The best small cars - driven, rated and ranked

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’.

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.

Best for: Zero-emission city living

While 2024’s revitalised combustion-engined 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. 

Diddier dimensions than the Renault 5 also mean smaller batteries for the Cooper S and Cooper SE, but it doesn’t lose out too much in driving range compared with its Gallic 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 thick, upright A-pillars creating a letterbox view of the world, while the minimalist fabric-swathed dashboard and wok-sized circular infotainment-and-everything-else touchscreen are divisive.

If you’re a Mini fan, you will love these new 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 Aygo X fulfils that duty these days), the Yaris offers a different kind of simplicity now, thanks to Toyota’s peace-of-mind-boosting engineering.

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: Compact practicality

Best for: Lightness

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

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. 

Best for: City car proportions

Formerly a cute, underpowered bargain-basement supermini, the Kia Picanto has since received an angry facelift. If it were a terrier, you would fear your ankles were about to get gnawed to the bone. 

That snarl is more severe than the Picanto’s bite, though, because one feature deleted at the facelift was its predecessor’s turbocharged triple. Now natural aspiration rules, with a choice of a 1.0-litre three-cylinder or a 1.2-litre four.

A maximum of 77bhp to move the still-sub-tonne Picanto, plus occupants, ensures its performance is adequate rather than peppy.  

With the Picanto’s more sedate pace, there’s more time to appreciate the relative quality of its interior and marvel at the delightful precision of its standard-fare manual gearchange.

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. 

Inheriting an effective evolution of its 1990s coupé namesake’s style, the small car prowess of the last (and best) Ford Fiesta, enough of the Kuga’s off-road stance to appeal to larger SUV buyers yet still low enough to the ground and agile enough to truly be worthy of handling accolades in hot ST form, the Puma is less of a mashup and more of a symphony of genres.  

There’s now an electric version, too, called the Puma Gen-E, although its small battery means it’s less competitive than 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 plughole for a messier lifestyle kit under the boot floor and styling 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.