Lukewarm Vauxhall Corsa GSI gets 148bhp

Good news young people. The Corsa GSI is back, and though it looks almost exactly the same as the big-boy Corsa VXR, because it has just 148 brake horsepowers from a 1.4-litre turbocharged engine (just as we predicted), you’ve got a fighting chance of being able to actually insure it. Hooray.

Obviously it isn’t anything like as fast as a VXR. 0-62mph takes 8.9 seconds and the top speed is 128mph. Not that much quicker than the Corsa GSI of the early Nineties, curiously, but still more than enough to get your teenaged-self into trouble. Naturally drive is to the front-axle only via a six-speed manual transmission. It also has a proper handbrake. Because (fairly) hot hatch.

That it gets the same chassis set-up as the VXR means it ought to handle reasonably smartly – although it’ll need to go some way to bring the aging Corsa up to Fiesta/Ibiza levels of amusement – and optional Recaro seats, aluminium pedals and a sports steering wheel should brighten-up the interior, too. Vauxhall’s IntelliLink infotainment system, which gives Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, is fitted as standard, but the tasty 18-inch alloy wheels you see in these pics aren’t. Soz.

The GSI arrives in showrooms this September. Prices are yet to be confirmed.