New Corsa promises fun and value | Car Reviews

| A Week at the Wheel | Bucks, England | Vauxhall Corsa SXi 1.4 16v |

The buzzword Vauxhall wants to surround the new Corsa with is FUN. The new advertising strategy reflects this, with puppets (the 'C'mons') out on the town in their Corsa. So how much fun is the new Corsa? We recently tried the highest specification three-door Corsa available (ahead of the launch of the VXR, the SXi tops the range) with the largest petrol engine in the range (the 16v 1.4-litre petrol unit) to see if it lives up to the hype.

Inevitably, the new Corsa is bigger than the outgoing model, and in three-door form especially, seems to mimic the styling of the larger Astra Sport Hatch. This is no bad thing; our Corsa proved very popular, especially with the ladies. Didn't seem to matter whether they were 17, 35 or even older. The sentiment was the same: "ooh, you've got the new Corsa. It looks really nice, what's it like?" So that's round one to Vauxhall straight away. I have to admit, in bright red with the (optional) 17-inch alloy wheels, our Corsa was rather striking.

The super-mini market place is as competitive as ever; every new release has to be seen to raise the game or risk instant failure. The new Corsa brings a number of innovations, some as standard fitment, some as options. The Flex-Fix integrated carrier system saves the need for an after-market cycle rack for instance. The Corsa also has adaptive brake lights linked to the ABS - under normal braking they illuminate in the usual fashion, but under full emergency braking when the ABS is activated, they flash five times a second to warn following drivers the Corsa is braking hard. This may take a while to filter through to other cars and I guess there is the danger following drivers will be mesmerised by the flashing lights, but it's an important safety advance that has been too long coming. New to this class, but sadly optional, is Adaptive Forward Lighting that mimics high-end Xenon setups by moving the headlight beams by up to 15 degrees left or right as the steering wheel is turned.

SXi is the semi-sporty grade in the Corsa line-up, yet at the same time is insurance friendly being rated by the ABI as only Group 4E. This means that younger drivers who are most attracted to the Corsa's striking looks will be able to afford to insure the Corsa; this is not always the case with warm hatches. The SXi comes with 16-inch alloy wheels as standard (though ours rode on the optional 17-inch wheel, which are a "must have" option, they look that good), sports suspension, electric heated door mirrors and a sportier steering rack with variable ratio and speed-sensitive power steering.

This last item I never got on with; maybe a week with the car just wasn't enough. It seemed like the Corsa was self-centring the moment you turned the wheel, so if you hold the wheel lightly, it would often "win" the battle. The result was constant "three-penny-bitting" round corners (for our younger reader, the old three penny bit was 12 sided!) rather than being able to take corners in a smooth radius. This was a real shame, as the sports suspension works well enough; the Corsa SXi's cornering abilities were more than up to scratch, yet the satisfaction of being able to place the Corsa just so, to clip the apex just there, was in more ways that one, missing. Because I couldn't be totally sure to the inch where I would be, the wheel kept pulling back against me. It wasn't Citroen-style power self-centring, this seemed more of a geometry problem, but the effect was the same.

Our Corsa also came with the optional sunroof, which from the outside looks like a full-size glass roof in two panels, but in reality only the front section opens up. It's a neat styling trick and worked especially well on our red car.

Now you don't get an insurance group rating of 4E and expect fireball performance. The 1.4-litre 16v engine may be modern, but 89bhp is nothing to get excited about - it's only the same power output as the 1.3-litre diesel musters, and is outshone by the 125bhp 1.7-litre diesel option. There is going to be a big gap between this and the forthcoming VXR turbocharged Corsa, which has over twice the power. This 89bhp translates into a top speed of 107mph (same as the 1.3-litre diesel) and a 0-60mph time of 11.8 seconds (11.7 for the diesel). Fuel economy is decent enough for a petrol engined car with 45.6mpg Combined Cycle economy, but the diesel blows this away with 61.4mpg. Maybe you need to do your sums and see how long it takes to save the £690 price difference?

The new Vauxhall Corsa seems unashamedly aimed at female drivers. As such, practicality features as prominently as does style and appearance. It's a given these days that in-car storage simply abounds, including bottle holders in the door pockets (do people really carry bottles?) and compartments for odds and ends everywhere. The Corsa also introduces the 'DualFloor Boot', essentially a double-load floor. In normal setting, the floor sits level with the top of the rear bumper making luggage that much easier to load and unload. If greater capacity is required, the DualFloor can be lowered to the bottom of the boot allowing larger items to be carried at the expense of ease of getting them in and out.

Prices for the new Corsa range start at just £7,495 running up to £13,795. This 1.4-litre three-door SXi sits near the middle of the range at £10,800, but it's easy to throw a lot more money at the desirable range of extras such as our car came with.

2007 Vauxhall Corsa range overview

- Vauxhall Corsa Expression 1.0i 12v three-door: £7,495
- Vauxhall Corsa Life 1.0i 12v three-door: £8,600
- Vauxhall Corsa Life 1.2i 16v three-door: £9,000
- Vauxhall Corsa Life a/c 1.0i 12v three-door: £9,100
- Vauxhall Corsa Life 1.0i 12v five-door: £9,250
- Vauxhall Corsa Club 1.2i 16v three-door: £9,400
- Vauxhall Corsa Life 1.2i 16v Easytronic three-door: £9,500
- Vauxhall Corsa Life a/c 1.2i 16v three-door: £9,500
- Vauxhall Corsa Life 1.2i 16v five-door: £9,650
- Vauxhall Corsa Life a/c 1.0i 12v five-door: £9,750
- Vauxhall Corsa Life 1.3CDTi 16v (75PS) three-door: £9,810
- Vauxhall Corsa Club 1.2i 16v Easytronic three-door: £9,900
- Vauxhall Corsa Club 1.4i 16v three-door: £9,900
- Vauxhall Corsa Club a/c 1.2i 16v three-door: £9,900
- Vauxhall Corsa Life a/c 1.2i 16v Easytronic three-door: £10,000
- Vauxhall Corsa Club 1.2i 16v five-door: £10,050
- Vauxhall Corsa Life 1.2i 16v Easytronic five-door: £10,150
- Vauxhall Corsa Life a/c 1.2i 16v five-door: £10,150
- Vauxhall Corsa Club 1.3CDTi 16v (75PS) three-door: £10,210
- Vauxhall Corsa SXi 1.2i 16v three-door: £10,300
- Vauxhall Corsa Life a/c 1.3CDTi 16v (75PS) three-door: £10,310
- Vauxhall Corsa Club a/c 1.2i 16v Easytronic three-door: £10,400
- Vauxhall Corsa Club a/c 1.4i 16v three-door: £10,400
- Vauxhall Corsa Life 1.3CDTi 16v (75PS) five-door: £10,460
- Vauxhall Corsa Club 1.2i 16v Easytronic five-door: £10,550
- Vauxhall Corsa Club 1.4i 16v five-door: £10,550
- Vauxhall Corsa Club a/c 1.2i 16v five-door: £10,550
- Vauxhall Corsa Life a/c 1.2i 16v Easytronic five-door: £10,650
- Vauxhall Corsa Club a/c 1.3CDTi 16v (75PS) three-door: £10,710
- Vauxhall Corsa SXi 1.4i 16v three-door: £10,800
- Vauxhall Corsa SXi a/c 1.2i 16v three-door: £10,800
- Vauxhall Corsa Club 1.3CDTi 16v (75PS) five-door: £10,860
- Vauxhall Corsa Club 1.4i 16v Automatic three-door: £10,900
- Vauxhall Corsa SXi 1.2i 16v five-door: £10,950
- Vauxhall Corsa Life a/c 1.3CDTi 16v (75PS) five-door: £10,960
- Vauxhall Corsa Club a/c 1.2i 16v Easytronic five-door: £11,050
- Vauxhall Corsa Club a/c 1.4i 16v five-door: £11,050
- Vauxhall Corsa Design 1.2i 16v three-door: £11,050
- Vauxhall Corsa SXi a/c 1.4i 16v three-door: £11,300
- Vauxhall Corsa Club a/c 1.3CDTi 16v (75PS) five-door: £11,360
- Vauxhall Corsa Club a/c 1.4i 16v Automatic three-door: £11,400
- Vauxhall Corsa SXi 1.4i 16v five-door: £11,450
- Vauxhall Corsa SXi a/c 1.2i 16v five-door: £11,450
- Vauxhall Corsa SXi 1.3CDTi 16v (90PS) three-door: £11,490
- Vauxhall Corsa Club 1.4i 16v Automatic five-door: £11,550
- Vauxhall Corsa Design 1.4i 16v three-door: £11,550
- Vauxhall Corsa Design 1.2i 16v five-door: £11,700
- Vauxhall Corsa SXi 1.4i 16v Automatic three-door: £11,800
- Vauxhall Corsa SXi a/c 1.4i 16v five-door: £11,950
- Vauxhall Corsa SXi a/c 1.3CDTi 16v (90PS) three-door: £11,990
- Vauxhall Corsa Club a/c 1.4i 16v Automatic five-door: £12,050
- Vauxhall Corsa SXi 1.3CDTi 16v (90PS) five-door: £12,140
- Vauxhall Corsa Design 1.4i 16v five-door: £12,200
- Vauxhall Corsa Design 1.3CDTi 16v (90PS) three-door: £12,240
- Vauxhall Corsa SXi a/c 1.4i 16v Automatic three-door: £12,300
- Vauxhall Corsa SXi 1.4i 16v Automatic five-door: £12,450
- Vauxhall Corsa Design 1.4i 16v Automatic three-door: £12,550
- Vauxhall Corsa SXi 1.7CDTi 16v (125PS) three-door: £12,640
- Vauxhall Corsa SXi a/c 1.3CDTi 16v (90PS) five-door: £12,640
- Vauxhall Corsa Design 1.3CDTi 16v (90PS) five-door: £12,890
- Vauxhall Corsa SXi a/c 1.4i 16v Automatic five-door: £12,950
- Vauxhall Corsa SXi a/c 1.7CDTi 16v (125PS) three-door: £13,140
- Vauxhall Corsa Design 1.4i 16v Automatic five-door: £13,200
- Vauxhall Corsa SXi 1.7CDTi 16v (125PS) five-door: £13,290
- Vauxhall Corsa Design 1.7CDTi 16v (125PS) three-door: £13,390
- Vauxhall Corsa SXi a/c 1.7CDTi 16v (125PS) five-door: £13,790
- Vauxhall Corsa Design 1.7CDTi 16v (125PS) five-door: £14,040
- Vauxhall Corsa VXR 1.6i 16v Turbo three-door: £15,625