BOLD UTES

A CLASSIC SHOWDOWN TO FIND THE BEST SMALL SUV

- MIGUEL CORTINA

Welcome to the compact SUV market. If you’re actively shopping for such a vehicle, it might be because it’s your first new car, or maybe your family is growing, or maybe you want more space for weekend getaways. Or perhaps you’re downsizing after years in something larger. Whatever your story is, now that you’ve made the decision, it can be daunting to choose the best small SUV in one of autodom’s most populous segments.

Allow us to help. We’ve conducted other comparison tests in this segment in recent years, but models come and go with furious frequency, and so we’re back to work with the latest offerings. Per usual, we evaluated these utes on practicality—interior space, versatility, technology, safety, fuel economy— as well as ride and handling. As to the latter, while small SUVs tend to focus first on comfort and convenience, we believe the driver should still feel engaged and enjoy spending time behind the wheel.

The Competitors

The group we’ve gathered this time includes most of the top players. Each vehicle you see here is among the most important nameplates for their respective automakers, and all have annual sales volumes that eclipse 100,000 units.

The 2023 Toyota RAV4 is the bestselling model in the category. Its well-known reliability and the current generation’s rugged styling continue to court buyers by the bucketful, and its expansive lineup ensures no shortage of choice. We asked all automakers to send us their top trims with a gas-only powertrain, but Toyota was only able to send us a TRD Off-Road model for our comparison. This version’s adventure-ready look, higher ride, all-terrain tires, and two-tone paint stand out from the rest of the pack.