FRANKFURT, GERMANY – Having fallen out of serious B-segment contention, especially back home in South Africa, Opel’s Corsa was in real need of replacement. While we’ve seen the likes of its old enemies in the Yaris and Fiesta get serious updates, in the time since the previous generation Corsa was initially introduced we’ve also seen some strong opposition in the form of the Rio and 208 emerge.
Opel’s on a serious new model onslaught. After the financial crisis of 2008 and heavy company reshuffling at General Motors, there were rumours that Opel could be ditched for good along with the General’s deadweight brands. But with the promise of exciting new products, Opel survived the scare and in Mzansi we saw the launch of the new Astra sedan, while the Meriva range was trimmed to just one all-encompassing model.
By the end of this year, the Adam boutique hatch will arrive on local soil to do battle against the likes of the Mini’s Cooper and Citroen DS3, and next year we’ll get the Mokka compact SUV. Having just made its debut at the Paris Motor show, the fifth-generation Corsa (Corsa E as the Europeans call it) is expected to get to SA during the second quarter of 2015.
Okay, on to the Corsa
A long line of Corsas awaited the international media contingent just outside the arrivals hall of Frankfurt International, in both three- and five-door guise – but only two engine choices were made available. I opted for the all-new 1,0-litre three-cylinder because I’d already driven a turbocharged 1,4-litre Corsa (previous generation) back home – though Opel representatives were quick to point out in the business presentation later that the 1,4 is a completely new motor…
What does it look like?
In the metal, it didn’t appear to be that much larger than the old car – that’s because it isn’t (Okay, 2 mm have been added to the length). The designers, having felt that they’d already reached the ultimate ratio of exterior dimensions to interior space for a B-segment car, didn’t mess with the formula too much. While the profile of the 3-door still gives away how much similar it looks to its predecessor from that view, but the five-door model is a much smarter looking vehicle, I found – and definitely a lot more practical.
For a car that overall is quite similar in size to the model that came before it, the Corsa sure appeared to be more squat as it waited to be loaded (four pieces of carry-on luggage fitted snugly in the boot). Carsten Aengenheyster, chief designer of the new Corsa explained the illusion by pointing out that the front grille is now positioned lower on the nose, and is also wider. The front foglamps are also located in recesses in the far corners of the front bumper and an integrated “spoiler” cuts across the front-end below the bumper – adding to the stretched effect. The arrow tip-shaped headlamps are positions less vertically than before, while the theme continues at the rear, with new horizontal taillight pieces that are also larger than before.
All the vehicles were fitted with wheelarch-filling 17-inch alloys wrapped in 215/45 tyres, but whether this will be standard fitment in SA remains to be seen. Overall, I found the Corsa to be quite attractive, and so do the Germans – judging by the lingering glances and craned necks as we left the confines of the airport.
How about that engine?
I was immediately impressed with the 1,0-litre. Why? Because as I made my way toward open road I wasn’t so sure I was driving was the car I picked in the arrivals hall. Eventually, on continued planting of the throttle, I was convinced. This is undoubtedly the most noise-efficient engine of this configuration that I’ve ever driven. That off-beat thrum is barely detectable, an element of the driving experience that is enhanced by the lack of unnecessary noise and vibration. Powertrain development engineer Arno Noé attributed the improvements in NVH to the use of a counter-rotating balancing shaft and engine components that minimise noise.
The turbopetrol unit didn’t once feel as if it lacked oomph as the speed limit on the Autobahn rose gradually. Yes, 85 kW is nothing to write home about, but its 170 N.m of torque is spread from 1 850 all the way through to 4 500 r/min. I found that the power tapered off drastically over 5 000 r/min (red line is a further 1 500 r/min away), but the Corsa felt quite strong with a usable band of between 2 000 and 5 000 r/min. This of course, meant little stirring of its six-speed manual gearbox. Only on certain hilly sections of B-road was I required to drop a ratio, but otherwise the three-cylinder was quite tractable on inclines.
The rest of the driving experience
Despite the fitment of low-profile rubber and fairly large alloys, the Corsa wasn’t exactly shaken on the rougher sections of road that are admittedly rare in Germany. What did bother me slightly is that the revised electric steering system. Despite new geometry and mounting points, and speed-sensitive assistance, I felt that the system was far too quick at motorway speed – as constant correction in angle were needed to track true. That wasn’t an issue when pressing on down twisty roads that cut through forests, and when I returned to city limits on the way to our accommodation for the evening, however.
The new Corsa is also stacked new features that’ll make prospective customers and rival companies take notice such as heated steering and front seats, DRL-equiped bi-xenon headlamps with cornering light function and Opel Eye front camera system that incorporates traffic sign recognition, lane departure warning, and front collision warning. The only real disappointment to me was that Bring Go navigation app that was loaded onto the Opel Intellink system (its 7-inch touchscreen monitor is mounted a bit too low for my liking, requiring my gaze to drop far from the road and low down the middle of the front facia). It lagged a lot and even froze once. Pre-loaded maps are a far more accurate…
Summary
I’m really impressed overall. The Corsa is just another one of much-needed models that’ll put Opel back on the map. I can’t wait to see how it stacks up against the competition back home, but most of that will be determined by the pricing strategy GMSA adopts – it’s far too early now to speculate.
