Vauxhall Corsa SRi Nav review: The company's best small car yet

Testing the latest Vauxhall Corsa is a bit like driving a new Peugeot 208 – and there’s a very good reason for that.

After Vauxhall joined Peugeot in the French PSA Group in 2017 original plans for a new Corsa were scrapped and instead it was built using the Pug’s platform and engines.

But while it drives like a 208, to my eyes the Corsa doesn’t look as good as its Peugeot sibling.

It’s far from ugly and is the best looking Corsa to date, but it just doesn’t have the flair of the French car. That’s also true of the cabin.

It lacks, for example, the 208’s impressive 3D digital instrument panel. Also, the interior doesn’t look as stylish or fresh.

You might disagree of course, as it is a matter of personal taste, but I’ll be surprised if you don’t.

The good news is that otherwise the Corsa is an excellent small car every bit as good as the 208 – and in some areas better. We’re coming to that.

And like the Peugeot you’ll be able to buy the Corsa with an electric powertrain.

How the interior compares
(Image: Vauxhall Motors)

It’s called the Corsa e and, as you might have seen, it’s this car around which Vauxhall is theming its TV ad campaign.

For more conventional powerplants we have a choice of diesel and two petrol engines. The latter are three-cylinder units; one with a turbocharger that produces 99bhp, and the other a naturally aspirated version with 75bhp. Since the petrol is going to dramatically outsell the diesel, this is the engine that we’ve tested, in 99bhp form because Vauxhall didn’t bring the less powerful one to the launch.

We also had only the choice of cars in SRi Nav and Elite Nav trims and not the entry-level SE.

The SRi Nav, which costs £19,200, is the sportiest Corsa you can buy. You’ll know you’re in an SRi because you’ll have a conventional key in your hand. And also because it has an old-school handbrake lever unlike the Elite which has an electronic handbrake.

The SRi also has a sport button that quickens throttle response, firms up the steering and puts a an engine noise augmentation system into operation so things sound a bit more rorty. On top of this there’s a strut brace to help keep the front suspension’s geometry constant and sharpen up handling.

While it drives like a 208, to my eyes the Corsa doesn’t look as good as its Peugeot sibling
(Image: Vauxhall Motors)

It works well because this version of the Corsa is a bit more fun to drive than the 208 and without question the peppiest and best handling Corsa I’ve ever driven.

The Elite version is also good to drive, even without the strut towers and sport settings.

Both cars are comfortable and soak up bumps and are both impressively quiet at speed. You sit 28mm lower in this car than you did in the old Corsa which adds to the feeling of being connected to the road.

The Corsa lacks almost all of the 208’s lovely details, such as the metal piano keys that operate the main functions and the wireless phone charging system. It also has a conventional round steering wheel and not Peugot’s irritating tiny one its fans apparently like.

The SRi also has a sport button that quickens throttle response
(Image: HANDOUT FROM PR)

Vauxhall was on the verge of producing a nice and simple range of Corsas and then complicated matters by adding Nav to the names (you can buy a normal SRi and Elite as well as our Nav versions). I’d buy a non-Nav version and then mirror my smart phone and use the vastly superior Waze or Google maps systems.

The new Vauxhall Corsa is the company’s best small car yet. It’s lighter than before (by up to 100kg) and that means it’s more fun to drive and economical.

The petrol versions both emit under 99g/km of Co2 and the diesel a hugely impressive 85g/km that flies in the face of the anti-diesel brigade. My money would go to my local Peugeot dealer and a new 208 – but the Corsa is still an excellent choice.