The Joys of Owning a Supermini

There are many reasons why car insurance policyholders should consider owning a supermini. One of the most obvious advantages is its small size which makes the supermini highly practical on the daily commute as it is easy to park in the small number of tight parking spaces that so many car drivers are now forced to compete for, particularly in the busy cities. A supermini’s size also does not prevent it from being practical in other ways: as far back as the original Mini in 1959, manufacturers have been mastering packaging solutions which means that you can have ample boot space as part of your supermini as well as enough room to seat five people in comfort1.

Superminis are also affordable to run, with diesel superminis being among the most fuel efficient cars that you can buy2. More recent supermini developments include such low-emissions models as the Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion and the recently unveiled hybrid version of the Honda Jazz3.

Superminis are also great fun to drive. Added to this is the range of performance models available: we all know about the impact of the original ‘hot hatches’, such as the Volkswagen Golf GTi and the Peugeot 205 GTi, on the automotive landscape, but did you know about the most recent models such as the Mini Cooper S? Even merely ‘warm’ models in a manufacturer’s range are often a joy to drive, with the capability of being thrown around the bends of whichever challenging roads you take them on4.

There is also a wide range of superminis to choose from, both new and used. These range from the venerable latest versions of old favourites, such as the Ford Fiesta, Suzuki Swift and Nissan Micra to some of the more unusual recent models, such as the now discontinued Audi A2 which had high-tech aluminium bodywork and was, perhaps, ahead of its time, as well as retro offerings such as the new Mini and Fiat 5005.

Whereas cheap cars were once small and more expensive ones were big, there has been an increasing trend towards downsizing in recent years, leading to the entry within the supermini market of some unexpected brands. Far from the traditional image of the supermini as a humble family runabout, there is an increasingly large of range of ‘posh’ superminis to choose from. These include the Alfa Romeo MiTo and the Aston Martin Cygnet6.

Hannah Warder writes for MediaVest (Manchester) on a number of topics including car insurance .