SXi 1.2i 16v 5dr Hatchback

Definitive A to B car

If you are a driver that climbs into a car for raw thrills, then the Corsa is not for you. Almost everything on the car has been designed in the name of sensibleness, and with the aim of appealing to almost everyone. By doing that however, it ends up pulling the heart of nobody.

The SXI styling is nice. My car comes with the factory-spec smoked tail lights, and tinted windows. The 16' wheels and chrome exhaust are also nice touches, and spices up an otherwise objectively dull looking car.

The interior is a very nice place to be for a supermini, even in the modern times. It doesn't have the same technology crammed inside as a new car obviously, but everything is well screwed, there is plenty of soft-touch materials, and every button is where you expect it to be - especially if you've driven a Vauxhall before. Rear seat room isn't bad at all, but obviously you wouldn't want to be going cross-country in the back. The boot is OK, but rather lacks any clever tricks to further improve its usability, such as grappling hooks.

The engine is by far the weakest link of this car. The 1.2l unit is underpowered for a car this size, meaning you have to work it quite hard to get moving. I've had countless situations where I pull out of a junction in second gear in a rolling affair, put my foot down, and have literally zero power until about 2000rpm or so. It feels like turbo lag, but in reality it's just the torque-less nature of the engine. It makes you very vulnerable at times.

Vauxhall obviously knew this, so they counterbalanced the lack of power by fitting incredibly short ratios. So short, in fact, that you can cruise in top gear at just 20mph. What that also means is the engine is 'cruising' at 4000rpm on the motorway. Not suitable. Combine this with the amount you have to whip the engine to make the car move, and it becomes all too easy to make your MPG tumble. Behave, and you'll see about 35-40 in town, and 40-45 on the motorway, depending on speed and traffic, of course. I've gone as low as 30 and as high as 49MPG before. It's also worth mentioning this car has exceptional road manners. While it may be slow, it rides nicely, and doesn't feel unsettled by high speeds or crosswinds. It does drive like a car a class above, in all fairness. The car has also yet to fail an MOT.

As a city runabout, it's good. Expect nothing more than that, and you'll have a good time with it.

Report as offensive