A u-turn on Regent Street in rush hour, on a late shopping night, should be the party-piece of any ‘supermini.’ If you buy a five door, small-engined supermini, you are surely looking for a stress-free shopping car. Something that can take bags in the boot and a couple of little ones in the back for a half hour drive into town, before quietly slipping into the first awkward multi-story car park space you see. And they are always awkward aren’t they?
I devised the ideal test route for just such a shopping experience in the new Vauxhall Corsa. Driving in to town I was impressed that even at dual-carriageway speeds the little diesel was never unrefined. Of course, it took its time to get up to speed and there was no power in reserve, but it is only a 1.3 turbo diesel. It didn’t seem as perky as the Ford Fiesta equivalent, but it did feel more solid. So you pays your money and you takes your choice.
Getting nearer to town, the traffic queues provided the opportunity to play with the dashboard controls and look around the cabin. It is extremely spacious and despite being a small car, the seats are built for adults. Something that the Clios and Fiestas can’t quite claim. The fundamental build quality is excellent. The dashboard and door panels feel solid, join-up neatly and the doors positively thud shut. The gear shift and handbrake feel like they were actually engineered rather than just hooked up to the car at the end of the build.
This being the basic entry model, it did not have air-conditioning (I didn’t know you could still buy cars without air con?) and the ventilation controls were the only reminder of Vauxhalls from the dim and distant past. The plastics for the control knobs felt like they were made from recycled plastic sweet wrappers. Cute-looking and not unappealing, but slightly at odds with the quality of the rest of the car. Perhaps its Vauxhall’s way of saying, ‘spend the extra and get the air-con’?
Once into the shopping district I realised that to make it into the NCP I needed to turn right where one is not supposed to. With all the pedestrianisation, this is an increasingly common experience in a big city or any town that you don’t visit too often. I thought about ignoring the sign as the manoeuvre could clearly be executed safely but knowing that CCTV is ever better at catching such outrageous criminal tendencies, I opted for the professional’s work-around.
I crossed the junction, missing my turn and a soon as my back wheel passed the traffic lights that displayed the crossed-out ‘r’, I swung hard right. Right turns may be illegal, but the much more disruptive U-turn was quite alright. It is a bread-and-butter manoeuvre for a cabbie because they are a) highly practised and b) have the right tool for the job.
To my mind the Corsa should be as good as the black cab at this kind of move and whilst I made it without bringing all the other shoppers to a stand still, I only just made it (hanging the front end over the kerb) and had to use the width of three lanes. A supermini, to my mind, should be a bit more nimble than this.
Driving into Cavendish Square underground car park brings home how much cars have changed. The car park was spacious when we all drove Austin 10s, but with the seats down, an Austin 10 will probably fit in the boot of this versatile Corsa. Whatever multi-storey you use, whether it is very rectangular or very curvy, they all seem designed to create maximum opportunity for skewering a wing on something. If you are in a GT car or some bloated executive transport you rather expect it to be a chore. But in a supermini like the Corsa I wanted to feel like I was in a go-kart coated in Vaseline. Able to whiz in, dive into a space and jump out grinning at the Estate driver sweating his or her way through point four of a multi-point effort to squeeze into a space.
But the Corsa, as we established on Regent Street, has a small steering lock. The trade-off for having proper grown-up seats in the front is that the car is very wide. The aerodynamic and stylish front that I like means the bonnet rakes away and you can’t see it. It all combines to make this car not much easier to park than something quite a lot larger.
Returning to the car with shopping bags galore, I really admired the styling. It is uniquely curvy; rare for typically boxy superminis. It is more modern than anything else on the market, without being controversial. I really like the three-door version in particular. It looks small, sporty and fun. The longer-wheelbase five-door version on test looks like more like a mini-mpv, which is a shrewd response to public demand for mpvs of all types.
Opening the boot reveals a large flat load space, with a low loading lip; so a very practical design that will appeal to new mums and the elderly alike. A word of caution to you all though, do not just pull the flat lever situated inside the boot without reading the manual first. It releases the bicycle rack that sits behind the number plate. If you are not ready for this most modern of inventions to spring out, it will clock you a nasty one on the shins! This will be amusing to small children in the area, but will make you wince.
Summary
A versatile, stylish, well-thought-out and well-made small car. Whilst it doesn’t always feel quite as nimble in tight city spots as it should, it will secure the Cora’s place amongst the top-selling UK cars for sometime to come.
Road Test Car Details:
VAUXHALL CORSA 1.3 CDTI
0-60: 13.6 SECS
MPG: 62.8
OTR: £10,865
Words: Matthew Tumbridge