Vauxhall Corsa Review

Vauxhall Corsa

The mixing and matching of specifications is far too complicated to go into here, so I’ll concentrate on the £9,370 test car, which is the mid-range, 3-door Club. Losing two doors gains you a 60:40, folding rear seat that increases the luggage capacity from 285-litres, under the parcel shelf, to 700-litres measured to the window-line and 1,100-litres to the roof.

The boot floor is at the same height as the rear bumper, making it easy to load but it lifts to reveal a fairly shallow compartment, in which to hide and protect vulnerable items. This DualFloor can also be lowered to the bottom of the boot for carrying taller goods. Another thoughtful touch is that the parcel shelf can be secured against the back seat instead of leaving it behind or trying to find a home for it when it has been removed.

Before moving on, the clever Flex-fix system needs a mention. Flex-fix is an integrated rear bicycle carrier and is available as a £500 option from the Club trim upwards. The carrier, which can transport two bicycles, is incorporated into the rear bumper. All it requires is a pull on the handle in the boot and the carrier slides out complete with the car’s registration plate ready for the great outdoors. There is a drawback, choosing the Flex-fix means that you have to forego the (£250) rear parking sensors and the spare tyre is replaced by an emergency tyre inflation kit.

Yet another example of the mix’n’match extras list is the electric sunroof - a £550 option, again for the Club and above, it includes a blind and, for some reason, height adjustment for the front passenger seat however, the under-seat storage tray is forfeited.

The driver of the Club and above already has a height-adjustable seat to go with the rake and reach-adjustable steering wheel. As the test car was limited in terms of doors, the driver’s seat is often moved to let people into the back but thankfully, it remembers its original position. Incidentally, getting in and out of the rear seats is not too arduous; just don’t expect Granny to do it hurriedly and with ease.

The New Corsa comes with a choice of three Twinport petrol engines and three turbo-diesels. Actually, there are only two diesel units; a 1.7CDTi and a 1.3CDTi, which comes with two power outputs - 75PS and 90PS. We tested the 1.3 petrol engine as apposed to the 1.0i- or 1.4i-litre units.