Vauxhall Corsa VXR - As we Brits wait patiently for this so called ‘sizzling summer’, my temperature went soaring after a week in Vauxhalls new Corsa. But of course, it was not just an average 3-door Corsa, no; this was the black sheep of the family - the new Corsa VXR.

VXR literally turns a normal car into a super hot hatch as previously seen on the rest of the Vauxhall clan, i.e. the Astra, Vectra even the Zafria, making that the fastest seven seater ever built!

Now, I will be honest here. It took me a while to get my head around the concept of a hot hatch Corsa. Maybe I was being blighted as I used a Corsa for my driving instruction vehicle and the mere thought of that being a potential hot hatch just did not compute with my little brain. But what these very talented engineers have done, using a rather famous Italian super car as inspiration, is produce one of the sexiest looking cars on the roads today mated with unbelievable power and torque. Talk about having your cake and eating it.

Just look as the exterior styling immediately distinguishing itself from the other models being the only three door plus the VXR styling cues. A triangular theme was adopted; in fact the Corsa VXR has more triangles than Mike Oldfield ever had in the original Triangular Bells. Look careful and you see the shape appear time and time again from the front fog lights, front grille, to the door mirrors, door handles and the spokes between the standard 17 inch alloy wheels or a whopping 18 inch optional extras making them the largest in the supermini segment, round to the rear exhaust tailpipes. Further clues are the subtle VXR badging, Arden Blue brake callipers, front and rear spoilers plus deep-sided skirts enhancing his masculinity. But this is not just for show as this design has genuine performance benefits increasing the car’s aerodynamic down force and giving it greater stability as high speed which I duly thankful for.

Cementing its hot hatch status, the Corsa VXR has superb Recaro sport seats- guess what- with triangular cut outs in the seat frames! Tested by employers at GM, the part leather heated seats appear to be rock hard at first, but do offer excellent lumber support as well as comfort once you get used to them. VXR staying creeps in with alloy pedals, metal gear knob, VXR tailored overmats and the special dials that add to the racy look and feel. The height adjustable steering wheel is flat bottomed in typical racing car style and along with VXR badge has the remote controls for the radio/CD player but if it gets to hot to handle than the air conditioning should cool everyone down a little.

Right lets get to the crunch of the matter and what is powering this little devil in disguise. Well it may be only a 1,598 cc engine but it develops an impressive 192PS - 12PS that is more than its siblings and means, thanks to a loophole in the driveby noise regulations, the Corsa VXR can have a fruiter exhaust nose which we petrol heads love. Thanks to a clever gadget that GM engineer’s describe as ‘Popeye’s spinach’ if you floor the throttle whilst moving, the engine management system wll produce an extra 15% more torque for five seconds that gives you, the driver, that extra oomph needed when overtaking.

6.8 seconds is all it takes to reach 60 mph from standstill with a top speed of 140 mph making the Corsa VXR one of the fastest cars on the road per £1. But visits to the petrol station are far between as the Corsa VRX has a combined fuel economy of 35.8 mpg which is excellent for what is effectively a high performance car, while CO2 is down at 190 that in reality makes it a choice for company car drivers! Oh no, not a salesmen in a hot hatch VRX! Maybe falling into insurance group 16D might be an adequate deterrent. If not, then luckily for them, the rear diffuser generates 430 Newton’s of downforce and creates a vacuum under the car, which holds it to the road at high speed while the unique variable progressive steering provides the driver with exceptional feeling and feedback being responsive at a higher speeds yet letting up for those awkward parking bays. ESP is standard but can be turned off for those wannabe Hamilton’s of the world, to experience true driving.

The Corsa achieved five stars in the Euro NCAP ratings and expect the VXR to follow suit. But they had a few obstacles to overcome such as the seat design meant the side airbags would not fit, so they worked with Recaro to make sure a side airbag could be incorporated into the seats. They also wanted the front bumpers to be pedestrian friendly but without compromising on design, so if you look very closely you can see black blocks either side of the number plate on the front bumper that are there to literally soften the blow to both car and pedestrians.

Crunch time now, well, not literally I hope. How much will it cost to experience this exhilarating ride, superb handling, lusciously good looks and comfortable interior? Well, a pretty liberal price tag of just £15,625 OTR but my test car came with optional adaptive forward lighting at £250 that I would recommend as an extra safety precaution.

Are we, as a nation turning away from the standard norm in cars and being driven to more exciting drives or am I going through mid life crisis whereby all I want to do is take my driving to higher limits. Well whatever the answer, I achieved the latter thanks to this truly remarkable car.

FemaleFirst Jackie Violet