... Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 SXi 
I sighed as I was handed the keys and pointed to the 06 plate 1.2 Twinport on the forecourt. They have de-fleeted the Clio and will no longer be stocking Renaults. Ah well, at least I dont have to walk...
One press of the open button on the keyfob unlocks the drivers door only. This is alright if you are the only person to use the car but if you give lifts to people regularly, having to double-press the button gets annoying FAST.
Getting in, the first thing that struck me was just how cheap the whole interior is. Ridiculously cheap plastic interior that makes the Clio (and even the Ka!!) seem like a nice place to be. The steering wheel is covered in a plastic that you wouldnt see fit to use on a cheapo playstation wheel let alone a proper car. It is 40 miles old and already the fake stitching on the wheel is starting to pull apart. All of the controls are in accessible places and in typical Vauxhall style the headlight controls cant be found on the stalks, they are on the panel to the right. No biggie, but having to move so far to turn the lights on is a little strange. I dont know who they designed the seats for either because they are dire. Lumbar support is too low making it an irritation rather than a back-saving addition. The seat is too high, too, and it isnt height adjustable. The steering column cannot be adjusted either which is a huge PITA for anyone who has to have the seat as far back as it will physically go (like me, and anyone else 6ft or taller). All in all, a dire place to be compared to just about every other car I have ever been in ever. Only thing that instantly springs to mind as being worse was an early Punto I was forced to drive a while back. It could be SO much better with a little more thought.
For what it is, there is remarkably little kit too - the Clio had Air Con, trip computer, automatic wipers/lights etc - none of which can be found on the Corsa. The CD player is godawful too and the sound quality is pretty diabolical - another area where the Clio won hands-down.
Turning the key and the fresh off the production line engine splutters into life second time of asking. Quiet idle, next to no engine noise in the cabin at idle either which is alright.
Clutch is the lightest clutch I have EVER used. It is so light it is daft - there is no feel whatsoever regarding exactly where the bite is (through the pedal) and not enough resistance to even rest your foot against it between gear changes. The Clio had a very heavy clutch and I preferred that to this mega-light clutch in all honesty. The Audi A3 / Golf has a much better balance of the clutch weight in my opinion.
Putting it into first, the gearbox is much better than the Clio and it isnt even run in yet. Every selection is a firm "hit" and there is no vagueness about it - which is nice when you are on some back lanes where you have no time to think about what the gearbox is doing.
Creep forward out of the forecourt and onto the busy dual carriageway and put my foot down. I see the tachometer needle rising but I am hardly moving. Ah, yes. I am piloting a weedy 1.2 Corsa. This engine unit has NO power and even less torque. Caning the hell out of it gets you to 60 in what feels like forever (compared to the Clio!!) but the Clio ran out of puff at 80mph pretty much. This doesnt and so as a result belting it along some familiar roads resulted in quite a lot higher speeds (with significantly less fuel economy!) than the Clio. The limiter is reached pretty quickly - it doesnt mind revving and the fuel-cut has caught me out once or twice. No doubt given time I will adjust to it though.
I havnt had occasion to put it down some testing roads to see how it rates handling wise at speed but the steering is LIGHT - there is some serious assistance given to the driver here and it is too easy to flick it far harder than you intended around a small roundabout, for example. I like to have feedback through the wheel and there just isnt enough there. Coupled with the plasticness of the wheel and it just feels like a cheap toy car.
In all honesty, I cant see why anyone could get into one of these and think "Yes, I want this" given the competition. I really, really cant - it is that bad.
By all means, test drive one - but if you want to keep a straight face, make sure it is the first test drive you do
EDIT:
Good grief! I just had a nosey on the Vauxhall website - they want just shy of ELEVEN THOUSAND POUNDS for this heap of plastic junk?
The Clio looks positively good value for money compared to that!! :Eek:
I sighed as I was handed the keys and pointed to the 06 plate 1.2 Twinport on the forecourt. They have de-fleeted the Clio and will no longer be stocking Renaults. Ah well, at least I dont have to walk...
One press of the open button on the keyfob unlocks the drivers door only. This is alright if you are the only person to use the car but if you give lifts to people regularly, having to double-press the button gets annoying FAST.
Getting in, the first thing that struck me was just how cheap the whole interior is. Ridiculously cheap plastic interior that makes the Clio (and even the Ka!!) seem like a nice place to be. The steering wheel is covered in a plastic that you wouldnt see fit to use on a cheapo playstation wheel let alone a proper car. It is 40 miles old and already the fake stitching on the wheel is starting to pull apart. All of the controls are in accessible places and in typical Vauxhall style the headlight controls cant be found on the stalks, they are on the panel to the right. No biggie, but having to move so far to turn the lights on is a little strange. I dont know who they designed the seats for either because they are dire. Lumbar support is too low making it an irritation rather than a back-saving addition. The seat is too high, too, and it isnt height adjustable. The steering column cannot be adjusted either which is a huge PITA for anyone who has to have the seat as far back as it will physically go (like me, and anyone else 6ft or taller). All in all, a dire place to be compared to just about every other car I have ever been in ever. Only thing that instantly springs to mind as being worse was an early Punto I was forced to drive a while back. It could be SO much better with a little more thought.
For what it is, there is remarkably little kit too - the Clio had Air Con, trip computer, automatic wipers/lights etc - none of which can be found on the Corsa. The CD player is godawful too and the sound quality is pretty diabolical - another area where the Clio won hands-down.
Turning the key and the fresh off the production line engine splutters into life second time of asking. Quiet idle, next to no engine noise in the cabin at idle either which is alright.
Clutch is the lightest clutch I have EVER used. It is so light it is daft - there is no feel whatsoever regarding exactly where the bite is (through the pedal) and not enough resistance to even rest your foot against it between gear changes. The Clio had a very heavy clutch and I preferred that to this mega-light clutch in all honesty. The Audi A3 / Golf has a much better balance of the clutch weight in my opinion.
Putting it into first, the gearbox is much better than the Clio and it isnt even run in yet. Every selection is a firm "hit" and there is no vagueness about it - which is nice when you are on some back lanes where you have no time to think about what the gearbox is doing.
Creep forward out of the forecourt and onto the busy dual carriageway and put my foot down. I see the tachometer needle rising but I am hardly moving. Ah, yes. I am piloting a weedy 1.2 Corsa. This engine unit has NO power and even less torque. Caning the hell out of it gets you to 60 in what feels like forever (compared to the Clio!!) but the Clio ran out of puff at 80mph pretty much. This doesnt and so as a result belting it along some familiar roads resulted in quite a lot higher speeds (with significantly less fuel economy!) than the Clio. The limiter is reached pretty quickly - it doesnt mind revving and the fuel-cut has caught me out once or twice. No doubt given time I will adjust to it though.
I havnt had occasion to put it down some testing roads to see how it rates handling wise at speed but the steering is LIGHT - there is some serious assistance given to the driver here and it is too easy to flick it far harder than you intended around a small roundabout, for example. I like to have feedback through the wheel and there just isnt enough there. Coupled with the plasticness of the wheel and it just feels like a cheap toy car.
In all honesty, I cant see why anyone could get into one of these and think "Yes, I want this" given the competition. I really, really cant - it is that bad.
By all means, test drive one - but if you want to keep a straight face, make sure it is the first test drive you do
EDIT:
Good grief! I just had a nosey on the Vauxhall website - they want just shy of ELEVEN THOUSAND POUNDS for this heap of plastic junk?
The Clio looks positively good value for money compared to that!! :Eek:
Last edited:
I was paying attention to the road rather than the tachometer!
