configurability between each of the menu screens.

Jonathan Bryce, Social Media Executive

It clearly resonates with British buyers, as it was the only supermini to secure a spot in the 2024 best-sellers chart.

Make no mistake: the Polo is enduringly compelling because of its all-round competencies. It's evenly balanced in terms of price, packaging, performance and quality.

It handles with sophistication and it's decently roomy for four or five adults, and the boot is a usable size too. 

Sure, in its cheapest form, the Polo does feel spartan and low on energy, plus the dearest models are well inside Volkswagen Golf territory, but grab yourself a good deal and you will be glad you chose the Polo.

Best for: Handling

'Crossover' is a word that has been used and abused so many times that it has lost all meaning, but if you consider the elements that come together to create the Ford Puma, it’s about the only word that fits. 

This is unquestionably a strong contender for the class lead. It's more fun to drive than the Kamiq and T-Cross, just as compliant as the Captur and more practical than the Mokka.

Matt Saunders, Road test editor

In effect, the Puma is a symphony of genres. It inherits an effective evolution of its 1990s coupé namesake’s style; the small car prowess of the last (and best) Fiesta; enough of the Kuga’s off-road stance to appeal to larger SUV buyers; and a demeanour that's low enough to the ground and agile enough to truly be worthy of handling accolades in hot ST form.  

There’s now an electric version too, called the Puma Gen-E, although its small battery means it’s less competitive than many bespoke EV designs.

All Pumas offer good rear passenger access and high-set rear seats for easier child-seat installation, a huge plastic tub with a plug hole for a messier lifestyle kit under the boot floor and a design that looks ‘right’ among a slew of awkwardly angled contemporaries. 

Not bad for a car that’s both the spiritual successor to the Ford Fusion and a Ford fusion. 

Best for: Zero-emissions city living

While 2024’s revitalised petrol Mini Cooper models are very effective facelifts of their predecessors, the electric versions are new-new, with a unique platform and, despite the styling similarities, bespoke bodywork. 

There’s plenty of power and responsiveness on tap from the electric Mini Cooper’s drive motor, regardless of whether you choose the E or the SE.

Felix Page, Deputy editor

Diddier dimensions than the Renault 5 also mean smaller batteries for the Cooper S and Cooper SE, but they don't lose out too much in terms of range compared with their French challenger.  

While the three-door-only EV is still a squeeze for a pair of rear-seat occupants, it’s a tad more spacious than the previous-generation Mini Electric, although it also feels devoid of an nth or two of that car’s sporty character.  

Visibility remains Mini-esque, with upright A-pillars creating a letterbox view of the world, while the fabric-swathed dashboard and infotainment-and-everything-else touchscreen are divisive.

If you’re a Mini fan, you will love these new Cooper EVs – and if you’ve steered clear so far, take one for a test drive before FOMO sets in. 

Best for: Economy

No longer a cheap, simple car, the Yaris offers a different kind of simplicity now, thanks to Toyota’s peace-of-mind-boosting engineering.

The last incarnation of the Yaris was chided for its lack of “carefree spirit and imagination”, but Toyota seems to have rediscovered both characteristics for this version.

Matt Saunders, Road test editor

That sense of intrinsic longevity complements the 1.5-litre hybrid powertrain perfectly, with low running costs and slow depreciation as appealing side effects. 

Okay, it’s not the most thrilling small hatchback to drive, but the Yaris nevertheless benefits from a nimbleness common to all diminutive cars, which makes it very effective around town.

That’s further amplified by its unshakable determination to eke every inch of motion from its petrol-electric powertrain, seamlessly slipping into EV mode at every possible opportunity. No matter how hard you drive it, the Yaris will do everything in its power to keep you averaging north of 50mpg. 

Rear seat space is sufficient for a couple of adult passengers, although it helps if they’ve studied the methods of Harry Houdini to contort themselves out of the small door openings. 

But aside from that, the Yaris is a good-quality, stylish small car with plenty of beneficial on-board technology. 

Best for: Lightness

‘Simplify, then add lightness’ are words often misappropriated to Lotus founder Colin Chapman, but it’s a mantra that was present for the firm’s sports and racing cars during his lifetime.

It's light enough around town to make it a doddle to manoeuvre, while on faster roads it’s still perfectly stable around the straight-ahead position.

Matt Prior, Editor-at-large

It also seems to be the rationale behind how Suzuki goes about engineering its cars, so much so that the latest Swift weighs less than a tonne. Even the gently elevated Allgrip 4x4 version with mild-hybrid electrification on board tips the scales at only 1037kg. 

Yet a quick poke around the Swift confirms that everything you would expect to find in it is there: safety kit and all mod-cons, comfortable room inside for a quartet of adults and a fifth for shorter journeys – and yes, there’s a petrol engine under the bonnet.

Clever engineering is at play here and, disappointingly for Suzuki, it’s a quality that’s not better known by the majority of car buyers.  

The Swift is light, efficient, well equipped and good value and has a degree of handling engagement that encourages to you press on and wring its revvy triple for extra fun. Imagine what a hoot a Lotus version would be.