The Vauxhall Corsa has been around for what seems to be ages. Some might say almost as long as Bruce Forsythe who is a British institution, rather like the good old Corsa. {The problem is that unlike good old Bruce who is still at the peak of his powers the average British car buyer became bored of the old Corsa with its dated style and were instead tempted away by the sleek, sophisticated look and feel that other European}.
The original Corsa which was released back in 1993 was an improvement on the boxy Nova that it replaced but the 2000 model was not much of a revelation despite good sales and the competition was hot on the heals of the Corsa by then. As a result the all-new Corsa launched in 2006 attempted to win back the buyers it had lost to the likes of Peugeot, Toyota, Renault and of course Fiat with the Grande Punto.
The answer was if you can’t beat them join them and so the third Generation Corsa was born. Based on the same platform as the Grande Punto the Corsa was an entirely different proposition to what had gone before and more akin to a baby Astra than anything else.
The car has a far higher quality feel about it .The Corsa name has acquired a reputation for being bland – that was until the newest model was introduced. With better styling and a smarter inside it’s a big advance from its forerunner it offers more comfort space and refinement. Like its big brother, the Astra, it has two distinct profiles for three and five-door models - and both variants look good. It's enjoyable to drive too and thanks to a comfortable ride and decent noise insulation makes a surprisingly smooth motorway cruiser. There is a huge range of engines but it is the diesels that truly impress, especially the thrifty 1.3-litre CDTi. There's also a performance model in the shape of the 1.6T SRi which is just as exciting to bomb around in as the VXR hot hatch.
There's a good choice of engines in the Corsa range and they all offer decent economy. The starter level model is the 1.0-litre petrol but with just 60bhp the three-cylinder unit struggles for pace and feels sluggish - the 80bhp 1.2-litre is a better bet if you intend to cover more than town miles. There's also a 1.4-litre unit but it only has 10bhp more than the 1.2-litre and isn't much quicker - it also needs to be revved hard to achieve decent momentum and will quickly lose interest when faced with hills. For a sporty performance there is a.6-litre turbo-charged SRi model which was introduced in mid-2007 - it uses a less powerful version of the engine found in the VXR with 150bhp instead of 192bhp. However there is still plenty of go with a 0-60 mph time of 7.6 seconds it doesn't hang about either
It’s the diesels that come out the best though. The most powerful is the 1.7 CDTi with 125bhp and plenty of pulling power it makes it ideal for town and motorway driving and it's a surprisingly relaxed cruiser, sitting at low revs at 70mph. The pick of the engine range is the newer 1.3 CDTi available with 75bhp or 90bhp. It's much smoother and more refined than its larger counterpart and although it lacks some of the mid-range punch it's incredibly economical - the less powerful version averaging 63mpg. All the petrol cars have a five speed gearbox expect for the 1.6T which, along with the diesel engines, comes with a six-speed transmission. The gearboxes do feel a little notchy and slow to shift but the change is positive enough. An Easytronic (automated manual) system is available on the 1.2-litre models, while a conventional four-speed automatic can be specified on the 1.4-litre
The Corsa may not have the French sophistication of a Renault Clio or the sporty appeal of a Mazda 2 but is a great all rounder and a superb choice if you're after a good value, small hatchback.
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