Note for reference: car weight and power data are hard to pin down with absolute certainty. For consistency, we use the same source for all our guides. We hope the data we use is right more often than it’s wrong. Our advice is to treat it as relative rather than definitive.Bragging rights are important for fans of hot superminis, and the VXR provided all the ammunition you needed with more horsepower than the Fiesta ST or the Polo GTI. Away from the spec sheets there was more good news.
In its defence the action of the reworked gearbox was a welcome advance, even if the Fiesta ST’s box was still superior. Bearing in mind the type of use these cars typically face you shouldn’t expect the clutch to last forever, and because there’s a dual mass flywheel in there too don’t expect the fix to be all that cheap either.
This might not have been a problem for any other car running this engine but the nature of a VXR is that it will routinely get thrashed more, not only when they’re in motion but also when they’re parked up at car meets with the bonnet propped open. An aftermarket industry in redesigned inlet manifolds sprang up to help owners with this issue.
As regards general maintenance, there are three types of service listed in the fixed price servicing deal available at your friendly Vauxhall dealer: interim , main , and major . Oddly, if you ask for ‘Vauxhall approved’ parts rather than genuine Vauxhall parts, that reduces the prices to £205, £235 and £385 respectively. We can’t remember coming across a scheme like this elsewhere. Faced with such a choice we’re not sure why you’d want to pay extra for genuine parts.
There was a recall in May 2020 for faulty steering columns on Corsas made between September and December 2019. There was a releasing handbrake issue but we’re fairly sure that was only on earlier Corsa Ds.Not everyone was a massive fan of the Corsa VXR styling, which had a kind of top-heaviness about it.
All of which was great. Unfortunately, dull but important stuff like cabin storage wasn’t so great. Baby owners attempting to get child seats in and out of the back might soon be wishing they’d taken up mixed martial arts instead of parenthood.