Best Compact SUVs

If you are someone planning to buy a new car, an SUV will likely appear on your shopping list. If so, your options are dazzlingly wide. Whether you want a miniature or full size model, or any size in between, SUVs cover almost every price point, shape, size and power configuration you can think of.

Here, we rank the best SUVs in each market segment based on approximately 200 data points covering acceleration performance, handling, comfort, cargo space, fuel economy, price/performance, and driving pleasure. Car and Driver's rankings are based on the results of large-scale instrument tests we conduct on hundreds of vehicles every year, as well as the subjective feelings our professional editors gain while actually driving. We take rankings very seriously because we want you to know everything about the models you are interested in.

Car and Driver's ranking is based on a large amount of instrument test data we conduct on hundreds of vehicle models every year, as well as subjective evaluations formed by editorial experts during actual road driving. When selecting the best compact SUV, we referred to about 200 data dimensions, covering acceleration, handling, comfort, cargo space, fuel economy, cost performance and driving pleasure. We take rankings very seriously because we want you to have a comprehensive understanding of the models you are interested in.