OUR CARS
MILEAGE 4151
WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT
To get to know Vauxhall’s new supermini
and to test the combination of 1.2-litre
petrol turbo triple and eight-speed auto
62 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 8 APRIL 2 020
The new Corsa is 95% great, but we’re starting to learn about the other 5%
VAUXHALL CORSA
T
he Corsa seems to have
accumulated a lot of milest h i s pa s t mont h or s o
without trying. You just
jump in and go. I’m still getting used
to how well the eight-speed automatic
gearbox works with the refined but
none-too-powerful (99bhp) petrol
turbo triple. That’s probably because
it produces a much more respectable
1 51 lb f t at ju s t 175 0 r pm , w h ic h i n
turn is why it can easily sustain high
gears and low revs when cruising on
a motorway. In the Normal driving
mode, it usually stays in seventh;
you’ve got to be doing 80-plus before
it’ll select and stay in its top ratio.
Two things are especially pleasing.
One is the economy: the 44.7mpg
overall we’ve returned so far sounds
good, yet it doesn’t quite do the car
ju s t ic e. I f y ou de c ide at t he out s e t t h at
you’re going on a 50mpg trip, you can
Our Corsa plays host to one of the
best small engines on the market
do it without really trying. The other
is the way the Sport mode sharpens
the Corsa’s throttle responses, hangs
ont o ge a r s ( h a nd y w he n it c ome s t o
engine braking downhill) and makes
good use of the engine’s urge around
4000-5000rpm. Revving is never a
trial: the PSA Group’s 1.2-litre triple
is one of the best small engines going,
a nd it w ork s e s p e c i a l l y w e l l i n t h i s
application. When the mood strikes,
you’ll also enjoy driving in Manual –
response to the paddles is close to
instant – and my frequent preference
for this mode is probably why ourLOW-SPEED LUMPINESS
Sensitive throttle plus unrefined
stop-start often makes step-off
untidy, especially for those new to
the car. It can’t help on test drives.
PERFORMANCE FEEL
Having eight automatic ratios in
a lightish supermini (only 1100kg)
makes the best of its modest
but smooth three-pot power.
LOATHE IT
LOVE IT