Best Compact Cars

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Compact cars are fuel efficient, affordable, and practical, making them a great choice for a wide range of buyers. Car and Driver's rankings are arrived at from the results of our extensive instrumented testing of several hundred vehicles each year and from our expert editors' subjective impressions gained in real-world driving. We've ranked the best compact cars, including sedan and hatchback models, based on roughly 200 data points encompassing acceleration, handling, comfort, cargo space, fuel efficiency, value, and how enjoyable they are to drive. We take rankings seriously because we want you to know everything about the vehicles that you're interested in.