2006 Opel Corsa

[paul8488]

Just to save some of you the trouble of reading this, I'll start with the basics:

1.0 L, 3 cylinder.

Now that 95% of you have left, I can go on and on about this car! I rented a last-gen 3-door 5-speed Corsa this weekend with the 1.0L gasoline Ecotec. All I can say is that whoever put this car together should be in charge of everything at GM. It's a fairly basic econobox that dates back who knows how many years, but it is honestly one of the best all-round little cars I've driven. Ever. I had 1500 kms (mostly highway, with some city and some twisty little country roads) to get a good feel for this car.

I'm 6'2", and yet there is more than enough headroom. Backseat passengers would suffer, but with a height-adjustable seat I was nowhere near the roof, and didn't feel cramped at all. The seats are quite supportive... I wonder if maybe they were upmarket. If they're standard then I'm even more impressed. I did hours and hours of highway driving and didn't get tired.

I'm not going to pretend that it was quick, because it wasn't. It can't be. It has like 60 hp. But it somehow managed to be entertaining nonetheless. There are V6s that don't sound as good, for starters... I have no idea how they got a 3-cyl to growl, but they did. I didn't like the cluth actuation much... never really got onto 1st gear. I always felt like I had to slip the clutch a bit. Otherwise the gearbox was fun... super-light throws, and excellent gear spacing.

All but the slightest hills required a downshift to 4th, but that makes a drive entertaining. The game was to speed up to near 150 going downhill to try and keep up around 120 going up the next one (the speed limit is 130 on the highways... I figure I averaged that!). When I was able to plan ahead and slot into cars on the busy highway it was fine, but on the few times where I got a little trapped behind a camper it was trouble... drop below 100 and you almost have to get into 2nd to get any speed up again. The car wasn't very loaded (two guys and a couple bags)... with two other people it would be a different story.

In town it's a riot. It's a light car, and feels very nimble. Body roll is there, but it is actually a good thing in this car. It's just enough to warn you when the car isn't happy, and it's so easy to get back into line. The steering was light, but not dead... had one of the best on-center feels I've ever come across. A tight turning radius helped feel along the lines of a Mini (and I'm not kidding).

I don't have the fuel mileage in front of me, but it was excellent. Even with some racing around twisty roads and long 140 km/h stretches it just didn't burn through gas. This engine should be in the Matiz, and the 1.2 / 1.4 versions should be in the Aveo, as they are an amazing mix of economy and performance.

Okay, that's a whole lot of writing on a car that they don't even produce anymore. I just really was impressed and wanted to share. I could totally live with this car in a second. It requires giving up some room and power that most North Americans are used to... but if you're willing to do that this is really an impressive package. It also had a decent array of features... A/C, ABS, front and side airbags, anti-pinch power windows, height-adjustable drivers seat, keyless entry... all making it even that much more liveable.

This is clearly a car that has been finessed over the years. Every little bug has been worked out to the point that, for its class, there's just nothing wrong. Sure, more power is always a nice idea, as is more legroom, but GM really had an excellent car in the previous Corsa. I hope the new one is as impressive... though I see that it's grown in size and price, so I think that perhaps Opel now has a little hole at the dinky car end of the market. When I see how right GM can get a car it gives me hope that there'll be more of that in the future!

Some pictures (forgive my friend... he wouldn't get out of the car):

[Bravada]

I am not surprised at all. The Corsa C was one of the best all-around cars ever, I even fear the Corsa D is not as (comparatively) good. And it was a looker!



Just a perfect small car!

[tomprice]

^ I agree - I like the new Corsa but the old one was a stunningly good looking car that got even better with the facelift (one of few cars to actually), and the fact that so many are hired out or are used as driving instructor's cars singnifies to me at least that it is a brilliant car in every respect.

I loved the orange colour they did on facelift models.

[Bravada]

They did the orange on the pre-facelift cars too, I remember as I wanted one in that colour badly on seeing on of the first promo pics:



I actually prefer the pre-facelift version, it had all the panda-bear cuteness of the Corsa B with this little bit of maturity and stance it needed, but without the excess formality of the facelift (or the "organic" blobbiness of the Corsa D).

I love the Corsas I do!

PS. Nice pics Paul! Since the rental company seems to have stripped the car of any designations, I can't really tell, but this one looks like a Cosmo (more "kit-packed" trim level), given the colour-coded elements, clear taillights and the alloys. The interior pics might not do the Corsa justice, and no car would look too good in the sizzling Mediterranean sun, but I assure you you can feel the quality in the Corsa - the materials just feel a few classes better than, say, in an Aveo.

Oh, Tom, did you know you could get the interior in orange too?


I love it that Opel didn't skimp on door upholstery even this one being a modest supermini. And the fabrics are great!

Another great thing about the Corsa C is that the 5-door version looks as good as the 3-door!



The above pic is also to show how a base Corsa C looks like, w/o the fancy alloys and all, but still neato (and a good few Euros/GBP less).

[GMCSonoma]

That's a sharp little car! WHy can't GM sell something like that here???

[tomprice]

Nope I didn't know that (yet again your amazing knowledge seems to override everything I know! ) but it does look quite nice - nicer than any kind of leather in a small car anyway (bleurgh - why have a car like a Golf or a Corsa and then have leather in it...pet hate!) and perhaps even why Peugeot decided to do those silly zip-in zip-out seat colours on the 1007...

(I'm convinced you should write a book sometime - you know, pass your knowledge on....it seems to have no limits!)

Such a shame they didn't bother with a properly fast Corsa GSi really - I remember some kind of concept that looked ace but not much else, quite a pity because the Corsa SRi was a proper corker..

(hijack alert - SRi and GSi are soooo much better than VXR. Case in point: Monaro GSi sounds better than Monaro VXR and so on and so on...)



That orange - I may be mistaken in thinking it's a bit differnet from teh first orange - is gorgeous, really compliments the shape of the car IMO and makes it still appear fresh...in my book the Corsa coud be one of the best designs of the past decade, so simple yet every time you look you see new things, it always turns heads if it's a nicely kept example aswell..

I could ramble for hours and hours about designs of the last decade but I'll stop.

[DuSpinnst]

I like the new one. It is nicer than the Aveo.

[paul8488]

Ha! I just realised that in the first pic there's another Corsa in the background!

I like the new one too DuSpinnst, but it's a different beast. The old one was just a simple car done right. The new one is flashier and more upmarket... but there's something (as Bravada says) just perfect about the last one.

[SonicAerio]

I had the pleasure to see a few down in Orlando when I went to that MGM stunt show. Nice little car that design wise would still fit in today IMO....

They should bring this to the states as the Aveo hatch replacement, they still sell these new in South America don't they? Or atleast the sedan version.... why not here?

[nota]

Originally Posted by Bravada

They did the orange on the pre-facelift cars too, I remember as I wanted one in that colour badly on seeing on of the first promo pics:

(mini hijack) For trivia it appears similar to Holden's now discontinued Tiger Mica, one of those burn-your-eyeballs hues as shown by this 2000-model Commodore

Imo this colour would come under the classification of 'billiously confrontational' if post-hangover (unless the owner is rabidly Dutch of course)



That gen of Opel Corsa received very solid reviews here (rebadged as Barina) but was sadly dropped for a Korean-sourced Daewoo replacement of much lower quality & design integrity, which has since been slammed by the motoring press as a car to avoid

For what it's worth here's an AU review and a quick 0-100km/h youtube of the nifty SRI version

[AndrewGS]

Great, simple little cars. I've seen a couple of Corsa Cs here with South American plates but I see Bs all the time up from Mexico. I liken them to the Suzuki Swift MK3 which I really liked as well and was sold here, but because of it's size and small engines it was a joke to most at the time thanks to cheap gas. Now I'd bet plenty of Chevy dealers wish they had the Metro and Suzuki dealers the Swift.

[paul8488]

I think you're right Bravada... it was certainly an uplevel version with some nice goodies and appearance bits. I really liked the wheels and love the clear taillights. I actually love the whole rear end design, and how the rear window and taillights are perfectly integrated. The dash / console design is also spot-on... I compared it to the older generation of Corsas and while the layout is more or less the same they tweaked it to get it just right.

The best part was that the car was only 16 euros to rent per day! With the savings in gas over the Daewoo I think every time I have a long-distance trip (heck anything over 1000 kms) in the future I'll rent one, as 16 euros of gas doesn't go far in the Daewoo and after two fillups in the Corsa I've paid for the rental!

[mikmak]

Thanks for your review Paul8488. Its good to hear someone appreciate the finer things of a vehicle, as opposed to its ability to apply necksnapping acceleration.

Further encouragement for the interior: I tried out a GSI (when hunting for my Vectra) and could fit/shift with more ease than a Subaru liberty :0 It ws mainly the lack of rear seat access that pushed me to the Vectra, but the GSi was veery promising.

[Bravada]

There is a training company called GSi that I used to do business with, so it doesn't work for me :/

Anyway, thank you for your kind words, Tom - given the amount of time spent here and the number of words typed, I could probably really write a few books instead. Or do some actual work

I believe the new orange is a bit more dull - I like the mica one better. I don't think it's the same as in the Commodore, but I guess the colour on the Commodore is the same as the "copper" orange on the Opel Tigra A (which was very popular). GM should offer more of those paints rather than the usual selection of monotone rental car background paints that just melt into the parking lot. Skoda offers bright yellow now and I hear people love it, they used to have very intense "fresh" green for the Felicia - a person I know bought one of the first of those and had it described as "shocking green" in the registration ID by the clerk who saw it! Google the Felicia to see it - chances are the first picture you'd find would be in that hue

BTW - a development of the Corsa B (also very neato) is still being made in Mexico as Chevy C2, and it is also offered in orange! Of the Corsa B's, I like the sedan and wagon in particular.

[tomprice]

Originally Posted by Bravada

I believe the new orange is a bit more dull - I like the mica one better. I don't think it's the same as in the Commodore, but I guess the colour on the Commodore is the same as the "copper" orange on the Opel Tigra A (which was very popular). GM should offer more of those paints rather than the usual selection of monotone rental car background paints that just melt into the parking lot. Skoda offers bright yellow now and I hear people love it, they used to have very intense "fresh" green for the Felicia - a person I know bought one of the first of those and had it described as "shocking green" in the registration ID by the clerk who saw it! Google the Felicia to see it - chances are the first picture you'd find would be in that hue

I remember that colour - eye-searingly bogiefied and..well..green!

IIRC it was May Green (as opposed to Pacific or Petrol Green) and I think it may well have continued onto the Lupo - I'm not sure though..