When we were kids we all had a mate with a surprisingly sprightly grand-dad and this, in small hatch terms, is his automotive equivalent. It may be old and off the pace in many other ways, but in pure straight line terms, the Corsa is more than capable of keeping up with its class-mates.
Because it is old and was born before small car makers felt the need to burden their products with hundreds of kilos of safety gear, it is now one of the lightest cars in the class, tipping the scales at barely a tonne. This gives the engine less work than it otherwise might have, so it’s capable of zipping up to 60mph in 11.8sec and trundling on to a highly competitive 109mph top speed.
What these figures don’t tell you is that the engine is rather noisy when extended and, while its performance is good by the standards of other 1.2-litre hatches, in ultimate terms there’s still not enough here to make you want to exploit its performance.
Fuel economy is averagely good for the class, with a 48.7mpg return on the combined cycle, though if you choose the excruciating entitled Easytronic auto box, this actually rises 53.3mpg, at the price of a second added to the 0-60mph time. Come what may, there should always be 400 miles in a full tank.
Whether you’ll want to drive that far at a single sitting is another matter. Though the Corsa has been set up to ride softly, this does not mean it actually rides well. By the standards now being set by new French rivals such as the Peugeot 207 and especially the Renault Clio it lacks both overall body control and small bump resolution.
And, as you might expect, its handling is somewhat off the pace too, with modest grip, little steering feel and, frankly, not much fun on offer.