Year's Best: 5 of our favorite economy cars of 2016

The 2016 Chevrolet Cruze is a vast improvement over the previous generation.

With solid handling, a complement of in-car tech and some decent looks to boot, the 2016 Chevrolet Cruze is a solid contender in the thick segment of affordable cars.

The 2016 Chevrolet Cruze sports a complete makeover, giving it an appearance that dances between anonymous and handsome.

Need to put some junk in the trunk? The new Honda Civic Hatchback will help.

The 2017 Honda Civic Hatchback packs everything we love about the new Civic -- which is, well, just about everything -- but with some extra storage capacity.

The new Civic Hatchback also happens to be one of the most handsome affordable cars you can get your hands on.

They're not all diesels, folks, and it would be a shame to throw out the baby with the bathwater, because the gas-powered 2016 Volkswagen Golf is still a very good car.

The 2016 Volkswagen Golf is sensible and straightforward, and it provides solid driving dynamics without breaking the bank, as German cars are typically wont to do.

It's a little bigger than the other ones on this list, but the Mazda6 is still one of the best affordable cars you can buy -- if you care about the driving experience.

The 2016 Mazda6 drives well, it looks good and it's not going to tear your wallet asunder. What's not to like?

The Mazda6 is the most highly rated affordable car that we reviewed in 2016, and for good reason.

Do you want a car that might be more technologically capable than you are? The 2017 Hyundai Elantra is the one for you, then.

Hyundai's great at providing an obscene amount of value for the equipment received, and the 2017 Elantra keeps that alive with a whole host of cabin tech at a pretty sensible price.