I must admit that I harbour a bit of a prejudice against this new breed of small hatches. Or perhaps more than just a bit. Maybe it?s because I grew up in an era where cars had bigger engines and smaller spec sheets and anything resembling a luxury feature was reserved for the very top of the pecking order.

These carmakers are trying to flog these little cars with little engines and nauseatingly gradual performance at Reef altitudes ? remember they have become rather heavy with all the features and safety structures ? but they?re packed to the brim with comfort amenities and are not exactly cheap to buy.

But you know what? I mustered up all the journalistic objectivity I could and realised that these cars still have an important role to play in our society. Especially if you live in a big city and need a comfortable and economical ride to get you through all the slow-moving chaos.

Hello, good looking

Being upmarket superminis, these four also offer much in the way of style, especially the Fiat Grande Punto and Mazda2. We voted the Fiat as the most stylish ? in fact it?s in another league altogether. With its mini-Maserati front end and purposeful shape, it looks way more expensive than the others and even the interior imparts the same image of quality.

The Mazda2?s quite a looker too, with its bold front airdam, 206-like headlamps and cheeky wedge-shaped body. The interior also imparts a sporty feel, with that MX-5-like dash, but the plastics are cheap and that all-black colour scheme creates a somewhat sombre feel.

The new Opel Corsa and Toyota Yaris are pleasing to the eye, but really nothing to get excited about ? the same even goes for their interiors. The Opel?s cabin is stylish in the restrained kind of way, while the Toyota?s gone ballsy with a Starship Enterprise mimic that?s let down by a questionable colour scheme and low-grade plastics.

More show than go

Unfortunately, these four cars, despite being multi-valves with some form of variable inlet timing, are much more about show than they are about go. In fact, the only car that posted a decent 0-100km/h time, at 12.4 seconds, was the Toyota Yaris. We expected more from the similarly-equipped Mazda2.

With all the work they did to make the car lighter, it should have done a tad better than a 14.2 second 0-100 and 15.5 second 80-120. Perhaps the gearing is too long ? the Mazda2 cruises surprisingly comfortably at higher speeds, but around town you really need to keep the revs high to get anything decent out of it.

The Opel and Fiat were also notably sluggish, the Fiat posting a ridiculous 18.2 second 80-120, while the Opel at least matched the Yaris in that regard, although it had the worst 0-100 time.

Where's the handling?

We suppose handling is not of too much relevance in this crowd, because quite frankly, all of these cars have a decent chassis that can handle a lot more power.

When it came to the overall driving experience, we couldn?t help but fall in love with the Mazda2, however. The steering wheel and driver?s seat can be adjusted really low, resulting in a driving position more akin to a sports car than a supermini, although the speedo can become obscured. A slick gearshift, mounted high-up and in very easy reach, together with a small steering wheel that has a very direct, kart-like action and the most agile road holding characteristics here, make it the most fun to drive.

Bugger it ? all that journalistic objectivity about being nice to cars that aren?t fun to drive suddenly went out the window when I drove the Mazda. Sorry guys.