Sensible #5 Evaluation 2025, Value & Specs

In some ways, the #5 couldn’t be additional faraway from the snack-sized Sensible automobiles of yore, however its designers declare to have taken inspiration from the Fortwo’s modern packaging – loftily known as the ‘physique area index’ – to maximise roominess.

And so it proves: with the wheels pushed proper to the corners of the physique, a completely flat ground and a pleasingly conventional straight-backed silhouette, the #5 has about as cavernous and ethereal a cabin as its attainable to supply on this footprint.

Boot area (630 litres out again and as much as 74 within the frunk), head room and oddment storage (there are 32 cubbies dotted round) are all sturdy fits, and I had a cushty 20cm of leg room when sat behind my 5ft 10in self – making the #5 extra on a par with automobiles from the category above for back-seat refinement. 

It feels of a better calibre materially in contrast with its smaller stablemates, too, with decently plush supplies used for all the primary touchpoints and a reassuring sense of solidity to its (admittedly sparse) bodily switchgear.

I reckon the mock carbonfibre trimmings, microfibre upholstery and crimson accents of the Brabus version do little however cheapen what’s in any other case a extremely thoughtfully organized and designed cabin – if a bit heavy on the #5’s trademark lozenge motifs – however total it’s a remedy that legitimises Sensible’s premium aspirations. 

Inevitably, an over-reliance on the 13in touchscreen for the first automobile controls is a weak level, however Sensible has responded to buyer suggestions from the sooner automobiles and made varied capabilities – just like the local weather stack, ADAS and audio – faster to entry from the house display screen, which helps to minimise eyes-off time. The motive force help capabilities themselves are irritating and distracting, however no extra so than in some other new automobile, and simple sufficient to show off.

A same-sized touchscreen for the entrance passenger is customary from Professional+ trim upwards (testomony to the affect of Chinese language client calls for), which feels completely pointless. I discovered it a distracting presence on the transfer and may’t fairly think about how unhealthy your conversational abilities must be on a highway journey to power your companion to pop their headphones in and cargo up a movie. It’s know-how for know-how’s sake and utterly unwarranted in a mainstream household crossover. Funding might be higher allotted elsewhere.

The identical goes for the infotainment interfaces extra broadly, which have been overly gamified to the extent that customising your settings is paying homage to establishing a participant profile on a Nintendo Wii, and as soon as once more Sensible has seen match to introduce a digital mascot – this time a lion known as Leo – which does the sum complete of completely nothing. It’s troublesome to know the way a lot crossover there may be between individuals who respect this form of whimsical digitisation and those that are out there for a £40,000-plus premium SUV – however I’d wager not a lot.