We flew into Heathrow from Australia in late August and picked up our pre-arranged Vauxhall Corsa rental from Hertz at Heathrow

It was the second cheapest option, the cheapest being a Picanto which I did not think would be quite large enough for our two sizable suitcases and carry-on luggage but they fitted in the Corsa comfortably.

The Hertz guy offered to upgrade us to a more economical Toyota Hybrid, which I was quite keen to do until I realised he expected us to pay an extra 20 pounds a day for the privilege... so I declined.

First impressions were not positive, Visibility from the driver's seat was not good, I was bobbing my head around the obstructions presented by the rear view mirror and the A pillars like a Cockatoo on a perch as we made our way out to the M25 during peak evening traffic.

The 1.2L 3 pot engine seemed gutless and coarse under acceleration and the projected mileage on a full tank was only 422 miles, however by the time I had got to Essex the projected distance has risen to 495 miles despite having covered 60 miles, so at least it could be economical.

Handling was average and the steering provided little feedback, the ride was comfortable enough most of the time but did not like sharp bumps and all the windows were like portholes compared to our Octavia wagon and Toyota Echo back home and awful for sight-seeing people like us.

The lack of performance turned out to be my fault as both our owned cars have relatively sensitive throttles, the Toyota with little pedal travel and the Octavia pedal only needing to depressed to the point where the turbo cuts in and it takes on a life of its own. 

The Corsa just needed more and more throttle as the revs rose and then it could attain its official 13 second dash  to 60 mph. The other thing for me to adjust to was that that kph displays increases a lot quicker than mph (doh!)  . The engine still felt coarse when under any pressure but was ok when cruising

However the car proved to be very economical achieving 60mpg overall and 65mpg on a run ( I stuck to all the speed limits which few others did) and even got about 40 mpg in peak time Outer London traffic.

 

As there was no manual it took me a while to work out how to access and reset the trip meters but when I did I found that over  the last 6500 miles the car had averaged 22mpg averaging 18 mph and I have no idea how they got that. I did a 30 mile return journey using the North Circular to Hampstead Heath with the return leg entering peak period traffic and averaged 60mpg at 21mph.

 

The car had a fairly high level of accessories, including very necessary reversing cameras and front and rear sensors, which is ridiculous in a small town orientated car.

The interface with my Android phone was absolutely seamless as soon as I plugged in, and the Google maps guidance brilliant...most of time, but sometimes 'she was well off her game' and I would get conflicting instructions from her and my wife acting as back up navigator which got hilarious at times.

 

Overall, it did what we wanted at a reasonable price and with good economy. I would have preferred a Fabia 1.0tsi but that would have cost  more than twice as much to rent.

 

 

 

@GerrycanDid you find out what power of engine, 75 ps  or 100 Turbo?   (I guess not a 130ps) 

75ps is a 5 speed manual. 100 ps 6 speed.     Automatics are 8 speed. 

5 hours ago, Gerrycan said:

The 1.2L 3 pot engine seemed gutless and coarse under acceleration

Hence why they are also known as the Opel/Vauxhall Coarser".

6 hours ago, roottoot said:

@GerrycanDid you find out what power of engine, 75 ps  or 100 Turbo?   (I guess not a 130ps) 

75ps is a 5 speed manual. 100 ps 6 speed.     Automatics are 8 speed. 

Five speed manual so the lowest power option.

It was happiest at 65mph doing 65 mpg at peak torque 3k rpm.

The 10 miles of 50 mph restrictions on the M20 and it was showing near 80 mpg returns. Quite remarkable really on basic 95 Ron with 10% ethanol.

Edited 9 October, 20223 yr by Gerrycan

It is the cheapest one even if not that cheap but needs compared to a Fabia 1.0 TSI with the a 5 speed manual or even a MPI & not a 95 or 110 ps TSI. 

 

A Corsa 100ps 6 speed manual has the best consumption supposedly, but are pretty expensive.

15 hours ago, roottoot said:

It is the cheapest one even if not that cheap but needs compared to a Fabia 1.0 TSI with the a 5 speed manual or even a MPI & not a 95 or 110 ps TSI. 

 

A Corsa 100ps 6 speed manual has the best consumption supposedly, but are pretty expensive.

All Fabia sold in Aus have had turbo power so the mpi versions did not even occur to me although I would not have minded one if offered. My preference for a Fabia was mainly for the less tomb-like interior and the far better view of the outside world (especially for rear passengers).

The Fabia would have been a nicer car to drive around viewing the British countryside in my opinion, and a damned sight easier to drive in town without having to duck my head around the Corsa's visual obstacles to safely negotiate city streets and traffic.

Edited 10 October, 20223 yr by Gerrycan

I am sitting in my Corsa now charging after 1 1/2 hours driving.  3 hours more to do using electricity I have not paid for.   Seat fully down and back and heating on and steering wheel heat on.  I see all I need to.    I would be happy in a Fabia if getting 65 mpg as I can in a 130 ps auto Corsa driving at the same speeds.     Skoda will eventually get a Fabia sized EV.  If they had even bothered just doing the mk4 as a mild hybrid estate that would have been simply clever.  

Edited 10 October, 20223 yr by roottoot

Hope you enjoyed your stay in the Old Country Cobber. I guess you're back home now.

13 hours ago, roottoot said:

I am sitting in my Corsa now charging after 1 1/2 hours driving.  3 hours more to do using electricity I have not paid for.   Seat fully down and back and heating on and steering wheel heat on.  I see all I need to.    I would be happy in a Fabia if getting 65 mpg as I can in a 130 ps auto Corsa driving at the same speeds.     Skoda will eventually get a Fabia sized EV.  If they had even bothered just doing the mk4 as a mild hybrid estate that would have been simply clever.  

I did try lowering the seat and it did take my eyes below the level of the rear view mirror but I could not get a comfortable seat position and I felt like I was then peering over the steering wheel, bonnet and even the side windows.

I'm sure I am exaggerating but I felt I looked like either one of those very short old dears you see driving or contrastingly the very young drivers (with baseball cap) who adopt the really low seating position and right back with arms at full stretch because it looks "cool" (apparently?) .

It is a personal thing I know but I had to be comfortable for the longer driving sessions and that required the higher seat setting.

19 hours ago, Warrior193 said:

Hope you enjoyed your stay in the Old Country Cobber. I guess you're back home now.

Really enjoyed ourselves back in Blighty, caught up with family and friends and having not been back for 5 years it was a bit of a reminder that none of us are getting any younger.

The decision to visit was taken at short notice and totally unplanned but we managed to do see and do lots of new things I had not experienced when I lived in the UK for the first thirty years of my life. 

Bird watching on the north Norfolk coast, day trips around the villages and stately houses and gardens of Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex; six days on a narrow boat on the canals around Chester (fantastic experience) and apparently I am a natural at driving them, I think due to the fact the heavily laden trollies I push around at work have rear castors.

If you are into that sort of thing then I recommend the Wedgewood museum in Stoke on Trent

I'd also recommend the real "hidden" treasure of Kenwood House on the Northern edge of Hampstead Heath. It is a beautiful Robert Adams (notable 18th century Scottish Architect) designed mansion with a wonderful art collection (Rembrandt, Van Dyke, Turner, Gainsborough etc) that have to be seen in person to be really appreciated.

Funnily enough while the building and collection are great in themselves it is not a good gallery. For instance going from one room to another I noticed a relatively modest portrait mounted awkwardly above the high door and I actually said out loud to myself "Oh you look familiar", the room attendant heard me and said "that's a Van Dyke". Not the best way to view it but entry was free so I could hardly complain.

Back now in Adelaide with souvenirs,  me with a cold (caught in the last three days the UK) and my wife with Covid caught on the flight back 😞 

 

Lots of other views of what has changed (good and bad) I may put in another post.

 

Edited 11 October, 20223 yr by Gerrycan

6 hours ago, Gerrycan said:

Lots of other views of what has changed (good and bad) I may put in another post.

Please do, it would make interesting reading.

 

In the last 5 years my visits were far less frequent than the decade before but still enough for me to become somewhat habituated by changes, there are some though that I believe are glaring, it would be interesting to see what was most noticeable to you.

7 hours ago, Gerrycan said:

Lots of other views of what has changed (good and bad) I may put in another post.

Go for it; I've had to move in the UK about 18 months back for medical reasons and have my own list of "things that have changed".

12 hours ago, Gerrycan said:

Really enjoyed ourselves back in Blighty, caught up with family and friends and having not been back for 5 years it was a bit of a reminder that none of us are getting any younger.

The decision to visit was taken at short notice and totally unplanned but we managed to do see and do lots of new things I had not experienced when I lived in the UK for the first thirty years of my life. 

Bird watching on the north Norfolk coast, day trips around the villages and stately houses and gardens of Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex; six days on a narrow boat on the canals around Chester (fantastic experience) and apparently I am a natural at driving them, I think due to the fact the heavily laden trollies I push around at work have rear castors.

If you are into that sort of thing then I recommend the Wedgewood museum in Stoke on Trent

I'd also recommend the real "hidden" treasure of Kenwood House on the Northern edge of Hampstead Heath. It is a beautiful Robert Adams (notable 18th century Scottish Architect) designed mansion with a wonderful art collection (Rembrandt, Van Dyke, Turner, Gainsborough etc) that have to be seen in person to be really appreciated.

Funnily enough while the building and collection are great in themselves it is not a good gallery. For instance going from one room to another I noticed a relatively modest portrait mounted awkwardly above the high door and I actually said out loud to myself "Oh you look familiar", the room attendant heard me and said "that's a Van Dyke". Not the best way to view it but entry was free so I could hardly complain.

Back now in Adelaide with souvenirs,  me with a cold (caught in the last three days the UK) and my wife with Covid caught on the flight back 😞 

 

Lots of other views of what has changed (good and bad) I may put in another post.

 

The Love emoticon is for your account of the trip - 😞 is for your wife getting C-19 on the flight home.  

I have started a new thread my diatribe might turn out to be a bit long and not Corsa related

 

 

 

Not my Corsa or my accident but i was interested to see just how thin the metal work is.. This is not polishing out.

I'm suprised it's metal. I think they're a shared platform with a Peugeot 208, so I expected plastic wings. 

 

I had to drive one of these on an assessment drive for a job I was going for, and it was terrible. I'm just under 6foot and I couldn't get the seat in any kind of position where it was low enough for me to see forwards without a massive obstruction in my view where the rear view mirror was. It'd got no feel of connection to the road, at one point I was doing commentary and I said "I'm aware I'm doing 10mph under the speed limit, that's because I don't trust the car. I would feel comfortable doing 70mph in another vehicle." passed the assessment though. 

@StevesTruck

When doing that assessment are you marked down if you just take a vehicle and drive it as handed over without checking and setting the tyre pressures and fluid levels? 

 

I drive one nearly every day and have done 50,000 miles and am just under 6 ft an have the seat fully back and at it's lowest as i use my left foot on the accelerator.

My only issue is long right hand corners in towns and like 100 yards from my house where the A pillar is the blind spot. the mirror is no issue. 

There is a big difference with the 17" 205/ 45 tyres from 16" Michelin Primacy 4 ditch finders, and then the Electric Corsa or e-208 has different suspension.

Any tyres on the 16 or 17 rims are likely to be better than the Primacy 4 ECO tyres. 

 

The Drop Links are shot on my car and it is rattling it's self to death, but the seating is dead comfortable and has to be as i spend many hours charging the car, about an hour for every 150 miles of driving.

 

Edited 15 March, 20233 yr by toot

3 hours ago, StevesTruck said:

I had to drive one of these on an assessment drive for a job I was going for, and it was terrible

Totally agree, except that it's not Just Coarsers but every FWD V@&xh@11 I've driven except a mark 1 Astra.

@KenONeillhave you had yourself driving any car yet with Lane Keep Assist?

What are the most recent Vauxhall or Stellantis cars you have driven?

 

 

Edited 15 March, 20233 yr by toot

7 hours ago, toot said:

@StevesTruck

When doing that assessment are you marked down if you just take a vehicle and drive it as handed over without checking and setting the tyre pressures and fluid levels? 

 

 

 

I did ask that question, and got told not when it's raining this heavy. 

On 15/03/2023 at 13:33, toot said:

@KenONeillhave you had yourself driving any car yet with Lane Keep Assist?

What are the most recent Vauxhall or Stellantis cars you have driven?

 

 

I do like the new front end design Vauxhall have chosen. The latest Corsa and Astras look very handsome to me.

I wouldn't have one, as I have a prejudice against recent Vauxhalls, but I do like the look of them.

I think that's just Stellantis saying "GM aren't going to sue us now, lets just make everything look like a Camaro" 

 

I don't mind, I like the way Camaro's look, particularly suits the big Peugeot saloon (408?).