Yonkers, New York – Consumer Reports has named the Hyundai Elantra SE the top candidate in tests of five small sedans. The Elantra received an “Excellent” overall road test score, with the Toyota Corolla, Subaru Impreza and Ford Focus achieving “Very Good” ratings.

Two Chevrolets were also tested as part of the group, but both the Cobalt and Aveo ranked near the bottom of the pack; among compact sedans, the Cobalt ranked 17th of 19 vehicles tested, while the Aveo was last among 12 subcompacts tested.

The magazine also reported that the Corolla achieved 32 mpg US overall (7.3 L/100 km), the best it said it has seen in a conventional gasoline-powered car with an automatic transmission. Only the smaller Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris subcompact models did as well or better.

Formal evaluations on the vehicles were completed earlier this year, which allowed Consumer Reports to name the Elantra SE as its “Top Pick” in the small sedan category for its Annual April Auto issue, topping the Honda Civic EX with manual transmission by only a fraction of a point, but sold with standard electronic stability control.

Of the vehicles in the report, Consumer Reports is recommending the Elantra, Impreza and Focus. It does not have reliability data yet on the redesigned Corolla; the Cobalt and Aveo had average reliability but scored too low on the road tests to be recommended. Consumer Reports only recommends vehicles that have performed well in its tests, have at least average predicted reliability based on a survey of Consumer Reports subscribers, and performed at least adequately if crash-tested or included in a government rollover test.