VAUXHALL are playing up to the fact the Corsa is a favourite buy for the boy racer – or Penelope Pitstop – on a budget with their latest offering.
And with prices starting from £8,995, the funky Corsa Sting is certainly affordable. There’s a choice of 16- or 17-inch alloy wheels in white or silver finish, with twin sports stripes and matching exterior mirrors. Standard equipment also includes CD/MP3 CD player, aux-in socket and speed-sensitive power steering.
With that you get a well sorted little supermini whose handling comers down on the predictable side of the fence – and as such you’re unlikely to end up driving through one after losing control.
Well sorted is probably the phrase to use here, and so it should be because it’s been around for a while now and the only Vauxhall to out-sell it is the more family orientated Astra.
Ride quality errs on the firm side, but it’s something you soon get used to and it has that wheel at each corner and firmly planted feel fed back to you via the steering wheel, which somewhat annoyingly has no adjustment whatsoever. If you’re the right shape and size for the available space behind the wheel, all well and good. If you’re not, be prepared for a greater distance between your knees than you might find comfortable….
But while it’s called the Sting, be prepared for some ‘pain’ when it comes to overall performance. The 1.2 litre 16 valve VVT unit has to be worked fairly judiciously if you want to make it go like it looks, just beating 14 seconds as it wheezes its way to 62mph – hardly a class act in this day and age.
Insurance group is just 6E, and it should prove fairly economical around town with a steady right foot, 51.4mpg the claimed combined figure.
It’s certainly a car to get noticed in – pearlescent lime green paintwork with those boy racer glacier white stripes, white alloys and white door mirrors would allow even Stevie Wonder to find it in a crowded car park.
Framing the Corsa’s new face are ‘Eagle-Eye’ headlamps, which have also made an appearance on the recently launched Meriva. The units have a chrome finish and include daytime running lights as standard across the range. New chrome-finished fog lamps and housings complete the picture at the front of the car.
Corsa has been a near-permanent fixture in the UK’s top-three best sellers’ list, and has now adopted many of the premium styling cues from other recently launched Vauxhalls, like the Insignia, Astra and Meriva in this, their 110th year of car production in the UK.
To keep up its sales success in the small-car class, Vauxhall’s engineers have made important revisions to the car’s steering and suspension set-ups. And there’s revised damper settings all round, an optional re-tuned ESP system and enhanced steering geometry.
Standard equipment includes the now obligatory daytime running lights, speed sensitive power assisted steering, centre locking, electric front windows, ABS brakes and an electronic engine deadlock immobilizer.
Vauxhall’s range is available through their selection of offers like Flexible Finance which allows customers to tailor their finance to suit their budgets.
All buyers have to do is choose and specify their new model at www.vauxhall.co.uk, decide on a deposit from zero upwards (Vauxhall will even contribute up to £2,000) and select any term between 24 and 60 months. Customers also benefit from zero per cent APR.
There’s nothing limited about the manufacturer’s warranty; Vauxhall gives peace of mind for the life of the vehicle via its Lifetime Warranty. Available to the first owner of all new Vauxhall cars, the warranty is valid for the lifetime of the vehicle up to a maximum of 100,000 miles.
FASTFACTS: Vauxhall Corsa Sting; £9,855; 1229cc 16v VVT, 85ps, 115Nm; five speed manual gearbox; top speed 107mph, 0-62mph 13.9secs; fuel – urban 39.2, extra urban 62.8, combined 51.4; CO2 129g/km.
© Wheelwrite 2014