Top 10 best cars for ride and handling

Driver Power asked UK new car buyers about their cars' ride and handling, and these are the top ten highest rated

  • Covering: Acceleration, quietness of engine, smoothness of gearbox
  • Winner: Toyota GR Yaris
  • Score: 96.14%

Winning the ride and handling category is probably a necessary rite of passage for our best sports car, and the GR Yaris duly obliges. It does so in some style, too, with a first place for braking response, a second place for handling and third for overall driving pleasure. It’s not so good on ride quality, though, where that stiff suspension means the GR Yaris can only manage 27th. 

Counter-intuitively perhaps, it’s the Land Rover Discovery Sport which takes second in the category, including a first overall for driving pleasure and a second for steering response. It’s a useful reminder that these scores don’t objectively compare measurable parameters, but instead reflect the level of owner satisfaction with the performance provided. Owners clearly feel the Discovery Sport delivers exceptional ride and handling for a large SUV.

Third in the category table is the Citroen C4, which takes a first place for its smooth ride quality and a trio of seventh places for all the other category attributes, on its way to overall victory in the 2023 survey.

Your view

“Wonderfully engaging with amazing grip and traction. Fast enough, and as good as one could hope for these days, total fun.”

Ride and handling top 10

Model Class Overall Position Overall Score Category Score
1. Toyota GR Yaris Sports Car 69th 87.21% 96.14%
2. Land Rover Discovery Sport Premium Mid to Large SUV 49th 89.07% 96.00%
3. Citroen C4 Mk3 Compact Family Car 1st 93.39% 95.93%
4. Subaru Outback Mk6 Mid to Large SUV 5th 91.73% 95.85%
5. Lexus UX Premium Small SUV 38th 89.56% 95.62%
6. Lexus RX Mk4 Premium Mid to Large SUV 3rd 92.15% 95.38%
7. Peugeot 208 Mk2 Supermini 51st 88.95% 94.67%
8. Subaru Forester Mk5 Mid to Large SUV 29th 90.07% 94.66%
9. Toyota Prius Mk4 Compact Family Car 8th 91.45% 94.59%
10. Jaguar F-Pace Premium Mid to Large SUV 50th 89.07% 94.35%
Driver Power car ownership

Now tell us about your car in the Driver Power survey...

Current affairs and features editor

Chris covers all aspects of motoring life for Auto Express. Over a long career he has contributed news and car reviews to brands such as Autocar, WhatCar?, PistonHeads, Goodwood and The Motor Trader.

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