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    Roomiest, Most Comfortable Compact SUVs

    They get good gas mileage and have plenty of room to carry your family and your belongings

    2023 Honda CR-V EX-L driving
    Honda CR-V
    Photo: Honda

    It sounds like a contradiction: How can an SUV be compact and roomy? Well, Consumer Reports’ testing shows that buyers can easily find a model that will comfortably fit their family, groceries, sports equipment, or luggage for a vacation.

    CR buys and tests vehicles, and we measure exactly how much cargo can fit in the back, exactly how roomy the driver’s seat feels, and exactly how easy it is to get into and out of the front and rear seats.

    To create our list of the roomiest compact SUVs, our experts measure interior space, check how many suitcases and duffel bags can fit in the back, have testers of all shapes and sizes repeatedly get into and out of both the front and rear seats, and calculate cargo capacity by seeing how big an expandable rectangular pipe-frame “box” can fit through the rear opening. We do this as part of our weekslong in-depth evaluations.

    More on SUVs

    Below, we list the most comfortable and spacious compact SUVs in order of their roominess and CR’s own scores for comfort and ease of access. All are recommended, which means you won’t find any models with poor reliability, a low road-test score, or missing safety features. And each one comes with standard automatic emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection, AEB that works at highway speeds, blind spot warning (BSW), and rear cross traffic warning (RCTW) on every trim, except where noted.

    If you’re a CR member, this article and the list below are already available to you. But if you haven’t signed up, click below and become a member to access the list and all our exclusive ratings and reviews for each vehicle we buy and test. Joining also gives you full access to exclusive ratings for the other products our experts evaluate in several categories, including electronics and home appliances.

    Sign up for CR’s Cars email newsletter to be notified when we post our latest road tests.

    Become a member to read the full article and get access to digital ratings.

    We investigate, research, and test so you can choose with confidence.


    Jon Linkov

    Jon Linkov is the deputy auto editor at Consumer Reports. He has been with CR since 2002, covering varied automotive topics including buying and leasing, maintenance and repair, ownership, reliability, used cars, and electric vehicles. He manages CR’s lineup of special interest publications, hosts CR’s “Talking Cars” podcast, and writes and edits content for CR’s online and print products. An avid cyclist, Jon also enjoys driving his ’80s-era sports car and instructing at track days.