The big test: superminis
BBC Top Gear UK|August 2023
After nearly 50 years, the Ford Fiesta is dead, so long live the...wait, which of the current crop of superminis should we go for?
SAM BURNETT
The big test: superminis

RIP-after 47 years of ubiquity Ford's Fiesta has come off sale (cutthroat business this, no room for sentimentality) thanks to barely controlled inflation. Not the economic kind, though that can't be helping, rather the fact that cars are getting too big. People want high riding SUVs, or more spacious, well appointed hatchbacks. Throw in ever stricter emissions rules and making a supermini at lower volumes is getting too expensive. Can't blame Ford for deciding it couldn't be bothered.

The Fiesta was long the default choice you could recommend it to anyone and they'd be happy. There's no obvious natural successor, but we've brought together the cheap one, the all-rounder and the current UK bestseller (although it was dethroned by the Ford Puma while we were writing this) to see if the crown fits any of the rivals, or whether the Fiesta's demise marks the end of an era. The cheap one is the £14,795 Dacia Sandero in top spec (as if it makes a difference) Expression trim, showing off its recent facelift courtesy of the budget brand's nimble lifestyle-oriented pivot. Not the kitesurfing and spelunking that rivals seem to think we get up to at the weekend, but rather tramping about in the woods with the dog while the kids ride their scooters into a tree.

Skoda must be fuming - fewer people saw Dacia's Soviet-spec output lumbering about Romania in the early Nineties in the same way the likes of the Skoda Favorit haunted middle-sized British towns. But Skodas are right posh now, even if it's taken a while to pull off - the Fabia's the fanciest here, but not the most expensive. It's £19,850 in penultimate Colour Edition spec and we know it's a great all- rounder because that's the award we gave it back in 2022 - it's become the automatic suggestion of an inoffensively pleasant new car to go for since the Volkswagen Golf was edged off into the rough.

Bu hikaye BBC Top Gear UK dergisinin August 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

Bu hikaye BBC Top Gear UK dergisinin August 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

BBC TOP GEAR UK DERGISINDEN DAHA FAZLA HIKAYETümünü görüntüle
ELECTROMECHANIC
BBC Top Gear UK

ELECTROMECHANIC

Meet the electric restomod that you can create at home it's so easy you can do the conversion in a day, apparently

time-read
5 dak  |
January 2025
ALL THE SMALL THINGS
BBC Top Gear UK

ALL THE SMALL THINGS

Word is there's no such thing as a decent, small, simple, reasonably priced car these days. Allow TopGear to investigate

time-read
5 dak  |
January 2025
VOLKSWAGEN ID.BUZZ 7-SEAT
BBC Top Gear UK

VOLKSWAGEN ID.BUZZ 7-SEAT

Volkswagen’s new seven seater ID.Buzz is now the family mover it always should have been

time-read
2 dak  |
January 2025
BMW M5
BBC Top Gear UK

BMW M5

TO THE POINT: THE NEW BMW M5 IS AN excellent car. It's very fast, confident, endlessly configurable and now offers a not inconsequential 40ish miles of electric-only running for happy tax returns.

time-read
2 dak  |
January 2025
VAUXHALL GRANDLAND vs FORD EXPLORER
BBC Top Gear UK

VAUXHALL GRANDLAND vs FORD EXPLORER

These two brands have been the 'pile it high, sell it cheap' kings of the UK market for decades, but their new core models take a very different tack...

time-read
7 dak  |
January 2025
CAR OF THE YEAR - 5 STAR
BBC Top Gear UK

CAR OF THE YEAR - 5 STAR

Yep, Renault's retro-chic new supermini with an optional wicker baguette holder Scoops the grand prix...

time-read
5 dak  |
January 2025
MEANWHILE... IN THE FUTURE
BBC Top Gear UK

MEANWHILE... IN THE FUTURE

Catching rockets with chopsticks isn't the only autonomous tech going on in Elon Musk's world...

time-read
3 dak  |
January 2025
KING OF THE HILLS
BBC Top Gear UK

KING OF THE HILLS

You wait for one 800+bhp super GT, then two rock up at once. It's the Aston/Ferrari showdown we've all been waiting for...

time-read
8 dak  |
January 2025
PACKAGE
BBC Top Gear UK

PACKAGE

What better way to test the Hyundai Santa Fe's SUV-ness than hand delivering TopGear magazine to each and every subscriber in... New Zealand?

time-read
10 dak  |
January 2025
MYTH BUSTER
BBC Top Gear UK

MYTH BUSTER

\"THE GOLF GTI WAS THE OG HOT HATCH\"

time-read
2 dak  |
January 2025