At the heart of the VXR is a 1598cc turbocharged engine that produces 189bhp at 5850rpm and a maximum of 192lb ft from 1980-5800rpm for 15-second bursts. Even without overboost the engine still has 169lb ft, 10lb ft more than a Clio.
All this is sufficient to propel the 1255kg Corsa VXR to 60mph in well under seven seconds (we recorded 6.7sec compared with 6.9sec for the Clio), to 100mph in 16.8sec (Clio 18.7sec) and to a top speed of 136mph (Clio 132mph).
On paper, that puts the Vauxhall ahead of the Renault in a straight line, and well clear of lesser rivals such as the Fiesta ST and Polo GTi. But in reality the VXR has so much more mid-range torque to deliver that it blows the Clio clean into the undergrowth.
In the higher gears at middling revs it has more urgency than the 197, and you only need to look at the 50-70mph times in top for the proof. The Renault takes 8.7sec, the VXR just 7.2sec. So although the Corsa’s throttle response fails to match that of the Renault at high revs (such is the blight of the turbocharged engine), the VXR’s extra go overall is hard to deny.
Of course, all of this would mean not a lot if the VXR didn’t handle, ride, stop and steer properly, especially since these are areas in which previous VXRs have tended to fade beside their key rivals. Which is why Vauxhall’s engineers have, in their own words, gone to town on the VXR’s underpinnings.
The ride height, for instance, is 19mm lower at the back and 12mm lower at the front due to stiffer springs and uprated dampers. The anti-roll bar is 25 per cent stiffer than a regular Corsa’s, the brakes are enormous by comparison (308mm ventilated discs at the front, 264mm discs at the back). Even the ESP system has been completely recalibrated to allow a small amount of slip.
And if you turn it off completely, says Vauxhall, the chassis has been set up to allow a degree of “controllable” lift-off oversteer that should please the wannabe McRaes.
