Vauxhall Corsa Review & Prices

The Corsa has been a mainstay of the Vauxhall range for decades now, and the latest iteration of this ever-popular small hatchback – refreshed in 2023 – features the same face as other cars from the brand and improved cabin technology, and the changes apply across the power line-up of petrol (driven here) and Corsa Electric models. 

With the Skoda Fabia, Renault Clio, Peugeot 208 and Volkswagen Polo being the main alternatives in the small car market, you can think of the Corsa as being like a Google Pixel smartphone. There are plenty of quality options out there, but the Corsa stands out thanks to its sleek design and impressive list of standard features. 

As part of a mid-life update, the Corsa now gets the brand’s familiar ‘Vizor’ front grille, as seen on the Mokka, Astra and Grandland models. It’s a smart-looking black strip between the sleek headlights, giving the car a more sporty appearance. Entry-level cars get 16-inch alloy wheels, while all other cars get 17-inch alloys as standard. 

Step inside and you’ll find that all Corsas now get a 10.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system as standard with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, while mid-spec cars and up also get a 7.0-inch digital driver’s display. Top spec Ultimate models get wireless phone charging as part of the 2023 update. 

While the Corsa has received some styling and tech upgrades, interior space is just the same as before. This means that those in the front will have plenty of room, but it’s a tight squeeze for those in the back. You also have a smaller boot than you’ll find on the Skoda Fabia.

Under the bonnet you have a choice of three petrol engines. There’s a 75hp unit with a five-speed manual gearbox, a 100hp engine with a six-speed manual and a 130hp option with an eight-speed automatic. 

The Corsa is also available as an EV with two motor and battery combinations. There’s a 136hp version with 222 miles of range, or you can opt for a more potent 156hp car with an official range of 246 miles. It’s impressively efficient as well. 

This review focuses on the petrol versions of the Corsa, and the 100hp petrol with a six-speed manual is the pick of the range. It offers plenty of punch, it’s reasonably economical, and the gearbox has a nice slick shift which makes it nice to use. You have to go for the 130hp model if you want an automatic, and that gearbox isn’t the best. It’s quite sluggish when pulling away and it can be jerky when changing gear. 

You can choose from three trims – Design, GS and Ultimate – with the entry-level car getting the new 10.0-inch infotainment system, automatic LED headlights and rear parking sensors.

GS adds a new reversing camera, a 10.0-inch touchscreen and a 7.0-inch digital instrument display, while the top-end Ultimate gets adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring and heated seats and steering wheel.

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Gone are the days when the Vauxhall Corsa was a low-cost small car. If you don’t mind the dull 75hp 1.2-litre engine and base spec Design trim, prices start at around £20,000, which puts it on par with the posher alternatives such as the Peugeot 208 and Volkswagen Polo. The Renault Clio and Skoda Fabia are a bit less money.

If you want some more poke and some decent kit, be prepared to fork out for a car that’s not the budget bargain it once was, with top-spec models with options nudging £30,000.

Considering a Corsa Electric? That's more expensive still, with prices ranging between about £33,000 and £38,000 making it more expensive than other similarly sized EVs, as well as the bigger, more practical MG4.

The Vauxhall Corsa is good to drive thanks to a strong engine lineup, however it’s not the most fun on a twisty road 

In town

The Vauxhall Corsa shines in town, where its compact dimensions make it very easy to slot through gaps in traffic. 

The large door mirrors give you a good view of the road behind, which is just as well because there’s a bit of a blind spot over your shoulder courtesy of the thick rear pillars. Parking is a piece of cake though thanks to the tight turning circle, and mid-spec GS cars get a reversing camera as standard to make those tight car parks a bit less stressful.  

Any of the three petrol engines work well in the city, with the 100hp 1.2-litre unit offering the best blend of punch and economy. If the vast majority of your driving is done in town, the 75hp engine will be perfectly adequate as well. Those wanting an automatic gearbox will have to splash out for the 130hp 1.2-litre engine. While this does take some of the strain out of stop-start traffic, it can be hesitant when pulling away and the gear changes are sometimes a bit jerky. 

For the best urban experience in the Corsa, you need the electric version. It’s all but completely silent, swift and has a generous range. It also has a ‘B’ mode to regenerate some electricity from the wheels as the car slows, though this isn’t quite as good as the one-pedal driving modes of some EVs.

The only notable point against the Corsa is the fact that it can be a little bit firm over bumps in the road, with larger potholes sending a harsh thud through the cabin. A Volkswagen Polo is more comfortable over rough surfaces. 

On the motorway

It’s when the road opens up that the 75hp petrol engine feels a bit out of its depth power-wise. You’ll have to really thrash it to get up to 70mph, and any overtaking manoeuvres need to be very well thought-out. Again, it's the 100hp engine which is the sweet spot here, offering plenty of performance and good fuel economy. 

Regardless of which engine you go for, the Corsa feels stable and composed on the motorway. You do get a touch of wind noise at speed, but other than that it’s smooth and comfortable. 

If you go for the Ultimate version with an automatic gearbox you also get adaptive cruise control, meaning it can speed up and slow down to keep you a safe distance from the car in front automatically. This makes it a good choice for those who spend most of their time slogging up and down the motorway. 

On a twisty road

Driving the Corsa on a country lane is safe and straightforward. It doesn’t lean too much through the bends and the steering is accurate enough to inspire confidence. 

While there is a sport mode on offer in the two higher trim levels, all it really does is add some weight to the steering. If you’re looking for something which puts a smile on your face on a twisty road, a Seat Ibiza might be a better bet. 

That said, the Corsa strikes a good balance between comfort and control, and the lane keeping assist isn’t too intrusive either, only chiming in when you really need it to. 

While there’s plenty of space up front in the Corsa, those in the rear will be pretty cramped. It’s not the most exciting-looking cabin either 

Those sitting in the front of the Vauxhall Corsa won’t be left wanting for space. There’s plenty of adjustment in the driver’s seat for anyone big or small to find their ideal driving position, and the seats are pretty comfortable as well. Top-spec cars even get a massage function for the driver, a feature usually reserved for much more premium models. 

That range-topping model also gets Alcantara suede-like upholstery, as well as heated front seats and steering wheel. It is a shame though that a lot of the Corsa’s cabin is finished in black or grey plastic, and it’s missing the overall design flair of the mechanically-similar Peugeot 208. 

When it comes to storage, you have some average-sized door bins, a couple of handy cup holders in the centre console and a tray in front of the gear selector for your phone. The glovebox is pretty tiny though, thanks to the fact the fuse box takes up half of it, and only range-topping cars get a centre armrest. You also only get one USB C in the front for charging your phone. 

Space in the back seats

Those sitting in the back of the Corsa may be wishing for more legroom, as it’s pretty tight. It’ll be fine for kids, but taller adults will find themselves with their knees jammed up against the seat in front. 

There’s just about enough headroom, but it’ll be a squeeze with three in the back because of the way the roof curves inwards. There’s not all that much foot space either thanks to the hump in the floor. 

Fitting a child seat should be a fairly straight-forward task though, because the rear doors open pretty wide. You also get ISOFIX mounts on both outer seats as standard, but the anchor points are hidden behind some fiddly zips. You’ll almost certainly have to move the front seat forward to fit a bulky rear-facing seat as well. 

There are some small door bins in the back to provide some storage, as well as map pockets on the back of the front seats. There aren’t any USB chargers back here though, unless you go for the top-spec Ultimate car. 

Boot space

Adequate is the best word to describe the Corsa’s boot. At 309 litres, dropping to 267 litres in the electric model thanks to some batteries under the floor, it’s slightly larger than the Citroen C3 but some way off the 330 litres offered by the Skoda Fabia. 

There’s a bit of a load lip to lift things over, and when you fold the 60:40 split rear seats there’s a large hump in the floor which makes it tricky to push heavy items to the front. There aren’t too many clever features back there either. You get a couple of bag hooks, and that’s about your lot. 

There is some space under the boot floor to hide a few bits and pieces, as long as you go for one of the petrol-engined models and not the EV, but the load cover won’t fit under there. 

The Corsa’s cabin is solidly built, but there’s not much in the way of flair to wow your passengers

Vauxhall has gone with a restrained, conservative look for the Corsa’s cabin, unlike the Peugeot 208 which has a much more modern and interesting design. It’s fine if all you want is to have the controls and information in functional places, but a bit of added glitz wouldn’t go amiss. 

That said, the quality is up there with the best in this class. Everything is really well put together, and there are plenty of soft touch plastics and posh-feeling materials around the place. You do still have some scratchy surfaces on the door tops and dashboard, but that’s to be expected on a car in this class. 

Entry-level Design cars make do with analog dials in front of the driver, with a 3.5-inch display in the middle. There’s nothing wrong with it, the clocks are clear and easy to read and you get all the basic information you need. 

Mid-spec GS models and above then get a 7.0-inch digital driver’s display and, while it’s good enough for a car at this price point, it’s not the sharpest screen out there and certainly isn't a patch on the system you get in Audis, for example. 

Now standard in all Corsa models is a 10.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The graphics are sharp, but it can be quite slow to respond to your inputs which gets frustrating after a while. The menus aren’t the easiest to fathom either, but this isn’t so much of an issue when you’re using smartphone mirroring. 

The same can be said for the lack of sat nav on all but the top-spec cars, because in most cases using Waze or Google Maps on your phone will be better than using Vauxhall’s own system anyway. 

Nestled below the touchscreen is something of a rarity these days: physical buttons for the climate control. These make it nice and easy to adjust the temperature and fan speed on the move, and it’s just a simple button prod to turn on the heated seats. Much simpler than the touchscreen-based controls you get in the Peugeot 208. 

Behind the gear level you have a tray which is handy for storing your phone. There’s only one USB-C in the front of the Corsa, however range-topping cars have a wireless charging pad. 

There are three engine options for the Vauxhall Corsa, all of them based on a 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine. 

The entry-level model gets 75hp and a rather pedestrian 0-60mph time of 13.2 seconds. Fuel economy is decent though, with this car returning an official average of 52.3mpg and emitting 121g/km of CO2. 

The more powerful 100hp version is actually more economical thanks to the addition of a turbocharger and a sixth gear. The 0-60mph time of 9.9 seconds makes it feel more peppy around town, and it’s much less stressed on the motorway. This version will return 55.4mpg according to the official test, and it emits 114g/km of CO2. 

At the top of the range is the 130hp option, exclusively available with the automatic gearbox. It will do 0-62mph in 8.7 seconds, but it is the least efficient with economy of 51.4mpg and CO2 emissions of 124g/km.

All of these options fall into the same low road tax bracket, so there are no unexpected surprises there, and it's a similar story for company car tax, with all having a benefit-in-kind rating of 27-29%. The Electric is the best option in this regard, as it is currently just 2%.

The Corsa scored four stars when it was tested by Euro NCAP in 2019.

In addition to the six airbags fitted to all Corsa models, Vauxhall includes a lane departure warning system with lane keep assist, rear parking sensors, and driver fatigue alert. There’s also forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking, plus cruise control with speed limiter in all models.

The GS gains front parking sensors and a rear-view camera, while the Ultimate has an upgraded reversing camera and adaptive cruise control. This top trim level also gains lane positioning assistance to keep it in the centre of the road, and Vauxhall’s IntelliLux adaptive headlights that give the best view of the road ahead at all times without dazzling drivers in oncoming cars.

Vauxhall provides a three-year/60,000-mile warrant for the Corsa, which makes it one of the less appealing warranty options available, and some way off the more generous offerings from those such as Kia, Hyundai and Renault. Reliability is fairly good, though, and Vauxhall repairs and servicing isn't too expensive.