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NEW CORSA’S THE STAR OF THE SHOW!
- All-new Corsa makes world debut in London
- Three and five-door models on show at ExCel
- Fresh looks, agile handling and top levels of quality
- Dynamic design and driving excitement in two very different styles
The waiting is over! Vauxhall has finally pulled the wraps off the all-new Corsa, which promises to be the star of the British International Motor Show this week.
Offered in two unique body styles – a sporty, low-slung three-door and a stylish yet practical five-door, the new model will usher in new levels of quality, style and driving dynamics to the supermini market when it arrives in showrooms in the autumn.
Style
Wider, longer and more muscular looking than the current Corsa, the new model has been designed with individual style very much at the core of its appeal.
Both three and five door versions have identical dimensions (length: 3999 / width: 1707 / height: 1488 mm) which makes the car larger than its predecessor but still compact enough to manoeuvre in tight spaces. Crucially, the roof line is 40 millimeters higher than the previous model, enabling easier entry and better visibility.
Thanks to the long wheelbase (2511 mm) and wide track (1485mm at the front, 1478mm at the rear), both Corsa versions have distinctively sporty proportions. Even the entry-level models are fitted with 15-inch wheels, which would have been considered massive on a supermini a decade ago, while sporty versions are available with 17-inchers – a desirable option on cars two segments above the Corsa! Thanks to the designers’ skills, the front overhang has a remarkably short appearance despite the elaborate measures necessary to ensure pedestrian protection.
Large, dominant headlamps enhance the car’s sporty, powerful character, while the steeply inclined A-pillar gives a ‘cab-forward’ stance, shortening the bonnet and appearing to lower the roof height.
The 3-dr model has a coupe-like roof shape and a high shoulder line, giving it the look of a sporty car rather than an ordinary hatchback - a method already successfully achieved by Vauxhall with the much-lauded Astra Sport Hatch.
At the rear, bulging wheelarches and a distinctive tapered rear window give New Corsa 3-dr an even more striking look.
New Corsa 5-dr is distinctly different. It shares its front wings, bonnet and bumper, but is completely different from the scuttle panel backward. The rear window descends at a much steeper angle, making the best use of interior and luggage space. Yet although it was designed with practicality in mind, the 5-dr retains a stylish, harmonious profile.
Bryan Nesbitt, GM Europe’s Executive Director of Design, said: “The new Corsa builds on our commitment to offer dynamic vehicles regardless of segment. With the fashion-conscious exterior coupled to a refreshingly innovative interior, we hope to exceed the target customer’s expectations”
Interior
The stylish design continues inside the cabin with each trim level getting a unique interior treatment to reflect that model’s personality. Bright trim colours, modern lacquer effects and contemporary metal-look finishes are available to reflect the owner’s own personality, and neat touches such as translucent backlit controls are sure to prove a real talking point - as well as an important safety feature.
Overall quality makes a significant step forward for Corsa too, especially inside, where the consistently high grade materials give a luxurious, upmarket feel. A range of colourful and modern trims, coupled to a large glass area give the cabin a bright, modern and airy feel.
For instance, the Club model breaks out of the class’s uniform grey. The fresh colours of the seat upholstery and door panels match perfectly with the instrument panel’s coloured surface in exciting red or elegant marine blue. The range-topping Design trim is only car in this class with piano-lacquer interior surfaces, and the SXi interior features accessories including a matt-chrome console and perforated leather-trim steering wheel. The sportiest Corsa exterior boasts details such as dark-tinted headlamps, 16-inch alloy wheels and a chrome sports exhaust pipe.
Practicality is important to all supermini drivers, and it’s another area where Corsa scores highly. The steering wheel is adjustable for both height and reach, while the clearly laid-out dash houses a wide choice of storage compartments.
There’s more space than before, too, with greater legroom, shoulder room and headroom front and rear, and ergonomically designed seats which have been created to offer the best in comfort and support.
New Corsa also promises to have one of the quietest cabins in its class, with reduced NVH (Noise, Vibration and Harshness) thanks to specially designed engine mounts, which damp most of the movement from the engine bay to stop it transmitting into the cabin.
Features
At launch, New Corsa will be offered in five trim levels – Expression, Life, Club, SXi and Design. Further models, including a hot VXR, will follow.
All will benefit from GM’s innovative technology features, with highlights including halogen AFL curve lighting, follow-me-home lighting and translucent interior dials.
On selected models, New Corsa will feature driver preference settings which can be stored in the key. The car’s sophisticated electronics and infotainment system can allow up to five different drivers to programme the car to their preferences, saving individual choices for favoured radio station and climate control.
The infotainment system itself can rival many home living room systems, with an output of up to 150-watts and a choice of MP3-compatible CD players, CD multichangers and a sophisticated navigation system, as well as a Bluetooth compatible mobile phone interface with voice control.
For owners who like an extra touch of glass, the New Corsa is also available with a massive ‘rail to rail’ sunroof. Featuring an opening which is 25 percent larger than its predecessor’s, this new sunroof enables Corsa passengers to enjoy open-air driving at the touch of a button. A special dual-space sealing system and wind deflector effectively eliminate wind noise with the roof open, and a sliding blind protects against direct sunlight in hot weather.
Flexibility
New Corsa introduces two new features which bring Vauxhall’s interior flexibility expertise to the supermini market.
The first is a DualFloor boot, which offers a double load height. In normal form, the boot is level with the loading lip of the rear bumper, making the luggage bay especially easy to use. Alternatively, the DualFloor can be lowered to the bottom of the boot to allow larger items to be carried.
What’s more, the rear parcel shelf has been designed to allow easy stowage if you need to use the full height of the load bay. Instead of unclipping and being left to float around with no home, the shelf can be clipped against the back of the seat, meaning it is never in the way and unlikely to sustain damage.
Perhaps the most significant flexible option of New Corsa is its innovative Flex-Fix system – an integrated rear carrier, which stows neatly away into the back bumper. When pulled out, Flex-Fix can carry up to two bicycles, while the additional rear lights required to use it are stowed away with the system itself and simply clip into place when needed.
Vauxhall believes Flex-Fix sets new standards for on-board functionality, much in the same way as Zafira’s Flex7 seating did when it took the MPV market by storm in 1999.
Engines and economy
At launch, three petrol and three diesel engines will be on offer. Petrol choices will be a 1.0-litre three-cylinder, developing 60PS; a 1.2-litre four-cylinder with 80PS plus a 90PS 1.4-litre. All have GM’s celebrated TWINPORT technology to allow minimum fuel use and lower emissions while actually improving performance.
Diesel choices will initially be the award-winning 1.3-litre CDTi, in either 75PS or 90PS guise. Soon after launch in November, a new 1.7-litre CDTi will appear, with an impressive 125PS and 280Nm of torque and a particulate filter as standard. The diesels are especially fuel efficient, with the 1.3 CDTi 75PS returning upwards of 70mpg on an extra-urban cycle.
A choice of transmissions is available, with six-speed manual gearboxes fitted as standard to 1.3 CDTi 90 and 1.7-litre CDTi models, and optional Easytronic clutchless transmission on 1.2-litre TWINPORT versions. A conventional automatic option is offered on 1.4-litre TWINPORT models. For the first time, sporty models also have shorter gear ratios to give livelier throttle responses.
Driving dynamics
Excellent driving dynamics and outstanding handling were very much the key factors behind the development of the Corsa’s all-new chassis. Each model’s ssuspension is tuned individually to match the weight of the engine, ensuring that there are no compromises to the ride and handling. In addition, the car is available with a specific lowered sport chassis which provides an even sharper driving experience.
New Corsa is first-in-class to offer variable progressive ratio steering for greater directness. The height and reach-adjustable wheel controls a speed-dependent Electronic Power Steering system, making it easy to manoeuvre in town, but delivering a much meatier feel on faster stretches of road or when cruising at speed.
Extensive development on the car was carried out on British roads and at the Vauxhall Engineering Centre in Millbrook, Bedfordshire, as well as at Opel’s dedicated proving ground at Dudenhofen, Germany, to ensure it offered the best combination of sharp handling responses and ride comfort.
The car’s body is significantly stiffer than before, while the platform was developed from the ground-up as an all-new design. It has a new short front subframe, allowing optimum chassis geometry, and a torsion-beam rear axle with three roll-rate levels.
Other chassis features include a V-shaped positioning of the rear trailing arms, damping at the front axle and low-friction suspension joints, all helping deliver the best in ride quality.
Electronic safety devices are now commonplace even in the Corsa’s class, but the sophistication of the new model’s ABS and optional ESP systems would be considered exceptional even in the class above. The ABS system features electronic brake force distribution, Cornering Brake Control and Straight-Line Stability Control. When braking in a corner, CBC reduces the braking pressure at the inner-most wheel, delaying the application of ABS and reducing the braking distance. SLS prevents skidding when braking during straight-ahead driving by reducing braking pressure on one side of the car as required, which is especially useful on uneven road surfaces or poorly-maintained streets.
The ESP system has been tuned so that it gives complete control to the driver in the first instance, even at very high cornering speeds, and only gradually takes over when there is danger of losing control of the car by individually and independently braking all four wheels if necessary. Extra ESP functions, available as an optional pack, include Hill Start Assist to prevent the car from rolling backwards when driving off on a slope without having to use the handbrake and a deflation detection system to give early warning of a punctured tyre.
Safety
As well as the many active safety features demonstrated by its dynamic chassis design, New Corsa has been designed to offer the best levels of protection in even the most extreme circumstances.
The car is made from the highest quality steel, and assembled under strict quality-controlled conditions at two plants – Zaragoza in Spain and Eisenach in Germany.
Under heavy braking when the ABS is activated, the brake lights flash five times per second to warn following motorists. If airbags or seatbelt pre-tensioners are activated in an accident, the car’s safety system will automatically switch on the hazard warning lights.
Should an accident occur, New Corsa has been designed to offer the best protection for its occupants. Two-stage airbags and side airbags for both front passengers feature on all models and the top sellers in the range also have head curtain airbags across the entire length of the cabin to help cushion any impact. The passenger airbag can be deactivated if using a rear-facing baby seat via a button on the instrument panel.
Seatbelt pre-tensioners secure the shoulder parts of the seatbelts, and as a new innovation there is also a separate tensioner on the lap part belts for all models from Club upwards. In addition, GM’s patented Pedal Release System automatically drops the pedals away from the driver’s feet in the event of a heavy frontal collision.
The range
The Vauxhall Corsa has always been synonymous with great value for money, and the all-new model will successfully continue that well-garnered reputation.
Equipment levels are generous, with even the Expression getting a CD player, dual front airbags, central locking and power door mirrors.
Moving up the range, the Life gets welcome lighting, electric front windows, and a folding ignition key.
Club trim adds side and curtain airbags, front seatbelt lap pretensioners, an MP3 compatible audio system, the Dual Load floor, body-coloured door handles and side mouldings, steering wheel audio controls and soft-touch instrument panel pads.
SXi variants get translucent control switches, heated door mirrors, 16-inch alloy wheels, sports front seats, a leather-covered steering wheel, sports suspension, fog lights, a visible chrome tailpipe and dark-style headlamps, while plush Design models come with automatic lighting control, rain sensing wipers, air-conditioning, an electrochromatic rear view mirror and chrome-edged dials.