2020 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2

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Sun 16 May 2021 11:27
2020 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 - Metropolis.

Just had a go in a rental Vauxhall Corsa, 70 reg, 1.2 manual. On startup i genuinely thought it was a diesel because of the vibrations through the steering wheel and car generally. It was only on opening the door and stepping outside did i realise by the lack of diesel chug, that it was definitely a petrol. Weirdly the sound inside is much worse than outside. This is my first experience with a 3 cylinder petrol engine and i'm shocked, are they all like this? Makes any 4ncylinder petrol feel luxurious by comparison!

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Sun 16 May 2021 11:51
2020 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 - elekie&a/c doctor
Remember it’s a Peugeot 208 with a different badge . Most small engine cars now are 3 cylinder. Something we’re going to have to get used to.
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Sun 16 May 2021 11:54
2020 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 - badbusdriver

Remember also that the unevenness of a 3 cyl is most apparent at low revs such as idling.

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Sun 16 May 2021 11:53
2020 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 - Lee Power

It will be the NON turbo PSA 3 cylinder Purecrap 1.2 engine - they are very rough ( compared to the turbocharged versions )

I've driven a few various vehicles fitted with this non turbo Purecrap engine & they where all rough sounding.

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Sun 16 May 2021 12:23
2020 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 - Oli rag
I’ve driven two different cars with the 3 cylinder engines, the first was a focus which was okay but the engine I found very rough. The next was a Vauxhall crossland, I thought this car was awful and couldn’t wait to get back in my old Astra. The engine in it was a non turbo 1.2 and was rough and gutless.
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Sun 16 May 2021 13:12
2020 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 - SLO76
They’re not all like this, I’ve found the (fragile) Ford 1.0 Ecoboost quite refined ditto the 3cyl 1.0 VAG turbo or N/A. That said, I actually like the offbeat engine note of a 3cyl motor even if some are a little grumbly at idle. The 1.2 3cyl turbo diesel in my old Polo was full of character and pulled well. I quite miss it even though it sounded like a tractor at idle.

The reasons for 3cyl over 4 these days are that with fewer moving parts and fewer but larger cylinders you have improved economy and low speed torque. They’re cheaper to build and generally more tractable at low speeds which suits smaller city dwelling cars just fine.

I remember in the 90’s when smaller 5 and 6cyl motors were quite popular they lacked performance at normal driving speeds compared to lesser 4cyl versions. Examples I can think of include.

BMW E36 320i - 150bhp but felt no faster than the 113bhp 318 on the road yet had far worse economy.

BMW E34 520 - as above but even more noticeable in the heavier car.

Mazda Xedos 2.0 V6 - Lovely wee cars but performance was utterly flat at low speeds and an equivalent, more spacious and cheaper 626 2.0 4cyl with 115bhp felt quicker.

Mazda MX3 1.8 V6 - Interesting wee coupes and they sounded great but the equivalent MX5 1.8 was faster on the road again and better on fuel.

Rover 75 2.0 V6 - Smooooth but utterly sluggardly.

Volvo 850 2.0 20v - Very smooth and sweet revving engine but had no low speed torque.

Lexus IS200 - Sweet revving 2.0 6cyl but very greedy compared to rivals and sluggish at lower speeds. A lack of an economy variant limited its fleet appeal in the UK despite it being a great car.


As much as I like the sound of a 6cyl, in most conditions an equivalent sized 4 will perform outperform it and ditto a 3cyl v 4. It’s only at higher revs when a larger number of cylinders offers a benefit.




Edited by SLO76 on 16/05/2021 at 13:12

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Sun 16 May 2021 13:39
2020 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 - galileo

My daughter's 2006 3cyl 1.0 Daihatsu isn't rough or noisy, pulls well and returns her 50 mpg.

If Daihatsu still imported them she'd probably replace it with a newer one when the time came to change.

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Sun 16 May 2021 14:41
2020 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 - badbusdriver

My daughter's 2006 3cyl 1.0 Daihatsu isn't rough or noisy, pulls well and returns her 50 mpg.

If Daihatsu still imported them she'd probably replace it with a newer one when the time came to change.

Was that a Sirion?.

We had a new one (1.0) from 2008-2011. Brilliant wee car, huge amount of space, very efficient, and despite what contemporary motoring press would have you believe, plenty capable of sitting at the legal limit and beyond!.

But actually, that same engine is still being used in the Toyota (who own Daihatsu) Aygo, Citroen C1 and Peugeot 108. So while she can't buy a Daihatsu (in this country), she can still buy the beating heart of one!.

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Sun 16 May 2021 19:05
2020 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 - galileo

My daughter's 2006 3cyl 1.0 Daihatsu isn't rough or noisy, pulls well and returns her 50 mpg.

If Daihatsu still imported them she'd probably replace it with a newer one when the time came to change.

Was that a Sirion?.

We had a new one (1.0) from 2008-2011. Brilliant wee car, huge amount of space, very efficient, and despite what contemporary motoring press would have you believe, plenty capable of sitting at the legal limit and beyond!.

But actually, that same engine is still being used in the Toyota (who own Daihatsu) Aygo, Citroen C1 and Peugeot 108. So while she can't buy a Daihatsu (in this country), she can still buy the beating heart of one!.

Hers is a Charade, I've had an Aygo as a courtesy car and a friend has a C1, the Charade seems quite a bit larger with a bigger boot and tailgate.

It's her second Charade, the first was sadly written off by a drunk/uninsured driver in the small hours when it was parked outside her house.

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Sun 16 May 2021 19:38
2020 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 - SLO76
“ But actually, that same engine is still being used in the Toyota (who own Daihatsu) Aygo, Citroen C1 and Peugeot 108. So while she can't buy a Daihatsu (in this country), she can still buy the beating heart of one!.”

Yaris too. It’s a fine wee engine, look after it and it’ll see 150k plus but neglect it and it’ll eat its timing chain. I’d happily buy or recommend any well looked after car with this engine and I’ve fond memories of one earlier 3cyl 1.0 variant in particular, in the Charade GTti. 99bhp in a car that weight as much as a half eaten sock was mighty fun and it was more than you got from a 1.6 XR2 Fiesta of the same era.


I think Toyota and PSA missed a trick by not producing a hot(ish) but insurable version of the 107/108/Aygo/C1. I have had a shot of a 1.2 108 and it was fun enough with 82bhp but say 110 from a boosted version of the wee Daihatsu motor would generate a smile or two.

Edited by SLO76 on 16/05/2021 at 19:41

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Sun 16 May 2021 19:12
2020 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 - Xileno

I was really impressed by Fiesta 1.0 Ecoboost when they first came out, on the motorway it cruised amazingly well for such a tiny engine. I found I was getting up to 80MPG without realising. It was really very refined, I was expecting some harshness for an engine with a missing cylinder but no, it was very good.

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Sun 16 May 2021 19:45
2020 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 - Metropolis.
Glad to hear this is not necessarily typical of 3cylinder engines, albeit this is the only one I have tried. GM era Vauxhall 4cylinder engines in my opinion always seemed a bit granular, or maybe coa*** is the better word for it, so in that aspect it is continuity with the Peugeot take over!

Funny the Ford 3cyl being apparently smoother. Why is it so often the smoother something is, the less reliable it tends to be? Nissan X-Tronic CVT is (in my opinon) smoother on take off and in operation than Toyota’s own CVT, but we all know which one is more reliable!
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Sun 16 May 2021 23:29
2020 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 - daveyK_UK
Being a hire car, I would assume this is the non turbo 1.2 with 75ps.
The higher spec corsa comes in a proper 1.2 turbo 100ps which is a nice drive.

There seems to be a glut of Corsa’s available in the UK, so much so they have swamped the hire market and the most attractive lease deals in the past few months have been for the new Corsa.

Despite being a rebadged 208 they have somehow made the rear seats more cramped, this makes the new Corsa one to avoid if you regularly have passengers.

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Mon 17 May 2021 23:24
2020 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 - Metropolis.

Funny about the legroom Davey, I did think it looked a bit cramped in the back, and the infotainment system was sooooo slow and definitely PSA based. I know i should be grateful that an economy car has air con and sat nav, but this was impressively bad. The CRT screen in an 86 buick Riviera is quicker! www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoYSCuAwPUg

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Thu 20 May 2021 20:51
2020 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 - daveyK_UK
Yes, one area GM was far better at than PSA was the info screens.

The previous corsa screen was more responsive and easier to use than the current Corsa.
The info screen is found in a lot of PSA vehicles, and it’s one of my least favourite as it seems to take a while to ‘warm up’. I suspect it needs more RAM.

One thing to bear in mind with this screen is an update came out last year which does make it more responsive, well worth going through the hassle of downloading it onto a USB drive and installing the update.
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Thu 20 May 2021 23:39
2020 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 - Ethan Edwards

No. I had a three cylinder 1 litre turbo engine on a 68 plate Suzuki Swift Auto 109bhp in a super lightweight car. Quiet and refined but you could give it some beans and it made a pleasing rorty note. Suzuki just made a great car and Vauxhall hasn't.

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