These Are The Slowest Cars On Sale In The UK

Acceleration figures are pitched as one of the most important things about a new car, be it manufacturers boasting about how quick a new model is, car journalists desperately searching for a point of comparison and a word count boost, or teenagers on Instagram who have never driven a real car to argue with strangers about.

We could sit here and talk about the fastest-accelerating cars and call it a day, but that’s an obvious slam-dunk. What about the slowest? Well, these five can lay claim to taking the longest to cover the standard 0-62mph test out of any new cars in the UK…

Volkswagen Polo, 0-62mph in 15.6 seconds

You can have the Volkswagen Polo as a rather quick GTI or with a pleasantly nippy 94bhp turbocharged engine. Or a third option, which we’re not sure has any appeal other than being cheap.

That being a 1.0-litre naturally aspirated (!) three-cylinder engine, producing 80bhp sent to the front wheels through a five-speed manual gearbox. It’s the quickest on this list, just, but it’s not the Polo we’d tell you to buy.

Skoda Fabia 80, 0-62mph in 15.7 seconds

Given that the Skoda Fabia and Volkswagen Polo are, in effect, the same car, the appearance of the Czechian stablemate shouldn’t come as a shock. In ‘80’ guise, it matches the lowest-output Polo in power, though it takes a tenth longer officially to 62mph.

We’d suggest a drag race to see how accurate those claims are, but we haven’t got all day.

Kia Picanto, 0-62mph in 17.2 seconds

The Kia Picanto is a rather charming little car, and now sits in a class of one of ‘tiny petrol-powered city cars you can buy’, now that the Hyundai i10 can no longer be ordered in the UK.

You can only have the Picanto with one engine, a 68bhp 1.0-litre four-cylinder, paired up with either a manual or automatic. Go for the five-speed auto, and 0-62mph takes 17.2 seconds – speed demons may prefer the manual, cutting that dramatically to 14.6 seconds.

Fiat 500 Hybrid Convertible, 0-62mph in 17.3 seconds

We are cheating a little bit here, as the new Fiat 500 Hybrid isn’t on sale just yet. When it does arrive in the UK next year, though, it’s going to be a painfully slow thing.

Despite having a turbocharged engine with mild-hybrid tech, it produces just 64bhp, which is 5bhp less than the car it’s replacing for… reasons.

Put that in the hardtop, and 0-62mph takes 16.2 seconds. Somehow, though, the canvas-topped convertible takes more than a second longer at 17.3 seconds. We’re not engineers, but it sounds like something has gone quite wrong along the line.

Dacia Spring, 0-62mph in 19.1 seconds

Bad news! The Dacia Spring holds the unwanted title of the slowest car on sale in the UK. Oh no, anyway.

While EVs are renowned for instant torque delivery, which tends to be very good for acceleration times, that general rule does not apply to the Spring. In its base 45 guise, all of 44bhp and 92lb ft of torque will allow it to hit 62mph from a standstill in 19.1 seconds. Provided you can find a road long enough.

Great news! This one will soon be replaced by a 69bhp car, and with a presumably hilarious 98bhp version coming, too.