These cars are small but perfectly formed. They are cheap to
buy and run and a terrifically competitive market means they drive better, look
better and have better interiors than ever before. These are now viable cars
for nearly every household; even families would find them useful as second cars
or an excellent first car for a teenager or twenty-something.
Size
These cars are small. I do mean small. Their length is
around 3.5m. Specific examples are as follows; Seat Mii, Fiat 500, Skoda
Citigo, Citroen C1, Toyota IGO, Peugeot 107. For a good comparison, the Ford
Focus is 3.95m and the Mini Cooper S is 3.73m long. But why is small so
special? Well you will be able to fit these cars into the microscopically small
garages in today’s new builds and open your door allowing you to exit the car
whilst still in the garage! They are so small you can squeeze then into tiny
spaces in car parks and in front of your house. Their small size will help nervous
parkers to manoeuvre with confidence.
Handling
Its no good being small if you handle like a cruise ship. To
nip around busy city centres and squeeze into tiny parking spaces, you need a
car with responsive steering and a small turning circle. A good benchmark is
the MINI which reviews wall as nippy city cars. Its minimum turning circle is
10.7m. Compact cars perform better; VW up 9.8m, fiat 500 9.3m and Toyota iq
7.8m. Then there are a few models with really tiny turning circles- Hyundii i10
4.8m and Kia Picanto 4.9m.
Turning circle is only one measure of the handling ability
of these cars. The responsiveness and security of the drive depend on a whole
host of factors. Even though the Hyundai and Kia have tiny turning circles
reviewers don’t rate their handling that well compared to other cars in the category.
Instead the overall handling that well compared to other cars in the category.
Instead the overall handling offered by the VW up and Fiat Panda seem to be the
best in this group.
Visibility
City driving and manoeuvring mean you need a car with
excellent all round visibility. Most compact cars are well designed to provide
this. The consumer organisation which performed comprehensive testing of visibility
in 2010. No compact car appeared in the list of 10 worst cars for visibility.
However the Fiat 500, Hyundai i10 and Smart For Two Coupe all appeared in the
top 10.
Affordability
These cars are designed to be as cheap as possible. You can
get ab entry level fiat panda, Kia Picanto, Skoda Citigo, Seat Mii or Ford KA
for £8,500. Add another £1,000 and Renault Twingo, Hyundai i10 and even a VW up
are in your range. Of course optional extras car quickly add to the entry
price.
Any car that emits less than 100g/km of CO2 is not taxed.
Many compact cars do not attract road tax but choose certain combinations of
model and engine type and you can end up paying tax. For example all fiat 500
models so not attract road tax whereas a Panda can be free or up to £130 per
year if you choose the 4X4 version. Nearly all versions of the Hyundai i10 attract
tax. Peugeot 107 and Citroen C1 are only £20 per year to tax.
The most fuel efficient petrol cars have an MPG (combined)
in the 70-75 range. Several of the compact cars fall just under this level; the
VW up Blue motion, Fiat Panda, Seat mii and Skoda Citigo all deliver 69mpg.
Fuel economy does depend on the engine type and size can vary enormously within
a range so if this is important to you, check the brochure specifications
carefully.
Compact cars are cheap to insure. Several compact cars are
in cheapest insurance groups (1&2); Hyundai i10 1.0, SEAT Mii and the Skoda
Citigo. Of course certain options will take these cars into higher groups. In
group 3 you find the following: Kia Picanto, Smart For Two and Toyota iQ. The
Fiats are in group 5.
.jpg)
