Best Compact Cars of October 2011

While the $25,000 cap on price did not affect the light car segment it's not the case with the compact cars. The cheap Mitsubishi Lancer is still in the mix but it now goes up against the Mazda 3 which is on sale and the Lancer's nemesis, the Subaru Impreza.

All contenders come with Space Saver spare tyres so they're on equal footing in that department.



$20,990 is a hard price to beat which helps the Mitsubishi Lancer into first place.

This is probably the first time the popular Mazda 3 makes the list. Usually the trim level I was after (the Maxx) was hovering around the $26-27,000 mark. Now the Mazda 3 is on sale so the Neo comes with goodies like alloys and extended warranty.

The Mazda 3 fits in between the Lancer and Impreza in terms of fuel economy and price and is consequently second.

The overall cost of running the Impreza is considerably more than the other contenders thanks to being fuel thirsty and the fact that you're recommended to use Premium Unleaded to run it.