Vauxhall Corsa Review

Performance3/5

There are several options available with the Corsa, but if you are planning on taking the car out of the town for more than 30 seconds its best to avoid the 1.0 petrol option as it has absolutely no guts. The other petrol options are a 1.2 and a 1.4. The 1.2 is probably the one to plump for, it's a marked improvement on the 1.0 and the 1.4 is not really a notable step up from it. The diesels are a distinctly better bet, the 1.7CDTi is the most powerful with 125bhp, and that makes it perfect for town and motorway driving. The 1.3CDTi is probably the best engine for the car, but it is a tad overpriced.

Handling3.5/5

The Corsa's steering was tweaked in 2010 and it has made the Corsa feel a lot more connected to the road. It still retains its lightness of touch though, which makes it excellent to manoeuvre around town. On the motorway this lightness can make it feel a bit disconnected from the driver, but those 2010 tweaks have made this a bit better. On the whole though, the Corsa is a fun drive, with a nice feeling ride.

Exterior3.5/5

The Corsa was updated in 2011 to have the standard Vauxhall grille, which is a nice modern looking touch. The 3 doors have something of the coupe about them, 5 door versions have a more functional feel about them and both the 3 and 5 door versions are designed to make them look distinctly bigger than they are.

Interior4/5

The Corsa is a nice place to sit with plenty of room for all passengers, even in the 3 door, though the sloping back can leave rear passengers feeling a bit confined. The interior is well done with a nice clear dash, but it doesn't have the quality feel of competitors like the Ford Fiesta. The boot has 285 litres of space which is pretty impressive when compared to others in its class. The glove box is a little small, and there is a lack of cubby holes in the car as a whole, but this is a pretty small complaint.

Equipment3/5

The standard models are equipped to a level that would be best described as satisfactory; a CD player, remote central locking, and electric door mirrors are the highlights. The SE and SXi models at the top of the range make the whole thing a lot sportier, but the best value for money is represented by the Exclusiv trim which makes the driving position much more flexible and also adds some nice touches such as MP3 compatibility and an easier to expand boot.

Safety4.5/5

The Corsa scored 5 stars in its Euro NCAP test, and was particularly impressive in the adult occupancy test. You only get 2 airbags as standard, but 6 come with the majority of trims. Other features include Anti-skid control, which doesn't come as standard, but is very reasonable and an Electronic Stability Program (ESP) is available on more expensive models.

Buying & Owning3.5/5

The Corsa is priced pretty reasonably to begin with and because of the vast amount of competition in this class you can usually get yourself a pretty good deal if you are willing to haggle. Corsas have always had a bad depreciation record, this version's design and features should improve this, but it will still drop considerably in price as soon as you've driven it off the forecourt. Although hopefully you can claw some of that cash back on fuel savings as the car is pretty economical. There have been a few recalls of Corsas affecting a considerable number of cars, but the build quality has improved so it shouldn't give you too many problems.

Reviewed by cars2buy