Vauxhall Corsa

The Vauxhall Corsa is one of the best superminis around, and a looker with it.

• Comfort

  The ride is firm but well controlled, noise is generally more abated than most other little cars, and the driving position is fine, if slightly tall - you sit on a Corsa rather than in it.

  

• Performance

  Choose between a 1.0, 1.2 or 1.4-litre petrol or pick one of three diesels, a 1.3 wih either 75 or 89bhp and a 123bhp 1.7. The 1.3 diesel is expected to be a big seller, but the 75bhp doesn't have the grunt to expose too many flaws in the car's handling. Instead what you have is a fairly sedate and surprisingly refined economy chugger. There's no obvious diesel rattle when you fire it up, and that modest power output feels more than a match for the car's equally modest weight. It pulls rapidly to a proper cruising speed, and with 125lb ft of torque to work with, this diminutive thing can stay comfortably among the big boys without straining you or it.

  

• Cool

  The three-door is one of the niftier superminis, but that's as far as we'd be prepared to go.

  

• Quality

  On board, there are parallels with the Astra, from the soft-touch plastics on the dash and door trim to hte meatiness of the steering wheel and gearstick. Inevitably, however, there are some aspects of the interior that highlight the car's junior status. The odd bit of trim isn't quite as impressive as it would be in the Astra, and there's a simplicity to the overall design that is clearly dictated by cost rather than by some sort of less-is-more philosophy.

  

• Handling

  On twisty country lanes there's an accuracy to the steering that encourages you to push on. Short overhangs at the front and rear give the Corsa a feeling of real stability and poise under braking and acceleration. The chassis seems taut and communicative, up to coping with a lot more power. Turn-in is sharp and there's much less body roll than in the old model. However, the low-speed ride can also be harsh. Not just on country lanes, but on properly sorted urban asphalt there's a significant vibration.

  

• Practicality

  In the five-door there is a superb amount of room for rear passengers, and the boot it both spacious and versatile with a removable flat floor and neat stowage system for the parcel shelf.

  

• Running costs

  There's no free-road-tax model such as the Polo Bluemotion and Fiesta ECOnetic, but the 1.3 CDTi comes close. It's in the £35-a-year tax bracket and returns 63mpg. Rest of the engines are expensive for their size, even the 1.2 petrol costs £120 to tax.