I recently did a job that involved driving a Porsche Cayenne Turbo to the Cotswolds. Once work was completed I could see the photographer hungrily eyeing up the Porsche for the return trip, because he, poor soul, had arrived in a Nissan Micra.

Being in no particular hurry and not yet having driven the new Micra, I happily set out for home in the Nissan. Within two miles something quite incredible dawned on me: on twisting British B-roads, a 10 grand Nissan Micra was more fun to drive than a 70 grand Cayenne Turbo.

There, I’ve said what I had known all along: properly executed small cars work better in the real world than almost any other breed.

I was reminded of this last week as I found myself bombing across Wales in a new Mitsubishi Colt 1.1 litre Equippe, hooting with laughter at every turn. And before you conclude that I need help, or at the very least to get out more often, you should put yourself in a similar position.

Blessed with a rasping three-cylinder engine whose diminutive size belies a power output comparable with many 1.4s, allied to compact dimensions, quick steering and excellent grip, the Colt was entertaining me as much as many allegedly more sporting cars and, for the bulk of the time, doing so reasonably legally.

Its acceleration is, frankly, modest, so the trick was to carry as much speed as I could into each corner, using the brakes as little as possible. And because the Colt is light and has been set up by people who are clearly on top of their game, it all worked beautifully well.

This I had not expected. The Colt’s official selling point is the flexibility of its interior. Not only is it arguably the most roomy car in its class, it also has rear seats that slide, split, tip, tumble, recline, remove and probably cancan if you ask nicely enough. Take out the rear seats and you have a load area unrivalled in the class, put them back and it’s unlikely that four adults are going to be better accommodated in anything else.

Before you start thinking that we have a new class leader on our hands, the Colt is not without its problems. That 74bhp 1.1 litre engine may have a power output you’d usually associate with a 1.3, but you have to work the car hard to make the most of it, and at a steady cruise the fizzy little motor is rather too vocal for comfort.

There are both 1.3 and 1.5 litre four-cylinder versions of the same engine, but experience of them in the new Smart ForFour — which shares more than half the Colt’s components — suggests they are nothing like as characterful or appealing. Its usually fluent ride quality can also be disturbed quite easily by poor road surfaces.

Various aspects of the interior grate too — there are some cheap plastic fittings and the upholstery is a sombre grey. In a car costing just £1 less than 10 grand, more can be expected, even given a generous list of standard equipment; this, after all, is 1.4 litre Polo money.

On the whole, however, it’s surprisingly hard not to like and harder still not to spot its significance. Mitsubishi absolutely does not want you to think of the Colt as an MPV, because the market for such cars is tiny compared with that for conventional superminis, but that is exactly what it is: we’ve had big MPVs for 20 years and we’re now getting used to mid-sized MPVs. It was only a matter of time before someone did a mini-MPV, and this is it.

I know it’s a contradiction in terms but that’s exactly why it is so clever: these days we’re sophisticated enough to recognise the worth of small estates and off-roaders designed only to go on-road. The Colt is just another niche within a niche, masquerading as a mainstream car.

Personally I can’t spot the drawback. It’s not as if it’s some outsize imposter in a small-car class — both the Ford Fiesta and Skoda Fabia are longer, and while it is a little taller than average for such cars, I think its design is integrated and appealing. And if that’s what is required to create such a spacious interior, I’m all for it.

But what struck me most about the Colt was how much better it was at its job than the Smart ForFour. The Smart has a less roomy and versatile interior, is uglier and, when I drove it, I found it rather dull.

Mitsubishi has done well with its first attempt at a car in this class. The real challenge, however, will be to get it onto the shopping list of a notoriously conservative public for whom the idea of a Mitsubishi supermini is not even on the radar screen. If Mitsubishi can find a way to entice them into the showrooms, then I suspect this fine little car will do the rest for them.

VITAL STATISTICS

Model: Mitsubishi Colt 1.1 Equippe
Engine type: Three-cylinder, 1124cc
Power/torque: 74bhp @ 6000rpm / 74 lb ft @ 3500rpm
Transmission: Five-speed manual
Suspension: (front) MacPherson struts, anti-roll bar (rear) coil springs, torsion beam, anti-roll bar
Performance 0-62mph: 13.4sec / top speed 103mph
Price: £9,999
Verdict: Good enough to embarrass most in its class

THE OPPOSITION

Model: Honda Jazz 1.4i DSi-SE, £10,363
For: Good looks, great packaging, Honda engineering
Against: Ride quality deteriorates over poor surfaces, limited performance

Model: Skoda Fabia 1.4 Comfort SE, £9,870
For: Great performance, good value, fun drive
Against: Thirsty, dated cabin, large on the outside