Tiniest cars on the lot

If the Cash for Clunkers program had you toying with the notion of buying something new this summer, forget downsizing to just a sedan — that's so half-hearted.

Instead, you could opt for a total downsize, something along the lines of the Lotus Elise or Mazda MX-5 Miata. The cars are about 13-feet (or 3.9 m) long, and you and a few friends could probably lift one of these cars into a tight parking spot.

Novelty aside, there are genuine advantages to owning a small car: high fuel efficiency, fewer emissions, nimble handling and, often, impressive speed on straightaways and around corners.

In other words, just because a car is small, doesn't mean it's gutless.

Behind the Numbers

To determine our list, we added the length, width, height and weight of 2009 models on sale in the U.S., then took the average of those measurements and ranked the cars according to their score. We did not include models that may hit U.S. showrooms in the future, like the Tata Nano or the Fiat 500, or out-of-production vehicles such as the Dodge Neon. We also excluded neighborhood electric vehicles and three-wheeled cars like the ZENN and Aptera 2e.

Not all the cars that made our list are coupes. The Pontiac G3, for example, has four doors and a hatchback — not to mention 30-mpg (7.8 L/100 km) combined fuel economy, a reasonable price tag at $14,335 US, and seating for five.

Some small cars have heft under the hood as well. The $47,250 Elise, for instance, goes 0 to 96 kilometres per hour in under five seconds. It uses a four-cylinder engine to get 189 horsepower and hit a top speed of 241 kilometers. The $22,500 Miata uses a four-cylinder engine, too, eking out 167 hp and 140 lb-ft of torque.

Other small cars are following suit, says Jon Linkov, managing editor of autos at Consumer Reports. Turboboosted four- and six-cylinder engines work well to ramp up performance without adding the weight and appetite for fuel of a larger engine. Ford engineers estimate that their "ecoboost" turbochargers — available now on the Lincoln MKS, MKT and Taurus SHO — improve fuel efficiency by 20 per cent.

Manufacturers also are focusing on lightening the load as a way to improve efficiency — something the tinker toys on our list are all about. The lightest is the $11,990 Smart Fortwo, which weighs in at well under one ton.

"Weight reduction is big," Linkov says. "Once you start stripping out weight, you take out the nine-way power seats and the 15-speaker stereos, plus the navigation system wiring and all that other stuff, that goes a long way."

Indeed, weight kept otherwise compact numbers like the Audi TT (3,252 pounds or 1,475 kg) and Volvo C30 (3,201 pounds or 1,451 kg) off our list. Their length, width and height are solidly middle-of-the-pack, but they are two of the heaviest vehicles in their segment.

Size Vs. Safety

It goes without saying that safety is a key consideration for anyone considering a small car. Let's face it: In a head-on crash, a one-ton coupe is no match for a 5,000-pound (2,267-kg) SUV.

"The general things that make vehicles unsafe would include small size and vehicles that have not yet adopted state-of-the-art crash-protection technologies," says David Zuby, senior vice president of vehicle research at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

But he adds that size shouldn't be the only consideration — the strength of the safety cage makes a big difference: "Unfortunately, a consumer can't tell by looking at a vehicle if it's got a strong structure. They would have to consult crash-test ratings."

Small-car proponents argue that tiny cars are actually safer than large ones because of several intangibles: they fit shorter and smaller drivers better, which makes them safer; and they are more nimble than SUVs and crossovers, which helps them effectively avoid crashes.

Some ratings, like roll-over and side-impact scores, can be compared across size and weight categories. The Smart Fortwo, for example, received higher side-impact ratings from IIHS than much-larger models like the Ford Explorer and Chevrolet Trailblazer.

Small-car proponents argue that tiny cars are actually safer than large ones because of several intangibles: they fit shorter and smaller drivers better, which makes them safer; and they are more nimble than SUVs and crossovers, which helps them effectively avoid crashes. There's also the fact that all the size in the world can't prevent whiplash or road rash.

Zuby says he hasn't seen statistical evidence to support those claims, although they may have anecdotal merit.

"A really, really poorly designed or insufficiently designed large- or medium-sized car may be more or less protective than the best designed small car, but that's something that you're not going to be able to tell just by looking at crash-test ratings," he says.

All things being equal, going from a clunker to a tiny car might be the smartest trade-in of all.