2025 Kia Soul: 165.2 Inches (~ 13' 9) When Kia ushered in the third-generation Soul in 2020, this box-on-wheels shed its cutesy looks and cartoon hamster persona for a decidedly more elegant and upscale identity, at least in the looks department. With a base price of $20,490, the 2025 Soul remains an absolute bargain in our current $50,000 average new car price atmosphere. Like the Nissan Kicks, the Kia Soul belies its small car status with a substantially sized cabin. Rear legroom comes in at 39 inches, and maximum cargo space measures 62 cubic feet. As for comfort, the Soul offers optional amenities like dual-zone automatic climate control, heated front seats, and a sunroof. In base spec, an 8-inch central display with smartphone mirroring is included, along with FCM, LKS, and automatic high beams (AHB). Kia, like several makers of small cars listed here, does go the steel wheel and hubcap route on entry-level LX models in a concession to costs. The Soul's 34.8-foot turning circle makes it useful in city driving, where it earns 27 mpg. The 147-horsepower four-cylinder engine should provide capable propulsion, if not exactly world-beating. Want more from your Soul? Kia offers a host of upmarket goodies like its Highway Driving Assist, a high-tech Level 2 ADAS, a two-tone exterior finish, and 18" alloy wheels if the hubcaps just aren't cutting it. 2025 Mini Cooper 2-Door: 152.6 Inches (~ 12' 9) Mini sells a robust Cooper lineup for 2025, including an electric-powered version, a crossover-ish variant, and a four-door model. But for maximum smallness, it's the original two-door formula you'll be wanting. That setup does limit occupancy to four, and the back row is relatively tight with 37 inches of legroom. But when it comes to the smallest car with the most personality, Mini's Cooper sits near the top of the pile. Distinctive lines immediately identify this little car as a Mini from the outside. Hop inside and you'll be greeted with all manner of creative touches like the knit fabric dashboard, patterned upholstery made from recycled goods, and a big 9.4-inch OLED sprouting from the center stack for infotainment duty. The Cooper is relatively expensive with a base price approaching $29,000, but that outlay brings a panoramic moonroof, heated front seats, and a head-up display. There are only 9 cubic feet of cargo space behind the second-row seat, but fold it down for 34 cubic feet courtesy of its hatchback profile. And unlike most of its peers in this smallest car gathering, the Mini offers real potency from its turbocharged 2.0L inline-four mill. Base models make 161 hp and 184 lb-ft of torque, the S variants bump that up to 201 and 221, respectively, or you can go the John Cooper Works route. With 228 hp and 280 lb-ft of twist, it promises plenty of torque steer and even more grins. 2024 Mitsubishi Mirage: 151.4 Inches (~ 12' 7) It's a bummer that Mitsubishi decided to can the Mirage for the 2025 model year, given its litany of tiny car excellence. Fortunately, since the Mirage just went offline, finding lightly used models on the secondhand market should be reasonably easy. Considering these little cars came with a $16,695 MSRP in 2024, it seems to reason that a used model should be the very definition of affordable. By the way, we are referring to the hatchback model, not the sedan with its G4 moniker and less fortunate styling. Mitsubishi leaned into the cheap car playbook with the 2024 Mirage in base form by giving it comically small 14-inch steel wheels. But these cars also featured automatic climate control, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and FCM. And how about the 36 mpg city, 43 mpg highway, and 39 mpg combined fuel ratings? Very thrifty. Of course, that's achievable when your car has perhaps the wimpiest engine to see the light of day in 2024. As in a 1.2-liter three-cylinder producing just 78 horsepower and 74 lb-ft of torque. In some respects, the recently departed Mirage is the spiritual successor of the 1986 Hyundai Excel. Unless you go for the Mirage in RALLIART guise with its excellent graphics package and 15" black alloys. In that case, nothing is quite like the little Mirage.
Liked by Oliver Bouchard, Ryan White
Liked by Oliver Bouchard, Ryan White
Liked by Oliver Bouchard, Ryan White
