Settle down everyone, I’m not going to try convince any of you that you’re driving way too much vehicle, and if you CARED about the EARTH you’d not only be driving the tiniest thing you could find, but you’d be fashioning your micro-machine out of bamboo, palm fronds, and coconuts. Nosirree, not me, not The Autopian. But as a thought exercise, just how small of a car do you think you could get by with, reasonably? Heck, maybe you already are driving the smallest thing you can get away with.
As for me, I quite enjoy a small car, as long as it has a reasonable amount of zip. The smallest road-legal thing I’ve driven is a Chevy Sonic, which I acquired as a loaner from Enterprise. While the family RAV4 was in the body shop getting de-dimpled after a hail storm made it look like a promotional vehicle for Titleist (or that Mythbusters experiment), I had a ball hooning the little hatchback.
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While hardly a hot hatch, the little machine was quick enough and nimble enough to have some fun with, and I even enjoyed the interior appointments, especially the motorcycle-like gauge-pod thing that took the place of a cowled instrument cluster. But more importantly for this Autopian Asks, I never found myself wanting for a larger car during the two weeks (had to wait on some parts) that the RAV4 was in the shop.
Mind you, I wouldn’t want to make a mulch run in it, but for all the times I actually need all the capacity of an SUV, even a small one like the RAV4, I could just as easily rent a Home Depot pickup and spend less than $200 a year doing so. Weighed against the savings of purchasing, maintaining, and fueling a larger vehicle, that $200 is nothing, really.
So, I could get by with a Sonic. How about you?
What’s The Smallest Car That Could Work For You?
Top graphic image: GM
My 3 door GTI was great, and I think it is the smallest (daily) thing I have owned. It could have been a forever car if not a VW. The Corolla and Vibe are fine for trips under 30 miles one way but any more than that and they start to feel like punishment.
I used to ride motorcycles everywhere, so I guess I can live with tiny. The Buell Ulysses I had was great for grocery shopping.
I downsized from a Mazda MX-6 to a Miata many years ago. It was just my wife and I so our needs were simple. No house, just apartment. Still, we did fine, the only challenge was buying a loaf of paper towels on grocery day. They had to go in the passenger seat or across the back window with the top down.
I drive a Camaro now and I am rarely challenged with getting what I need. However, my wife has an old Navigator and I do a lot of home projects. If I only had the Camaro, I suppose I could just have lumber delivered or rent the truck. The occasional piece of cast iron gas line I could snake between seats folded down. Any other big things I buy usually arrives on the back of an Amazon van. My sons are now too big to comfortably fit in the back seats unless it’s just a short drive, so I’m already past the point of passenger comfort.
I don’t enjoy driving big cars; maybe once I get rid of the Navigator I can find a roof rack for the Camaro if I need to bring home a little material now and again. I wonder how well a 4×8 sheet of drywall or plywood would do up there…
Gotta say, I’ve never heard that term for a pkg of paper towels. Is a “loaf” a specific number of rolls, or just more than 4?
Our household tends to refer to the giant bricks of paper products from Costco, etc. as a “Borg”.
I have a 2005 330i Convertible (E46). I am 6’5″ 290 pounds., So i fit fine, i have to put that driver seat back all the way but i am still really comfy in the car.
The rest of the car can fit my wife and daughter in the back, not for long but it works for a short trip.
The trunk holds what i need and can handle a weeks worth of grocery.
I’m about to trade in my offroader for a Corolla hatch. I’m about to see if that’s the answer to the question
I daily drove a 95 Ford Aspire for a decade (100 miles round trip). I COULD again, but I don’t WANT to!
I have a Scion IQ. With FR-S seats swapped in it’s a comfortable commuter.
My 2013 Focus ST. The biggest reason I went with that instead of the Fiesta ST is I have a family of 5 and I could, in a pinch, fit them comfortably in that. The FiST would be a bit tight (what she said?).
I am amazed at how much stuff we can cram into my wife’s Honda Fit. With some life transitions coming up, I’m considering buying another if I can find a decent one with a manual.
use Searchtempest or Autotrader. They are definitely out there if you don’t mind waiting.
i always hear great things about the Fit. they are hot on the market right now, you should do well on this.
I worked at a music store in high school. I once got a mom, her 11yo son, and the entirety of a 5-piece drum set (throne, stands, cymbals, the whole magilla) into a 350Z.
My family of 4 and a decent amount of stuff fit very well in an RX-8. Wife and I are short (5’4″ and 5’5″), but the kids are in car seats, including one rear facing. We’re maxing it out, but it absolutely works.
If smallest car = smallest amount of space to be transported, then I would say a packed Yamanote line at 7:30a.
Really, I just need enough space that reliably takes me and my bag to work on time.
But in the spirit of the question, I think a Mini Cooper, Fiat 500, Toyota iQ sized vehicle would be sufficient.
When I was stationed at Yokota in the early 90s, my Boss asked me to take his Nissan March (2nd Gen) to Narita to pick up his wife, who was arriving from Stateside to join her husband. With all her luggage.
Yeah, the March was basic and tinny.
Yeah, I had it on the chimes all the way down to Narita on the Expressway and back.
Yeah, we jammed all her luggage inside no problem.
Yeah, I could totally handle a car that size.
Or a Miata.
The only reason I wouldn’t do a Kei is they’re not powerful enough for Expressways.
I’d probably say the Miata that I have had as my daily for lo these past seven years.
I actually downsized from a Subaru Impreza hatchback to a Toyota Prius C. I wanted something with better fuel economy that was easier to park, since I now live in a city, but could still hold 4-5 people if I needed it to and also had decent trunk space. And the Prius C can do all of that . I’m not sure I could go with anything much smaller as a daily driver through.
We drove a lil Fist 500 for nearly 8 years and it was a love/hate relationship. It was plenty big enough for 2 tall adults. I love the car that replaced the 500, but man do I regret trading it in.
Years ago, I traded a motorcycle for a bug-eye Sprite with a Brooklands windscreen. Drove the bug-eye as a daily until one day while taking my future wife for a cruise, while stopped at a traffic light next to a Freightliner, she commented that we could effectively scoot underneath the semi without interference.
That’s funny. Had a Sonic in that very color. What a piece of crap. Just returned from Europe recently. I think we could handle from over there. I love small cars. Hell, we had a Smart for 2 and a Fiat 500 ABARTH. What an f ick riot to drive!
We have a new Mirage hatchback and an old Civic hatchback. A kei class car would probably work if it was one of the newer ones that go US highway speeds and was LHD.
Currently driving a Mazda2, used to drive a Paseo. Honestly the 2 hasn’t really ever been not enough car, even for trips to the lumberyard or long camping trips. The only thing it’s not good at is a load of gravel or a run to the dump, but those things only happen once or twice a year. Most of the time my motorcycle is all I really need.
I’d love to have an original Mini again… my 1st was a ’63 850. I’d definitely want a bit more power though; either a worked Cooper S or just drop a Hayabusa into it and spend each and every drive giggling with joy!
I don’t know. What’s the smallest car you can build?
We had a Mazda5 van for our family of 5 + large dog for 15 years. Definitely on the small side of things, but it was always fun to drive and I don’t regret it. Put a basket on the roof for luggage as the kids got bigger. We outgrew it about the time it rusted out. I’ve been wanting a Sienna hybrid to replace it but our oldest will be out of the house next year so it doesn’t really make sense anymore. Plus my wife drives everything like its a sports car so big vehicles are scary with her behind the wheel.
For a DD I’ve always wanted an Insight with a 5 speed, just out of curiosity. Driving an old Corolla 5 speed for now and that’s fine. I’m 6 feet but the only car that was really tight for me was my old TR-6. I used to ride street bikes so I don’t think there’s a car that I’d consider too small, as long as I can fit in it.
Daily drove my 1971 triumph spitfire for 2 years year-round in upstate NY. Actively trying to repair to do so again.
A 4 door jimny would be perfect.
I daily drove a 2013 Sonic LT with the 1.3 Turbo and 6 Speed manual for four years. When I bought it I had two small children and a 110 mile daily commute., I tuned it and did a few other simple mods to it for better performance AND better fuel milage. It was a fun car, and with the rear seats down it could do a mulch run with ease, and handled daily two kids in car seats duties just fine. My biggest gripe were the seats, 50+ miles in it was harsh on my back.
Other things that went wrong over that time:
The Passenger door speaker blew like three months in, replaced all the speakers with Infinity Kappas.
The Shift Knob chrome started peeling at around 45K miles, and these were just pressed on, no threads for easy replacement.
The upper radiator hose blew off on the freeway at 55K miles or so, my mechanic scolded me for driving it “like a hot rod”, as the motor mounts were already worn?
The PCV Valve failed at 60K which is integrated into the Valve Cover
The coil pack failed at 60K miles, the drivers side of the pack was open to the elements and had collected moisture between it and the valve cover.
I got that thing for like 13.5K though, brand new and the manual transmission did a much better job of keeping me awake on my drive home from work than the automatic Outback, and Civic it replaced.
I had really wanted a Fiat 500 when they were brand new, but already had one kid, and there was no way we were fitting kids and car seats into one of those without wrenching our backs out.
A GTI-I’ve had 2 and both were dead solid reliable and could carry 8 ft long lumbar and still close the hatch.