No one likes driving in a busy city. There are pedestrians, other cars, buses, and don’t get me started on trying to find parking. But for some of us, having a car is essential for work, shuttling kids from activity to activity, or getting away from the hustle and bustle on weekends. Some cars ease the urban burden better than others.
If most of your time behind the wheel is spent driving in and around town, your best bet is a set of wheels that's easy to park, undemanding to drive, and won't require a bank loan to cover fuel costs.Here are our top picks for navigating the urban jungle:
The Mini Cooper
The Mini is a classic city car. It’s compact and stylish, and comes in a range of different models. If you’re the kind of person who likes to have the top down, you can, but naturally there are hard top models to choose from too. Minis are fun to drive, handling incredibly well on corners, and this means that taking those tight city turns isn’t really a problem. Just as with all the cars recommended here, there isn’t too much space in the back of a Mini, but that’s what you’d expect, given the name of the brand.
Toyota IQ
Toyota’s new IQ model is the perfect city car. It has many innovations, which make it perfect for inner city driving, with advanced parking assist, a tight turning circle and small size being just some of them. Not only is the car technologically and mechanically advanced, it also looks great, with a strong design aesthetic, which helps it to stand out. With a 5 star safety rating, this car is difficult to match when you’re looking for a high performing inner city vehicle.
Fiat Panda
The Fiat Panda is an ideal city car. Although its size means that the legroom in the rear is slightly restricted, it’s an easy vehicle to maneuver around those cramped and busy city streets. It has a rather unique, funky and eye catching design, as befits a metropolitan run-around. It’s also cheap to run. If you want a little more power it comes in a 4-wheel-drive version.
Volkswagen Up
Voted What Car’s City Car of the Year 2013, the Volkswagen Up is a stylish and economic little number that’s perfect for urban driving. Where the Volkswagen surpasses its Fiat designed contemporary is in space. Despite its small size, it has plenty of space to keep the driver and passengers comfortable. However, its engine power is not quite so intense and you’d find driving this on the motorway a bit of a struggle.
Hyundai Elantra
The Elantra sedan is simply too good to pass up. And if you want more versatility, the Touring wagon shares the name Elantra in spite of being built on a different platform with a 2-inch-longer wheelbase. Cargo volume is 14.2 cubic feet in the sedan's trunk, and it goes from 24.3 to 65 cubic feet in the wagon when its 60/40 rear seatbacks are folded flat. Both cars are powered by the same 2.0-liter 138-horsepower inline-four engine, but the sedan promises notably better fuel economy of 27 mpg city/36 mpg highway. While the Elantra is not as snazzy looking as others in this group, you can hardly get better value, quality, reliability and practicality. And the Hyundai warranty is tops.
If you are looking for a car that can easilyshoehorn into a tight parallel-parking spot and squeeze between Dumpsters and delivery trucks, these cars are your best bet.