Best Small SUV: Ultimate Comparison of 18 Crossovers Under $50K! | Chasing Cars

its official small SUVs are the most popular cars  on sale but honestly some of them are overpriced and not that great to drive that's why we've  assembled 18 contenders to find the best of the lot and which ones are actually worth your cash  we've designed eight tests for these cars we'll look at the tech Crown them full of stuff and push  them to their limits and then we'll get our winner but first introducing our contenders we invited  every SUV from the light and small categories here in Aus

tralia and most manufacturers chose  to submit one or more of their vehicles with a soft price cap of forty thousand dollars on  this test We compare the Mazda cx-3 and cx-30 haveljollian Kia seltos and Sonic Hyundai Kona  and venue Volkswagen t-rock and t-cross the Toyota Yaris cross Corolla cross and CHR the Subaru XV  Crosstrek Honda HRV Ford puma and skoda's kamik and carock plus our solar electric the byd 803  which was above the soft price cap but we figured it was a Justified inclusion al

so invited by our  judges but did not attend where the Mitsubishi ASX had Eclipse cross Peugeot 2008 mg zsev and  Renault capture design is subjective but in our opinion some of these SUVs are more stylish than  others inside you'll get a variety of materials and seats that range from unsupportive to shapely  and comfortable small SUVs have to haul your stuff easily whether you've got a pair of baby  seats suitcases or just odds and ends we look for practicality in these vehicles some cars here 

are small and some are big but just being larger outside it doesn't always mean being roomier  inside our first test is a simple one which small SUVs have the best interiors they might be small  on the road but these compact crossovers need to bundle a high driving position with spaciousness  for people cargo and maybe even baby seats plus they need to be loaded with easy to use Tech no  biggie then the good news is that there weren't any real Shockers among the 18 SUVs we tested but  there wer

e standouts for both good and bad reasons it turns out you don't need to spend huge money  to get a well-designed and packing interior take the Hyundai venue which has a tiny easy to park  footprint that packs in a big and deep boot its interior Plastics are far more durable than they  are premium and it makes do with wired smartphone mirroring but everything in here Works remarkably  well the Honda HRV is still nearly brand new and we love the flare and sophistication of its  cabin and its amaz

ingly big back seat but at this price a plastic steering wheel feels totally  cheap less cheap seaming is the Mazda cx-30 which our judges raved about for a perceived quality  perspective lavish interior materials bold red leather seats and neatly integrated Tech all guide  with us though it's small back seat and boot being the cx30 is a disadvantageous choice for growing  families the two skodas stood out to us for their cabin quality which is from the premium end of  town both are surprisingly

spacious in both the back seat and the boot but the big takeaway the  kamik is cheaper it gives up little by way of space or Tech which includes high-end features  like a digital cockpit and Wireless smartphone mirroring Plus full keyless access and start and  a power tailgate its cars like the Havel jolian which offer so much bang for Bach combining a  low price with seemingly lavish features but while the interior presents decently and there's  massive space on offer it's not hard to find whe

re the jollyion is built to a price with no steering  wheel reach adjustment and uncomfortable flat hot vinyl seats while the new Toyota Corolla cross  lacks its chr's siblings cabin flare it makes up for that not only with generous backseat and  boot space room but also an inherently ergonomic interior it might look a bit gray and plain in  here but the controls are in the right places the smartphone mirroring is Wireless the seats  are comfy and build quality is fantastic when it comes to the

battle of the boots we used our  standard issue Chasing Cars Trio of suitcases as the measure only the karok t-rock 803 and coral  acrosse got an Easy Pass here accommodating all three suitcases without issue we could get our  twin child seats one rear facing and one front facing into every small SUV here with the Honda  HR RV and Subaru XV surprised with their ability to preserve almost all of the front passenger's  legroom even when the bulky rear-facing seat was installed properly next up som

ething even more  important if you have to swerve and avoid an object on a country road will your SUV keep you  safe well we've put all 18 competitors through our challenge course at 70 and 75 kilometers an  hour to find out as a real world replication each competitor was required to complete the course  at 70 kilometers an hour if a competitor hit a cone spun out or demonstrated a safety system  glitch it would be retested any indiscretion during the retest would receive a fail if the  SUV made

it through without an error it would receive a pass the test was held in dry and warm  conditions while vehicle speed was validated using gps-based timing equipment for accuracy one by  one all 18 competitors attempted the maneuver and every single one made it through without a  hitch at 70 kilometers an hour we then upped the pace to 75 kilometers an hour an increase of just  five kilometers an hour was enough to separate the dynamically good from not so great with 11 of the  competitors makin

g clean passes and seven fronting up a failed result perhaps the most Adept SUV to  slice through the cones was the skoda kamik but it was pushed hard by a number of fine handlers that  included the Ford Puma the Hyundai Kona the Honda HRV and the kamik's slightly larger stablemate  the carock other competitors to slip through the course without fault included both the Volkswagen  t-cross and t-rock the Mazda cx-3 the haval Julian the Toyota Corolla cross and the electric byd  803 some SUVs in t

he field started to struggle for dynamic grip at a pace Beyond 70 kilometers  an hour with a Hyundai venue the Kia celtos the Mazda cx-30 and the Subaru XV hitting cones  during their respective 75 kilometer an hour passes also relegated to the also rents were the  key is Sonic that struggle to pull up exiting the course as well as the Toyota CHR and Toyota  Yaris cross that both initially failed the assessment but subsequently passed the course  during retesting with Dynamic capability sound el

ectronic intervention and solid driver control  intrinsic to safety it's clear from our tests that not all small SUVs are created as equals none of  these SUVs are about going fast but braking and acceleration matters first we see how fast they  can stop from 100 kilometers an hour and then we see which one is fast in a straight line and  which one gets The Wooden Spoon like we do with every car we tested every single one of these SUVs  at our drag strip why well well it's good to know how fast

your car is for things like merging onto  Highway on-ramps it's even more important to know which of these SUVs has the best brakes and which  have remarkably weak stopping power our testing process is always the same we use gold standard  GPS tracking testing tools from race logic all cars go through each test three times and the best  result is used for our data while we also make notes about any unusual vehicle Behavior but first  to acceleration because who doesn't want bragging rights well

the first big takeaway is that small  SUVs are still a really slow type of car if you thought that cars were generally getting faster  that Trend doesn't seem to apply here a small SUV performance is straight out of the 1990s in many  ways in fact the average zero to 100 kilometer per hour time for this field was a leisurely 10.65  seconds and just six of 18 contenders managed to bank a single digit Sprint the quickest of  the field was our sole EV the byd 803 with its powerful single front moto

r the byd scooted from  rest to Triple digits in 7.60 seconds moreover The Punchy Toyota Corolla cross also leaned on its  hybrid electric assistance to get it to Second Place it's interesting to note how much faster the  Corolla cross is than the weaker older generation Toyota hybrids though because the Yaris cross  and CHR were dangerously close to a wooden spoon but that spanking goes to the Honda HRV which  required nearly 13 seconds to get across the line but what about braking again our ju

dges were  generally unimpressed with this lot of cars with cars this small and light we expect pretty short  emergency stops from 100 to zero kilometers per hour a basic discipline for any new car but this  field largely failed to deliver anything at all resembling strong braking the average distance for  a stop from 100 was 40.34 meters appallingly this was only six percent better than the average stop  from our last Mega test which subscribers know was measuring huge and heavy towing four-whe

el drives  but there were standouts both good and bad the two skodas demonstrated the shorter stopping distances  along with the featherweight Honda HRV while the celtos cx-3 and venue were also considerably  better than the average however two of the very smallest cars here served up stops that were much  too long being the Sonic and especially the Toyota Yaris cross which needed a ute-like 44.36 meters  to stop well that's the data on performance at least but what everybody wants is bragging r

ights  so we ran a couple of drag races one to find the outright winner and the other to find The Wooden  Spoon which SUV is the slowest so it's all come down to this well well down to this is the two  slowest cars for The Wooden Spoon shootout to find out which is the slowest of the field we're  in the final of the wooden spoon race I'm set here in a Honda HRV kids over to the right of me in the  wonderfully weird Toyota CHR hybrid let's see how it goes and three and one go and here we go it's 

The Wooden Spoon shoot how to find it which is the slowest car of the field he is just walking  away from me while the CBT does its they're going to engine moving to a million there's no  shot for the Honda the Honda hrv's in my review mirror the CHR has just flogged it Wooden Spoons  all around people that's a win to the Toyota CHR or the second last at least right the final match  up the two quickest SUVs here on here sat in the Corolla cross hybrid and to my right is Kurt in  the byd 803 whi

ch as you know electric torque can be unparalleled on the drag strip but I'm hoping  the Corolla can do it for internal combustion but let's find out three one go wow the Corolla got  out of the hole exceptionally oh the rav4's got the jump is it gonna do it there's ah no he comes  and there goes Kurt all right we've got to see ya oh electric power wins the SUV caparo I really  thought for a second here the Corolla had a chance but definitely not well there you go the pyd is  the quickest SUV on

show if you're like us you spend a lot of time driving in the suburbs where  there are plenty of potholes and speed bumps but only some of these small SUVs handle comfortably  in urban areas so let's find out which ones ride best we do our performance and handling testing  on a closed road but of more importance to most people will be how comfortable or not their  small SUV will be in everyday life over the potholes and bumps that have come to Mar so many  Australian commutes on poorly maintain

ed roads it was here where our judges once again found a  set of vehicles that have on average well very average ride quality the problem is that most of  these vehicles have tall bodies stiff suspensions relatively cheap dampers and reasonably big wheels  all those things combined to deliver compromised ride Comfort we test urban ride Comfort on  a typical Aussie Suburban Loop that includes speed bumps potholes and patchy Road surfacing  to test compliance Comfort body control and noise insulat

ion and we go fully loaded two in  the front two in the back the good news is that there were four major standouts in this group for  ride quality the byd 803 is Simply the Best well done byd this is a properly engineered small SUV  with excellent composure over big bumps and good insulation all round we were very impressed the  Toyota Corolla cross was also exceptional in this class with the second best ability to round off  bumps and insulate passengers from noticing the rough road beneath the

m Toyota is on a roll with  getting basic Dynamics right and ride quality is no exception here third best was the skoda canic  despite its size and lightweight it demonstrated considerably more polish and Sheen than the  Volkswagen Dragon twins seemingly confirming skoda's emerging premium status it has an  inherent firmness but it's resolved comfy and quiet the Honda HRV also performed admirably  with a deeply satisfactory ride and little noise coming into the cabin on the less impressive end 

with a jiggly have a jolian which really lacked body control but we were mostly dismayed to find  a pack of small SUVs that were needlessly restless and stiff when we felt a few changes could make  them more compliant this group of cars that were generally good to drive other than Urban ride  quality included the Kia celtos and the Ford Puma but also both Volkswagens neither of which  delivered the suppleness of their Polo and golf hatch counterparts what about when you're driving  faster down a

country road we look for safe and enjoyable steering and handling things that you  might not notice but make your SUV much more safe and fun to drive as the only electric car  in the field the byd 803 does what EVs do best it has clean response and it's very refined and  quiet on the move the real will surprise the byd is that the ride Comfort is really compliant and  yet it's quite a spirited chassis underneath when you really start to push on the downsides well  when you do push on it is a li

ttle bit Wally and it does run out of grip fairly quickly and while  what they've managed to do is seriously impressive and quite resolved it does lack a little bit of  driver engagement including the steering feel and the relative new coming to the Australian Market  comes in cheap but I do sense that it does lack a little bit of resolve particularly with things  like active driver assistance the beautiful thing about driving the HRV is its Peach of a chassis  this car is excellent to drive in

terms of ride and handling it has near perfect steering that  reminds you of the awesome Honda of the 1990s it feels like it's coming back and the handling  of the car is phenomenal despite the fact it's 70 slower in a straight line than the quickest car  here it's only three percent slower than that car around our test track and that shows you just  how well the car handles but that's the tragedy the handling is so good that you go in search  of an engine the HRV has so little torque that it ta

kes forever to accelerate not just to 100 but  anywhere around town as well and while you do that it gets very noisy the Ford Puma St line came  into this competition with a bit of a reputation of being a warm hatch in Disguise and so it proves  in the Driving Experience particularly around our Dynamic handling test track it's a really fun and  engaging little car with a willing powertrain to match its frisky chassis the Havel drawings placed  in this test is to offer a champagne experience on a

beer budget but unfortunately the champagne is  a bit cheap and lacks nice bubbles on one level it feels large and comfortable and luxurious on the  road but it does have its compromises there are certainly areas where it can do a little bit of  improvement particularly when it comes to things like ergonomics and steering feel and whether or  not you're talking about the powertrain or the chassis it's a fairly workman-like experience  that could do with a bit extra polish if I'm honest it's har

d not to love this little Hyundai  venue because and then from the outside it looks kooky it looks cute and it drives exactly the  same the little 1.6 liter petrol engine hasn't got a lot of Grant but it's got more than enough  to push this cute little SUV down the road and it's fun to drive the steering it's good The Road  Feeling isn't quite there but you've got enough of it but best of all the driving Dynamics are just  fun the cushy ride leads to somewhat haphazard feeling in the fact that t

here's a better body  roll and it has the tendency to understeer but I mean that's building there for safety and I really  like this thing well lucky enough in this test to get our hands on the just updated Kia celtos with  a more powerful 1.6 liter petrol turbo engine and for General acceleration and when you're out on  an open road it really is quite Pleasant however if you do decide to push on suddenly the automatic  gearbox starts going a bit strange the good thing is is it's paired to a pre

tty handy chassis that  feels cooperative and safe but like many of the SUVs in this field it seems like the chassis  is a little bit too much towards sportiness and that really does compromise the ride especially  around town but the trade-off for that firmness and its sportiness is that the Kia celtos can  cover ground at a rapid Pace all up it's quite a decent and impressive drive if one that doesn't  necessarily Benchmark itself anywhere in this field there's a lot to love about driving the

Kia  Sonic particularly the revi Soulful turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine the only problem  with that is it paired with a relatively ancient feeling dry dual clutch automatic that really  slurs and delays the shifts but the handling is pretty good the more affordable the two Mazdas  here the cx-3 is extremely popular with Aussie buyers and there are certain elements of the  on-road experience that support that popularity it feels small Nimble easy to place on the road  and it's quite en

gaging but like so many of the SUVs here it's kind of afflicted by pitchy and  firm ride quality around town and it's natural spray that engine can be a bit fuzzy and lacking  in torque and starting to lose its charm I've got a real soft spot for this Mazda cx-30 and it's  not just because of the deep red wine leather interior thing that's going on in here it's just  because how it feels on the road the steering it's nice and firm the chassis feels planted on the  road and the engine while it's

no talk monster it's got enough shunt to push it along nicely when  you really get into the corners a bit of liftoff oversteer can be evident which I mean isn't  great for carding a family around in ETC but it just shows that Mazda is still committed to making  fun Dynamic cars even in a segment which famously isn't very Dynamic the kamik package starts  with a really effective and surprisingly torky turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine it might  look modest on paper but it works great in t

he real world and the fuel economy is excellent in  reality as well just about as good as the Corolla cross hybrid we also love the chassis on the kamik  it's so much fun to drive it helps you out even if you don't drive for fun but if you love your  driving you'll get so much out of the handling of the skoda kamik and even the ride quality is  surprisingly good for the relatively entry-level platform that this car uses there's just a little  bit of resonance and boom out of the torsion beam rea

r end like its smaller sibling on this Mega  test the skoda karak it's an impressive performer across the board it's small turbocharged 1.4 liter  engine produces 110 kilowatts and while that's not a lot by normal means amongst this group of cars  it's quite impressive and that shows because on the track it's a strong performer and then it's  got a DSG transmission and like all Volkswagen group dsgs the shifts are quick thus strong and  they're inspiring I'd say it's slightly lit down by just th

e sheer size that it's got over the  kamek because the chassis feels a little bit more dull and not a lot of Road feeling is translated  through the steering wheel but I guess that's the compromise you make when you get a bigger SUV  you've got more room for the kids more room for the luggage but you just won't have as much  fun on the back roads I understand why a lot of people love the Subaru XV the standard all-wheel  drive is a boon and it has this relaxed easy going ride and handling that m

akes it pretty good  to drive every day but the powertrain the engine is noisy and a little bit modest so it needs  a huge rev to get anywhere quickly first great thing about the crawl across behind the wheel is  the effectiveness of its powerful hybrid system particularly in all-wheel drive form because  you can really feel the input from the rear motor which is not always the case with these  cars like other tnga platform Toyotas it's got really excellent steering can't imagine seeing  somethi

ng like that about a Corolla a decade ago the ride is also Supple and composed it might  just be a little bit noisy for some tastes under Full Throttle the t-cross has a really effective  engine gearbox combination in the turbo 1 liter three-cylinder petrol and DSG automatic it really  does work well and it makes this car quicker than it otherwise seems the steering's good too it's  just at the cabin and the engine are quite noisy compared to the skoda kamik which is a surprise  because the cars

are relatively closely related perhaps it's unsurprising that Volkswagen's t-rock  has a really taught Germanic character with plenty of Engagement but it's not nearly as playful and  fun as its related golf well it's quite compliant on a country road it is like so many vehicles  here just a little firm and turse around town but unfortunately where the t-rock comes up short is  it doesn't really have the kind of evolved riding handling of its related golf don't get me wrong  it really is quite

an enjoyable thing to drive but it just lacks a bit of depth and polish when it  comes to powertrain and Chassis purchase price is important but how much a vehicle costs to run over  five years can't really add up so we're going to find out which of these SUVs are cheap to run and  which ones become more expensive over time when it came to servicing every one of the 18 contenders  here had some kind of cap price plan they differ in time and kilometer limits which means that  some plans look chea

p but run for a short time and end up being a little expensive when you  break down the service cost per kilometer of driving the picture becomes much clearer here the  byd 803 emerges as the low maintenance Superstar for people that do big miles with its 1943  dollar service pack for seven years and 140 000 kilometers working out at just 1.4 cents per  kilometer all three Toyotas were very close with maintenance costs of 1.7 cents per kilometer while  the HRV and venue were impressively far und

er the 2.8 Cent per kilometer average too the worst cars  weren't European it was the two Kias with the Sonic's 4.7 Cent per kilometer and a staggering 5  Cent per kilometer maintenance cost for the celtos turbo three and a half times more expensive to  maintain than the byd in a great sign for Aussie new car buyers warranties are becoming far more  standardized than service costs all cars here had at least a five-year warranty and 17 of 18 were  unlimited with only the 803s complex six-year 150

000 km coverage being the only car limited by  distance when it came to fuel consumption more big differences in running costs appeared 11  contenders can use the dirtiest but cheapest 91 octane petrol or the Ford both skodas both  Volkswagens and the Toyota CHR need 95 and we adjusted our price equations to match but despite  being costlier to fuel all but one of the premium favoring SUVs delivered cheaper than average  yearly refueling costs because they're so much more efficient impressive c

ontenders included  all three of the amazingly Frugal Toyotas plus the Sonic HRV and skoda kamik are the most  expensive cars to fuel for a year with a Havel jolian and the Kia celtos turbo but it is the  byd 803 that is the cheapest car here to fuel especially if you can charge it at home overnight  we were conservative though and used an average electricity price of 40 cents per kilowatt hour  to reflect some home and some public charging across 15 10 000 kilometers in a year which  results in

an annual refueling price for the byd of just nine hundred and twelve dollars when  it comes to Insurance in the last 12 months this is what the median budget Direct Customer spent  to comprehensively ensure each of these new SUVs everybody's situation varies and your premium may  vary based on things insurers take into account like where you live how you garage the car and  your driving history so after a week of seriously thorough testing of these cars pulling them apart  installing baby seat

s chucking our suitcases in them pounding away on some of the nastiest Urban  Roads we could find and lapping our test track to see which ones are the handling Superstars  it was time to find our winners our honorable mention goes to the Hyundai venue the least  expensive car on this Mega test but far from the least impressive this thing is a packaging  Delight it is so small on the road it's so easy to park and yet it's Tardis like inside there's so  much room in the back seat and the Deep boot

it's truly impressive but the venue's talents don't  stop there it's also engaging to drive and well suited to Australian roads with decent ride  quality and actually a really good chassis on the car however fuel consumption is a little high  due to Hyundai Australia's selection of a bigger naturally aspirated engine rather than a smaller  turbo unit however it does make it a little better and smoother to drive than its cousin the  Kia Sonic it also only has a four-star and Cat rating so if tha

t's something that you like  to keep in mind it's worth considering however for its combination of exceptional packaging  and value for money the Hyundai venue earns a coveted and rare Chasing Cars Gold Star Award  for many Australians Toyota's new small SUV will be the default Choice that's because when it  comes to ticking boxes for Australian wants and needs the new Corolla cross hybrid fits the bill  perfectly but beyond the Box ticking the Corolla cross is another in a long line of Toyotas

that's  really great to drive with excellent handling and fantastic ride quality it's also quite quick for  this group and did really well through our Dynamic safety assessment though it could be better under  brakes The Cabin boat just does enough it has an impressive new multimedia screen though some of  the other elements such as the ergonomics of the seats and the grayscale theme really leaves a  bit to be desired the real elephant in the room though is pricing that's because this mid-spec 

gxl all-wheel drive hybrid clocks in at 47 000 drive away which is quite High against the  median of this field it'll take many years to recoup that premium through fuel saving using  the hybrid system still the new Corolla cross encapsulates everything that we like about Modern  Toyota it does everything that it needs to do and comes highly recommended this byd 803 came  into the field punched well above its weight and blindsided almost every SUV here bar one here is a  car that moves the game

forward which is something that we reward handsomely here at chasing cars  and finally you've got an affordable EV that you don't need to apologize for it is genuinely a  great all-round vehicle on the inside side the cabinet's Bold it's Brave and it's adventurous  which won't be to everyone's taste but on the fundamentals it's roomy it's well executed it's  high quality and takes perfect advantage of the EV platform that it sits on but then again it is  missing a couple of tech Essentials and A

ndroid auto and apple carplay which apparently can be  added via an over-the-air update but at the time of filming this car doesn't have either and then  a second surprise that this 803 brought to the table was its ride compliance because genuinely  it rides the best out of all of the 18 SUVs we have on this Mega test but that also doesn't rob  it of an enjoyable Driving Experience it performs well in the swerve and avoid test and while the  steering could feel a little more natural it feels rig

ht at home in an EV like this being an  EV the performance is Untouchable in this group off the line it struggles for torque trying to  put it down through its unnamed tires but then once it gets off the line it surges through to  the best zero to 100 time of the pack but despite this pace it will be measurably more affordable to  run than anything else in this field it's energy efficient and has a cheap five-year service plan  and a six-year warranty but we acknowledge a lack of reputation behi

nd the distribution of byd  Australia in terms of a service network and Clarity but still this car's breadth of ability  gives it a well-deserved second place in this Mega test based on its merits but skoda has done  it again off the back of its 2022 chasing cars car of the year win with the Octavia it turns  out that the small SUV that beats everything else out here independently is the Skoda Kamiq  it starts with the fact that this small SUV is immaculately packaged its dimensions are compact 

on the outside but the interior is amazingly well designed you can fit two big child seats in the  back of this car without causing any trouble for the front passengers the boot is also large and  the cabin doesn't feel tight or constricted it's quite the opposite it feels roomy spacious and  Airy then you get to the premium materials and it's here where skoda is simply out punching its  stablemate Volkswagen wagon the materials in this car are premium some of them are near luxury like  the per

forated leather steering wheel with metal rollers it feels expensive despite the fact that  this car is actually one of the cheapest vehicles on this test the value for money is incredible  and the cost of ownership are low skoda now has a seven year warranty in Australia and a seven  year prepaid service plan is Affordable for the kamik the driving Dynamics are also phenomenal  there's chassis on this vehicle is excellent delivering engaging handling and good ride quality  for what is a light S

UV you might be dissuaded by the relatively modest engine on paper but you  would be wrong because the 85 kilowatt turbo 3 cylinder has torque where it counts and Oodles  of character too it's the balance of the kamik the fact that it punches and benchmarks above so  many other SUVs here in so many areas with things like some of the best braking on tests that meant  for us it was clear that the skoda kamik is the best small SUV for 2023. so do you agree with  the winner let us know down below Be

low in the comments we hope you enjoyed our small SUV Mega  test we love Mega testing everything and you can find a bunch of those videos on our Channel if you  haven't already subscribed to Chasing Cars please do so down below and hit that notification Bell  and as always thank you for watching chasing us