Autocar's testers have revealed the top 50 new cars you can buy in every category - and you'd do very well to bookmark the link below if you're on the hunt for a new motor: it could save you hours of teeth-grinding test driving and forum trawling. 

Revealed: Autocar names UK's 50 best cars – in all categories 

But which are the best of the best? The absolute cream of the crop? 

To find out, us testers have each selected a car from our Top 50 nominations, one that is an exemplar of its category, and brought them all to our favourite Oxfordshire stomping ground. We'll try some cars, dodge some potholes and finally gather at the excellent Five Bells pub to find out who has made the best choice - and who is having second thoughts.

Illya Verpraet James, why did you bring a Hyundai i10? Why is it the best fun small car?

James Disdale Because it's brilliant. It just does everything you want. I drove it here saying to myself: 'I don't think I need anything else.' It's refined, it goes fast enough and it comes with all the toys I need.

Richard Lane How much does it weigh?

JD It's under a tonne.

RL Fair play.

Matt Prior Is there an argument that it's the best car on sale? Because what are they, £18,000?

JD You wish. That one comes with chrome door handles! More like £21,000.

RL You can have a Dacia Jogger for that money.

IV Would you not like a bit more power? And better seats for that matter?

JD That's what happens, isn't it? You keep saying you want a little bit more, and then the car gets bigger and bigger and bigger.

RL How about the new Renault Twingo?

JD At the moment, I don't think it would suit my needs as well, considering it has a claimed range of only 163 miles.

IV The thing about petrol-engined city cars is that while they may not be your first choice for a 300-mile journey, they can do it without too much fuss - which isn't the case yet with their electric equivalents.

JD This could just be my age, but I still marvel at the fact that a car so small and with quite a prosaic use case can be so well engineered, that it can be as refined as it is, that it can handle the way it does and can ride the way it does. The manual gearshift quality is up there with the best, and they don't all cost £21,000, they start at about £18,000, like Prior said. You could just about make a case for that as a single car.

IV It's a situation where the car industry perfected that kind of car 10 years ago and they just try to keep making it for as long as they can.

RL And try not to be legislated out of existence in the meantime. It's the petrol-engined supermini at its absolute apotheosis.

IV I think that sums up the i10 nicely. Richard, what about the Volvo ES90? Why is it your favourite electric executive saloon?

RL Ah, Volvo

Matt Saunders Is it very good at selecting reverse?

RL I've realised I like the idea of it probably a bit more than I like the reality, because there's a dearth of genuinely appealing full-size electric saloons: the BMW i5 has an annoying interior and looks crap; the Mercedes-Benz EQE is quite poorly packaged, I find; and the Audi A6 E-tron is a bit anonymous character-wise. Volvo had an open goal: just make it look fabulous and ride like a Swedish Bentley understudy. In truth it has a lot of appeal: great cabin ambience, fantastic seats. It doesn't need to have any sporting pretensions whatsoever, because they've got Polestar for that. And it's got a cutting-edge 800V architecture with all the right figures for range and charging.

MS What does it actually do range-wise?

RL Just over 400 miles WLTP, which is to say enough. But the main problem is its ride quality. I thought that with the new SPA2 platform, Volvo would have cured its cars' usual issue of a great primary ride but a jittery secondary ride. On the ES90 it's better but still not where it needs to be, given that Volvo has an entire sister brand in Polestar to manage the sporty stuff. In fairness, this is a Plus-spec car on the passive dampers, and paying the extra £2k to add air springs might well help with the problem, though I doubt they would cure it entirely because air rarely does. It's close to being a very, very good car. The powertrain calibration is slick, it steers nicely and it is - and this is the critical bit if you're Volvo - undemanding, digital quirks aside.

JD Hmm, 'close to being good' isn't really selling it to me, if I'm honest.

RL Look, the point is that I wanted it to be a baby Bentley. It could still be that car, with a bit of fine-tuning. Maybe.

JD Well, it's nice that you're here and that you've made the effort.

IV Moving swiftly on to the actual Bentley...

MS The Flying Spur is clearly the best Oscars-night grand tourer. A car such as this needs to bring with it the extra dimension of delivering the luxury experience to those who are sitting in the back, not behind the steering wheel. I just think a Spur is now the definitive Bentley. I used to think it was a bit too big and just existed to tick a box, but that was the first- generation ones that looked a bit rubbish and weren't quite up to the task. I went on a Bentley event last year and drove the GT and Spur back to back, and I was surprised that the Spur was objectively better- riding and just as good dynamically. And it's inherently more convincing as a luxury car, because you can use it for more things.

RL Do you think the fact that this latest iteration of the Continental GT coupé has become a bit softer and a bit less of a driver's car has played in favour of the Flying Spur?

IV You've got the only plug-in hybrid here. Does being a hybrid actually help it?

MS This car carries it well. The early plug-in ones with the V6 engine didn't really feel like they were the full ticket. But now that it has the more potent V8 and a slightly bigger boot, it wears its electrification better than the supposedly sportier coupé does. This rides as well as anything, too.

JD I didn't think the ride was perfect. The secondary ride is just a bit jiggly.

IV Are you just saying that because you hit a massive pothole when you went out in it earlier?

JD Well, there was that.

RL Really, it's better than most of the cars of its type. The current Mercedes-AMG S63 has quite a nice handling balance, but it's undone as a luxury solution. Most cars have to choose one or the other: luxury or sportiness.

IV Which is why I've chosen sportiness and brought a Mazda MX-5, the definitive analogue sports car. It's more expensive than it used to be, but it's still some of the most fun you can have on four wheels for any money.

RL How much does it cost?

IV High £30,000s.

MP Wow. The world really has gone mad.

IV This one is the top trim level with the bigger engine and the nice seats. You can have a 1.5-litre one for less than £30,000, but there are no other true driver's cars left under £50,000.

RL Apart from a Caterham Seven.

IV Well, yes, but many people would be happy to use an MX-5 every day; most people would not be happy using a Caterham every day. And the Mazda just has everything we love in sports cars: it's rear-wheel drive, it's light, it's small, it has a delightful manual gearbox and it handles like a dream. It does everything well. And if you want, you can even modify it.

RL Would you modify it?

IV I might go to BBR GTi and have them put some nicer suspension on it.

RL Their Super 220 remains in my top three cars of all time.

MP As standard, MX-5s are just a bit too soft.

JD But that's part of the philosophy - so it feels like it's faster than it really is.

RL I know, but I can't help but feel, rather patronisingly, that it is geared towards the more casual driver.

IV The genius is that the potential is there to be unlocked. The casual driver has a great time and the hardcore driver can go to BBR. Catering to that wide audience is key to making a car like this uphold a viable business case in 2026.

JD It's an incredible piece of engineering, really. Look at any car that has evolved over the years and the MX-5 is one of the few where the current generation is barely if any bigger or heavier than it was when it started. And yet this one has got air conditioning, airbags and crash structures, and it still complies with all the overbearing modern regulations.

IV From one Japanese manual-gearboxed analogue sports car to another: Prior, why have you brought a farmer's-spec Toyota Hilux?

MP The category was 'Best ready-for-anything off-roader'. If you might conceivably have the need to carry a dead sheep in the cabin with you at some point, a plush SUV is suboptimal. It doesn't have to be a dead sheep: it can be a hay bale or wet gear or a Border collie or whatever. You have to have a pick-up, because they will go everywhere that the best SUVs do and they're just more practical and versatile. If you're going to have a pick-up, then you have to have the best one, which is the Hilux. It's the narrowest, so it fits through the most gates, and it's the most reliable, because it's built by Toyota. It's not the most amazing thing to drive on the road, but that's okay.

RL Would you take it to the opera?

MP I would. You would get a little bit looked at in Glyndebourne, particularly with a dead sheep in the back, but it's fine.

MS If your old Land Rover Defender died tomorrow, could you replace it with a Hilux and would you be happy to?

MP Oh, easily. It would be vastly better, because it would be more efficient and because the Land Rover is mouldy inside because the horse food lives inside it.

RL Wouldn't you want an Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster instead?

MP Oh, I would, but they cost about £80,000 and the turning circle is a disaster.

JD It's authentic. Don't the Gen Zers love the word 'authentic'?

MP Is that a thing? I'd say it was very fit for purpose. Hiluxes have probably gone farther than any other vehicle. You would trust one to, anyway.

IV On that very Autocar note, I think we just need to decide what we'd take home, assuming we can't pick the car we've brought.

MP Well, I'm taking the i10, because it's all the car I'd need. I really like small cars anyway, and I'm amazed they can fit so much engineering into such a small package for such a low price.

JD I'll take the MX-5, please. It's the best small affordable sports car. Also the only one. You can spend four times as much and still won't have a better time driving.

IV Ooh, I'm going back and forth between the extremes. It's either the i10 or the Bentley for me.

JD Just put the i10 in the Bentley's boot.

IV An i10 and a Flying Spur is the brilliant two-car garage that nobody is asking for. In the end, I'll go i10, because I'm a manual gearbox purist and I love how small and light the car is.

RL The MX-5: you just can't argue with it. It will do the European holiday for two people and its sporting credentials are obviously epic. I love the Bentley as well, but is it really the last car you will ever drive? Actually, no, I'm going to say the Hilux. There's something about its invincibility and the fact that the cabin is actually pretty hospitable. It remains a charming device by dint of its toughness.

MS I'll take the MX-5, because I've never owned one - but I got close so many times. With the i10, there are other, similar cars that I like a bit more, but with the MX-5 there's nothing that has quite the same perfect positioning and execution. Although that does mean we have a tie.

MP Why don't we let the photographer have the deciding vote?

Jack Harrison The i10 is a very fit-for-purpose car, but for the money the Suzuki Swift does everything better. Whereas the MX-5 is the archetype of a sports car. It's a car I'd actually own. In fact, I used to have a second-gen MX-5.

Now for the alternatives we can afford

Mazda MX-5 (NC)

Mazda revived the affordable roadster concept with this lightweight, rear- driven marvel, and today they're as fun as they are accessible. The analogue, fleet-footed Mk1 (the NA) is a peach, but you need at least £8000-£10,000 for a tidy, well-maintained one. Rust is every MX-5's nemesis, but the Mk2 (NB) suffers the most.

Skip these generations, then, and focus on the Mk3. That's no bad thing, because the NC, while also a victim of corrosion, is refined, practical and affordable. Leggy cars can be found for less than £1000, but you can snag a cleaner, low-mileage one for £4000-£5000. The 125bhp 1.8-litre is fun, but the 158bhp 2.0-litre is the one to have, for its limited-slip diff and variable valve timing. Aim for Sport Tech trim with the long-legged six-speed manual 'box. Both engines are bulletproof - provided the oil level is maintained. 

Volvo S90

The S90 is a prime example of Scandinavian minimalism, bringing lounge-like comfort and refinement to a class that has long been dominated by German alternatives. The 187bhp 2.0-litre diesel D4 should serve you well: it's a bit staid but economical and widely available. Petrols are rare, so we'd stick with the diesel or the T8 358bhp plug-in hybrid. It can travel up to 35 miles on electric power alone, but be mindful of turbocharger and supercharger failures and software glitches that affect the battery.

Momentum trim is well equipped, but stretch to an Inscription model if you can because they get nappa leather and 18in wheels. We saw an immaculate D4 Inscription with 70,000 miles on the clock for a hair under £14,000.

Hyundai i10

Hyundai's diminutive city car has been a mainstay of the A-segment for almost 20 years, and it is now an affordable, likeable and generally robust dinky hatchback. The second-generation model is particularly good value, especially if you aim for a later, post-facelift example (from 2017 onwards). The 65bhp 1.0-litre triple is ideal for scooting around town, but we'd opt for the 86bhp 1.2-litre four-pot, which has more pep for motorways and is just as frugal.

Be wary of clutch judder from standstill and crunching gears. You can snap up a clean, low-mileage example for around £8000. Premium SE is the trim to go for: it has heated seats, a heated steering wheel and a 7.0in infotainment screen that includes Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Toyota Hilux

No other model showcases the global prominence of the Toyota brand quite like the Hilux pick-up. Older models are actually becoming quite rare and sought- after, so it's the hard-wearing seventh generation we're recommending here.

Prices range from £8000- £20,000 and there's plenty of choice, from utilitarian single-cabs to plush, post-facelift double-cabs with more modern touches. The torquier 3.0-litre diesel is best for towing, but watch for a tapping noise at idle and smoke on start- up, which could mean a problem with the injectors. The 2.5-litre diesel is robust and enduring and the best choice for those using a Hilux as a workhorse. Check for dents on the body and corrosion on the chassis and sills. If the Hilux you're interested in looks like it has been used off-road, cast an eye over the suspension and any rubber components, which might need to be replaced.

Bentley Flying Spur

The Spur is a sublime luxo-barge - if you can stomach its vast running costs. You'll do well to get more than 15mpg from the 553bhp 6.0-litre twin-turbocharged W12 and maintenance and repairs are very expensive. Prices for high-milers start from under £12,000, but these forgo any maintenance records. For a car like this, a watertight dealer or specialist history is a must, so stretch the budget to around £15,000. Watch for misfires (often caused by faulty coil packs) and test the air suspension: leaking struts are common and cost up to £1500 to replace. Similar issues afflict the more regal Mk2. You can have a V8 or W12 with a full history for the same price as a Jaecoo 7, but beware electrical gremlins in its complex dual-battery system.