Vauxhall Corsa Review

If you’re looking for a small hatchback that’s easy to drive in the city, on the motorway or cross country, the Vauxhall Corsa should be on your shortlist.

The Corsa needs little introduction. It’s usually one of Britain’s best-selling cars, and is loved by P-plate teenagers, pensioners and many people in between. Vauxhall’s supermini has always gone up against the Ford Fiesta but, with the Ford having bowed out of the small car scene in 2022, the Corsa has even more appeal.

Not that the Corsa has the class to itself. It faces stiff competition from the likes of the Volkswagen Polo, SEAT Ibiza, Renault Clio, Hyundai i20, Skoda Fabia, Suzuki Swift, Honda Jazz, Toyota Yaris and the Peugeot 208, which shares its bones with the Corsa. Phew.

The Corsa is known for offering great value for money, undercutting many rivals while providing plenty of standard equipment. Even the cheapest Corsa now gets LED headlights, a 10-inch touchscreen and auto emergency braking. But it’s worth noting that Vauxhall charges an absolute fortune for an electric Corsa, so the best-value models are found further down the range.

Previously, a diesel engine was offered but the current lineup should still give enough choice for every Corsa buyer. Kicking things off is a 1.2-litre petrol, which performs keenly and sounds like it, too. Above that is a hybrid version, and the electric version we’ve just mentioned that gives you over 200 miles on a charge and costs mere pounds to top up. All are fun and frugal.

The Corsa was updated in 2023 but the changes Vauxhall made aren’t revolutionary – we’d stick with a lightly used pre-facelift car and pocket the change.

Step inside the Corsa and you’ll find a neat, tidy dashboard with most of the space given over to the touchscreen infotainment system, which is standard on all versions. Lots of Corsa trim levels include built-in sat nav, but all versions include Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, so you can use your smartphone mapping apps through your car’s screen.

You’ll probably want to use these smartphone-mirroring systems often, because the earlier infotainment system’s built-in software is mediocre. All the functions you’d expect – Bluetooth connectivity and DAB radio – work as intended, but the screen is slow to respond to your touch and the graphics aren’t as appealing as the best in class. Facelift cars (produced from mid-2023) have a quicker and larger screen.

The Corsa’s interior styling is solid but doesn’t stand out, which is a shame considering the mechanically related Peugeot 208 has such a plush cabin. You do get flashes of red or silver detailing the further up the trim range you go, and the really cheap plastics are only used in distant parts of the interior that you rarely touch, but it’s generally a case of form following function.

All Corsa models are five-door-only now and this is probably the most useful body style for the majority of buyers. It’s still a small car, however, so the door openings aren’t very wide, especially at the back. This can make it tricky to manoeuvre wriggling kids into their car seats.

Passenger space isn’t class leading but it’s towards the larger end of the segment. There’s plenty of room up front and you can feasibly seat one six-foot adult behind another. Rear space will be extremely tight if you use all three seats at the same time, but that’s the same for all the Corsa’s main rivals.

On paper, the Corsa’s boot is very similar to the Fiesta’s for overall capacity, but we think it’s slightly more useful in practice with a fractionally wider, more square shape. The opening is also slightly wider at the lower edge – handy if you’re sliding very heavy objects in.

There’s now just one traditional engine option for the Corsa now – a 1.2-litre, three-cylinder petrol borrowed from several Peugeot and Citroen models. This comes with a turbo in either 100 or 130hp versions. Previously, a non-turbo 75hp version opened the range, and this is the one to look for if low insurance costs are a priority.

However, it does feel a bit sluggish when overtaking on the motorway so, for most buyers, we’d recommend either of the turbo petrol options. Both are impressively punchy off the line and they’re also more relaxed at speed.

A more recent addition is a pair of hybrid engines, which bolt electrical assistance onto the 1.2 engine. These auto-only hybrids return around 60mpg, compared to 50mpg or so you can expect from the petrol, and they’re not much more expensive to buy.

Vauxhall did offer a 1.5-litre diesel engine until the end of 2021, but diesel Corsas are very rare compared with petrol versions and are best suited to buyers that cover very high annual mileages.

The Corsa is also fairly unique among hatchbacks because you can get a fully electric version. This model benefits from instant torque from the electric motor, along with near-silent acceleration, and a claimed range of more than 200 miles.

The Corsa’s driving experience can hardly be considered a downside, although it won’t appeal to keen drivers in the same way a Ford Fiesta of SEAT Ibiza might. It’s competent and easy rather than engaging, with light, accurate controls that respond intuitively to your input, but don’t quite deliver the sense of feedback you’ll get from more fun cars in this class.

And, while it doesn’t smooth bumps and rough road surfaces as well as the Peugeot 208, it doesn’t crash over them either, so covering long distances in the Corsa isn’t a chore.