Better than ever, with mostly good quality, plenty of room and now featuring Vauxhall’s quality infotainment
At a glance, you could easily mistake the new Corsa for its predecessor – it has the same door pillars and glass area as before. According to Vauxhall, that’s because existing customers liked the look of the previous car, although clearly, retaining the same layout helps save money on the redesign.
Instead, the brand has splashed the cash on a comprehensive re-skin, with updated bodywork, new lights and a nose inspired by the Vauxhall Adam. The front end is closer to the ground, with a low-set grille and LED running lights that are similar to the Adam’s
Two sharp creases have been added to the doors, while the window line kicks up at the rear. Open the back doors, and you’ll see that the glass is identical to the old model’s, with a painted section covering the exterior metalwork. However, it’s well executed for a cost-cutting measure, and you don’t notice it when you’re sitting in the back.
At the rear, the lights extend over the tailgate, while new wheel designs add a finishing touch. All that said, a casual observer might not notice that it’s a brand new Corsa model.
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Climb inside, though, and the differences between old and new Corsa are obvious. The dashboard gains the touchscreen from the Adam, which groups all the cabin functions together bar the climate controls, while the plastic trim across the dash adds a bit of style.
Higher-spec cars get extra silver trim, and a grey-metallic painted finish for the dash that complements the gloss-black trim found elsewhere. All in all, the cabin looks neat, is as well built as ever and the plastics are of a decent quality.
You’ll also be impressed by the amount of standard kit in there, including Bluetooth, cruise control, a decent stereo system with remote controls on the wheel, and USB connectivity for your phone or iPod. Pretty much every version gets alloy wheels, too, so you’re unlikely to end up with plastic wheel trims.
Corsa trim levels are many and varied, and are regularly tweaked, added or discontinued by Vauxhall, so it’s hard to keep up. But fundamentally they stick with the same equipment hierarchy. There are four mid-level models at present, called Design, Energy, Elite and SE. They get stuff like LED daytime running lights, a touch screen media interface called Intellilink, leather for the steering wheel, and manual climate control – base Sting models don’t get air conditioning at all, sadly.
It gets sporty with SRi, which includes 16-inch alloys, sporty seats, a split-folding rear bench (another base model oversight) and sportier looks, though you’ll have to spec up to SRi-VX Line for sports suspension, bigger wheels and a body kit – making that a desirable specification.
Beyond that the Corsa begins to look luxurious on paper, with top-spec Limited Edition cars including equipment like rain-sensitive wipers, heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, parking sensors, 17-inch alloys, a smart body kit and tinted rear windows.
Sat-nav, stereo and infotainment
Vauxhall has made much of its Intellilink system, a touchscreen unit that includes mobile phone app support. It’s standard on every model except the basic Sting (with an upgrade to sat-nav an option), but unfortunately it doesn’t yet feature much functionality bar the usual DAB radio, Bluetooth and hands-free calls. However, it does include a clever programme that reads text messages to you and allows you to dictate them back.
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A fundamental irk with Intellilink is its small screen, placed low in the dashboard, which together mean your eyes are diverted for a little longer than you might like when using it.
More impressive is Vauxhall’s clever Onstar system, which is fitted on some top-spec model. This gives you a WiFi hotspot, automatic crash response and vehicle diagnostics.