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Posts Tagged ‘Corsa’

The Vauxhall Corsa has seamlessly eased itself into the Great British consciousness by providing reasonably priced, stylish and ecologically sound motoring. In the small hatchback market, the target demographic is not often considered to be looking for a high performance vehicle; they are more interested in the MPG ratios and how much CO2 is leaking out of the exhaust. The standard Corsa fills this niche admirably and has become a consistent and popular critical seller throughout the country. Vauxhall, however, have had a change of heart with the Corsa’s regulation blueprints and have released a fantastic monster.

The Vauxhall Corsa 1.6 16V VXR takes the tried and tested styling of the more common Corsa and puts fire and brimstone under the bonnet. This car seems to be squarely aimed at those amongst us who not only want to get away from the traffic lights first, but want to rip a huge hole in the space/time continuum whilst we do so.

I, like many people, learned to drive in a Vauxhall Corsa, so I was genuinely looking forward to revisiting the humble beginnings of my driving career. What I was presented with was an unbelievably different beast to the 1.3 CDTi I used to chug down the dual carriageway in. The Corsa VXR has been modelled to look sportier; the bodywork looks like a rally car, the seats hug your contours and the whole affair seems to have much more of a snarl about it.

I was used to the Diesel Corsa 0-60 capabilities of around 13 seconds, so was pleasantly surprised when I realised that the VXR model could manage it in a fraction of the time. When I say “pleasantly surprised”, I was actually whooping like a dangerously excitable Gorilla.

The Vauxhall Corsa VXR may very well appeal to the rather unsavoury boy racers amongst us, but its appeal really deserves to be enjoyed by a wider audience. The price range puts it in direct combination with the higher spec Ford Fiestas and the zippy Vauxhall makes a superb case for itself.

If you are looking for a car that can slap a smile on your face, I doubt you will have to look much further than the Vauxhall Corsa 1.6 16V VXR.

The Vauxhall Corsa has seamlessly eased itself into the Great British consciousness by providing reasonably priced, stylish and ecologically sound motoring. In the small hatchback market, the target demographic is not often considered to be looking for a high performance vehicle; they are more interested in the MPG ratios and how much CO2 is leaking out of the exhaust. The standard Corsa fills this niche admirably and has become a consistent and popular seller throughout the country. Vauxhall, however, have had a change of heart with the Corsa’s regulation blueprints and have released something of a caged beast.

The Vauxhall Corsa 1.6 16V VXR takes the tried and tested styling of the more common Corsa and puts fire and brimstone under the bonnet. This car seems to be squarely aimed at those amongst us who not only want to get away from the traffic lights first, but want to rip a hole in time whilst we do so.

I, like anyone who has used BSM recently, learned to drive in a Vauxhall Corsa, so I was genuinely looking forward to revisiting the humble beginnings of my driving career. What I was presented with was a completely different animal to the 1.3 CDTi I used to chug down the dual carriageway in. The Corsa VXR has been modelled to look sportier; the bodywork looks like a rally car, the seats hug your contours and the whole affair seems to have much more of a snarl about it.

I was used to the Diesel Corsa 0-60 capabilities of around 13 seconds, so was ecstatic when I realised that the VXR model could manage it in half the time. When I say “pleasantly surprised”, I was actually whooping like an overly-excitable Orangutan.

The Vauxhall Corsa VXR may very well appeal to the rather unsavoury boy racers amongst us, but its appeal really deserves to be enjoyed by a considerably wider audience. The price range puts it in direct competition with the higher spec Ford Fiestas and the zippy Vauxhall makes a very good case for itself.

If you are looking for a car that can slap a smile on your face, I doubt you will have to look much further than the Vauxhall Corsa 1.6 16V VXR.

Despite the pleading protestations to convince the general public to leave their cars at home and step aboard public transport, the Government and local authorities don’t exactly make it the convenient and cost-friendly solution that one would hope. The prices on public transport consistently creep up and the quality and frequency of service invariably slump down. So what most of us are looking for is cost-effective transport, which is easily maintained, reliable and isn’t full of litter or smells like a particularly abused dustbin. What the general public are crying out for is a series of cars that are suitable for city driving; great handling, good performance at low revs, economical and ecologically sound. With some research I found, with relative ease, the perfect cars to fit the bill.

Vauxhall have been manufacturing popular cars for years now, but in the emergence of more ecologically aware society, many manufacturers have come under scrutiny for their ‘green’ (or not) policies and products. Happily for motorists, Vauxhall have nothing to worry about in this matter. The Vauxhall Corsa 1.3 CDTi produces class-leading low CO2 emissions and is capable of reaching around 70 miles to the gallon, which is not only kinder on your wallet, but considerably kinder on the environment.

 With more and more of us learning to drive every year and with the social stigma placed on gas-guzzling cars, there is a huge scope to be mobile yet environmentally friendly. The Diesel Corsa has all the style and panache you would find desirable in a city car, yet maintains all the practicalities that we are being forced to pay more attention too.

The Vauxhall Corsa 1.3 CDTi is a popular seller in the hatchback market and a suitable vehicle for learners who may not drive the most economically, city dwellers and those who need affordable transport from day to day.

Let’s be very frank and honest about this; Vauxhall is hardly a ‘glamourous’ brand. For as long as I can remember they have been churning out cars that have been…well…a bit underwhelming. The engineers at Vauxhall may be adept at producing comfortable, well performing and reasonably priced vehicles, but they’re hardly setting anyone’s world on fire are they? Until now that is to say…Enter the new Vauxhall Corsa.

Ok, you can stop cringing and come from behind the sofa; I’m not going to build the Corsa up to be a Zonda F or Lamborghini Gallardo, as it is clearly not. What Vauxhall have done though, is inject some much needed ‘ZING’ into their entry level vehicle. The old Corsa resembled a shoebox on wheels and had all the cool points and street credit of cordurouy trousers. A few carefully designed changes to the bodywork and all of a sudden Vauxhall have created one of the most stylish looking superminis available.

The Corsa comes with a veritable smorrgasbord of engine options ranging from the meek and rather forgettable 1.0 3 cylinder to the growling 1.6 Turbo VXR, the latter being something of a boy racer’s fantasy. The popularity of the Corsa has some minor drawbacks however. Due to the dinky size, responsive handling, stylish looks and cheap running costs, the Corsa has been adopted as the driving teacher’s car of choice. With leading driving school BSM operating a fleet of thousands of Corsas, you’ll be hard pushed to go for a drive in your Corsa without getting stuck behind another Corsa with a big trapezoid with a ‘L’ on top of it. Thus the illusion of cool is mortally ruptured and you end up feeling like a bit of a fool.

The snowball effect aside, you cannot deny that the Corsa probably deserves its popularity. It has challenged the Ford Fiesta, VW Polo and Fiat Panda as the new driver’s first car and is putting up a very valiant fight. The current market for superminis has found itself in a state of saturation recently, with almost every car manufacturer vying for the precious profit to be made from entry-level vehicles. The Corsa was the 4^th bestselling car in the United Kingdom in 2007 (shifting 94,120 units in the UK) and has consistently been in the top 10 selling cars list since its introduction in 1993; quite an achievement in anyone’s book.

My own personal experience of the Corsa comes in the 1.3 CDTi. During my journeys I felt as though I was within a metal bubble, comfortable in the seats and the relatively heightened driving position. The plastics all felt rigid and of good quality, the only drawback being the stubby indicators which are as responsive as a dead camel. The central console’s screen was clear and concise, even though it shared a differing opinion to the speedometer regarding my velocity; only a minor irritation and nothing to detract from the driving experience too much.

The engine was zippy without being overly-dramatic, though it has to be said that it did often make a lot of noise without actually achieving very much…but I guess that’s typical of smaller diesel engines. The engine was also ecologically sound, producing around 57 mpg, which is not only a relief to the consumer, but also the planet. The gearbox was relatively smooth, though often refused to go into third or fifth without me resorting to violently aggressive manoeuvres.

The Vauxhall Corsa is ideally suited to those amongst us who want to feel very much a part of the driving experience, rather than just a passenger. The car seems to have been designed to be a relaxing drive, but jolts you every now and then to keep you alert. The race for the ultimate supermini hatch is still wide open, though it is refreshing that not everyone is automatically heading to their nearest Ford dealership. Now let’s all rejoice in free market capitalism and the consumers right to choose.

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 had gained a reputation for being dull – that was until the latest model was introduced. With a sharper style and a tidy interior it’s a massive leap forward compared to its predecessor offering more comfort, more space and more 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's a wide choice of engines but it's the diesels that really impress, especially the frugal 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 more sporty performance there's a 1.6-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 it still has more than enough go and with a 0-60mph 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 is far smoother and much more refined than its bigger counterpart and although it lack a bit of the mid-range power its super economical – the less highly powered version averages 63 mpg. All petrol models have a five-speed gearbox with the exception of the 1.6T which, as well as the diesel engines comes with a six speed gear box. 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.