Vauxhall Corsa SRi - Its back, its fast and its fun. Having taken a two year sabbatical, the Vauxhall Corsa SRi has returned to the UK showrooms. Complimenting the new Corsa line up, the SRi has been designed for customers who want style, street cred and good driving dynamics, but not necessary the trills as seen on the Corsa VXR.
Now, think of a SRi and you are immediately thrown back to the eighties where SRi’s were the hot hatch car to have. Sadly running costs in particular insurance premiums rather put the sting in the SRi’s tail, but now its back with vengeance on two engines. The new 1.6 litre turbo that enables the SRi to sprint from 0-60mph in just 7.6 seconds, with a top speed of 130 mph yet fuel consumption is an impressive 35.8-mpg on a combined cycle. CO2 emissions are at 189g/km but the insurance group is quite high, 13A. Prices for this model start at £13,625 for the three doors rising to £14,275 for the five-door variant.
However, the 1.7 CDTi diesel engine is not far behind accelerating from 0-60mph in 9.3 seconds, top speed of 121 mph and fuel consumption a whopping 58.9 mph on a combined cycle. Further savings are to be made with CO2 emissions down to 130k/gm and insurance group almost halved at 7E. OK, the prices are slightly higher initially with the three door at £14,235 and the five door - £14,885 but it does not take a mathematician to work out the savings.
0-60mph in 9.3 seconds, top speed of 121 mph and fuel consumption a whopping 58.9 mph on a combined cycle
My test car for the week happened to be the three door 1.6 petrol engine that came in the ‘in’ colour this season. White. Now, not being an avid fan of white, somehow this colour really befitted the Corsa SRi and accentuated her gorgeous looks. 17 inch alloy wheels sets the tone with body coloured sports front lower spoiler, side sills, rear lower skirt and rear spoiler giving a hint of what is under her bonnet. Body coloured electrically adjustable plus heated door mirrors, door handles and door protection strips look great while the lovely large teardrop light clusters had the optional Halogen Adaptive Forward Lighting that moves the headlight beams up thus improves vision of approaching bends.
The interior is really funky with black upholstery and red trimming on the seats, height adjustable on the drivers, height adjustable steering wheel with audio remotes and on all five seatbelts. This complements the chrome inlays on the door handles, leather gear lever, handbrake and pedals. Cruise control and electric window are standard and the other optional extra I had on my test car was the radio/CD with MP3 compatibility and satellite navigation with graphic display at £975.
Storage was not compromised with door pockets, cup holders, a reasonable good-sized glove box and a sneaky tray under the passenger seat. The rear occupants have bottle holders while the luggage compartment will easily accommodate the weekly shop.
Performance wise, well this is a SRi and she was a lot of fun to drive with the uprated sports suspension very noticeable as it lowers the ride height and sportier spring plus damper settings. Together with the speed sensitive power steering and six speed manual transmission, there will be no stopping you from wanting to drive this exciting car.
But in case you do go a bit mental, the SRi comes with switchable ESP plus Enhanced Understeer control that senses when the vehicle is about to slide on a bend and applies the correct braking to the appropriate wheel or wheels thus correcting the slide and helping you to regain control more quickly. Traditional ESP is applied to only one wheel but on this SRi version, it can be switched off via a button on the facia. ABS is standard along with EBD and Emergency Brake Assist while keeping the occupants in tact are driver and passenger dual stage airbags, a pedal release system that reduces potential injury to the drivers legs and feet during a severe frontal impact, reinforced passenger cell and side impact protection beams. In case the children are privy to the SRi, ISOFIX mountings are fitted to the two rear outer seats along with head restraints and three seatbelts.
Securing the SRi Turbo is remote central locking with security deadlocks and an alarm but being a turbo does push up the insurance premiums as it is makes the SRi more powerful thus desirable to would be thieves.
I thoroughly enjoyed my week with this Corsa SRi Turbo, as did the children being half term. She was so much fun to drive and I can really see her appealing to the younger readers wanting a sporty looking car with good performance yet not too pricey.
FemaleFirst Jackie Violet