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
A 4 seater (sometimes I need the rear seats), modern kei car (maybe the smallest ones are the Alto and the Mira e:S), or a bit larger, korean small-car, like the Kia Picanto/Morning would be OK. My car is just a bit larger, similar in size (and appearance) to the 1st gen. Chevrolet Aveo, and since I already have to put some of the shopping bags in the rear footwell, I guess it wouldn’t be such a big change in my life to downsize my car.
I owned a 2012 Sonic turbo hatch, sadly in white rather than that sweet orange. Was plenty big enough for 99% of my single-man needs, and affordable enough to budget for renting something for the remaining 1%. While not the penalty box of prior generations, it still didn’t have the fit/finish and features I’d like. Currently driving a 2024 CX30 turbo premium plus, which is bigger than I need but has all the sparkly doo-dads.
I drive a 2015 Fit and it’s the largest I want to drive. Many years ago I owned a Fiat 128SL and its size was perfect. I like small cars and have driven many over the years as rentals.
My daily is a Time Scylon. About 17 pounds of baby seal killing carbon fiber. But once the snow and ice arrive I switch to a hard tail MTB.
Wife has a Jaguar XE, which is a great car. Fast, nimble, and gets better mileage than the Mitsubishi Mirage we recently had for a rental. No reason to want anything bigger except for heavy hauling.
The Mirage was ok on surface streets. It was frightening on a freeway at the flow of traffic.
I also just bought a Ford F350. Long bed. Crew cab. Four by four. Power stroke. I’m going to be working on a project that will require such a vehicle to haul stuff. I can’t imagine daily driving that beast.
I could go as small as a Fiat 500. I need a back seat for my dog, otherwise I’d say a first gen Toyota MR2.
I have a spouse and a kid that’s three, and we currently have a Golf that suits about 95% of our needs very well. We rent or borrow something bigger (truck, van, etc.) when we need it, but if we had to get something smaller we could definitely get by with a Honda Fit or Chevy Sonic. We could MAYBE fit into a Bolt if we were comfortable putting our little guy into a booster seat a bit early, but it would get a bit tight if we needed to carry a bunch of groceries on the same trip.
I could daily a Miata with no issue. My wife and I don’t have kids so there is no problem there. I recently rode in the back of a BMW i7 and appreciated the massive rear seat legroom. That car was just massive
Currently driving a Chevy Onyx, which works great for where we are.
Hey that’s a good looking little car! I wish we got these in the states!
Depends on the country, Italy = fiat 500, America = town car
Had a 5 door Fiesta for 10 years. With roof racks I have carried kayaks, canoes, furniture, a mattress. Firewood in the back, bicycle as well (with front wheel removed). Miss it, if they were still being sold (with the 5 speed manual) I would have bought another one. So this or say a Honda Fit is as small as would go.
I daily a Fiat 124, which is pretty damn small (6 inches longer than a Miata ND). I have been driving it for four years and never felt the need for anything larger.
I recently rented a Sentra and found it disorientingly huge.
I’ve always had at least 2 vehicles at a time; my “least capable” fleet at any one time was a 2000 Hyundai Elantra (sedan) and a Moto Guzzi. But “smallest” car at one time (2013-2016) I had a Smart ED which I absolutely loved (alongside S10 and Yamaha FJR).
Probably a del Sol or an Exige. As long as I had access to a vehicle that could carry more than 2 people on occasion. If I need to have 4 seats on my own then a classic Mini.
I have a half ton truck that I use for truck things (hauling stuff, towing my camper, etc.) and as a daily driver during snow season. For summer driving, I have my mom’s old Honda Del Sol (2 seat convertible). Truth be known, since the Sol is more of a fun car (albeit, one that does an occasional road trip), I could probably get away with a Kei class.
My wife previously downsized from an MDX to a Infiniti QX30 (essentially a Mercedes GLA subcompact CUV) once our kid got her license. Over the next 6 years it became clear that it was a bit too small to be our primary people mover (her parents had a rough time getting in), so we just replaced it with a GLC (plug-in hybrid…love it!) – definitely more comfortable and easier ingress/egress than either of my vehicles.
Volvo C30. I always thought those would make great city cars back in the day.
Anything I can shove a 500cui Caddy into the back and be able to safely drive home. So, maybe a Fairline? Falcon even?
As small as they get! Or even a motorcycle! But I’m not a 1 car garage kind of guy. If I had to have one, my Volt or likely my Tracker would suit 99% of my needs. Tracker was my only car for a pretty long time anyway.
BROTHER! I went from Volt + Sidekick to now Bolt EUV + Sidekick. I loved that freaking Volt, I wish I still had it (in addition to). Every one I see, I holler “VOLT!” and scare the shit outta my husband. (Who, btw, still calls my Sidekick “the Tracker”)
It’s an award winning combo
The last time I went car shopping I found that the Mazda 3 sedan was up to my needs space wise, even more so than the wagon (I’m a musician in a city and often carry tons of gear that needs to be out of view). That said I think I could be just fine with a fit or an Impreza.
I had a rental Sonic for a work trip a few years ago in Baltimore. And it was surprisingly refined and not nervous for a freeway trip down to DC. I could live with one these days. My Accord V6 gets ~40 mpg on a long freeway trip, but I don’t need a cabin that big anymore and it’s twice that thirsty in around town driving.
Had a rental Sonic a time or two, and I agree with your assessment.
When I replaced my 22 year old Chrysler 300m a few years back, I was looking to downsize and put myself in a Mazda3 hatch. It’s as small as I want to go, yet still versatile enough to suit my needs 99% of the time.
I’ve had my Fiesta ST since 2017, it’s fun, it’s light, it’s nimble and reasonably quick, I can fit anywhere and I’ve camped in it multiple times. I am happy.
The Fiesta ST really is a modern classic just like the NA Miata.
I have a Regal TourX and a Mazda3, and I try to use the Mazda more to save on gas. It’s pushing it for a family of 4 when we have any cargo at all.
I drove a Renault Sandero for a year when I was stationed in Havana, and the car was fine around the city, which I wasn’t allowed to leave, so it never had to make any longer trips. I wouldn’t have wanted to make a road trip in that, though. The smallest car I was happy with for long trips was a Mercedes A class that I rented in France, that was pretty comfy and relatively small, so I guess I’d say that? IRL I like larger sedans or coupes, have dailied a Mercedes 300CD, a Dodge Challenger, and a Toyota Celsior and all of those are pretty close in terms of my satisfaction with them.
I have to admit that my 1980 KV Mini 1, with a curb weight of 400 pounds and a 125cc single-cylinder two-stroke engine, is, based on experience, a bit small for comfortably commuting in Seattle traffic. It’s shown here, at right, with a 2CV for scale:
https://live.staticflickr.com/5001/5336920590_fb71078ec7_b.jpg
On the other hand my 1972 Velorex 435, with a curb weight of 850 pounds and a 344cc two-cylinder two-stroke engine, is perfectly fine for this purpose. It’s shown here, at left, with a 2CV for scale:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54458701166_a3c57a8f3d_b.jpg
The minimum, therefore, is somewhere in the range of larger than a KV but smaller than a Velorex. I’ll need to keep looking.
That 80s CRX Si from the this-or-that vote a few days ago is as small as I’ll go. And since it’s about the smallest car you could buy in the US in the last 50 years – with the possible exception of the smart lineup – I guess that’s the bottom of the list.
With the kids moved out, it’s just the two of us. With the hatchback, it’s actually fairly roomy for cargo and whatnot. Her, me, stuff, done. That works for me just fine. And the cargo isn’t trivial either, which is why a smart wouldn’t work.
I have a 2023 Chevy Bolt and a 2021 F150 PowerBoost. The Bolt does 95 percent of the things I need day to day. Hauling kids to practice, running around town errands, even picked up an 40 gallon hot water tank with it. Even done a solo road trip with it. It’s a great little car that seems much bigger. Love the PowerBoost for long family road trips and its capability to power our home in an outage or a campsite out in the woods. It’s been a great combo for me.