Making a case for the Vauxhall Corsa D. Wait, what now?

Let’s be honest, the Vauxhall Corsa D was disappointing. It had numerous foibles, meaning it came up short compared with the equivalent Ford Fiesta and Volkswagen Polo.

One of those said foibles related to the underpowered engines – the entry 1.3CDTi produced an underwhelming 74bhp, for example. What performance it summoned was agonising to endure, despite the fact it was fitted with a turbo. 0-62mph took 13.6 seconds and the top speed was 105mph. Glacial. Heck, my washing machine is faster and more powerful.

The limitations weren’t only confined to performance, either. The steering was soft and light, which made it feel too numb with not much connection, so it was unnerving to position accurately on the road. The brake pedal was mushy underfoot and the manual gearbox wasn’t always the smoothest.

On the surface then, there’s nothing about the Corsa D that really appeals. It’s an approachable car, but unremarkable too. However... I still kinda dig it.

It was humble, and therefore unpretentious. I like the way no one really cares about it. I find that quite endearing. I also like the way it’s slow and safe enough to drive on the limit. As anyone whose ever driven a rental knows, the challenge of driving the dynamically constrained Corsa on the edge offers a uniquely strange satisfaction. It's like driving the Corsa VXR Nürburgring Edition... just in slower motion. And worse.  

The passing resemblance could be down to lightness – the kerbweight of the standard Corsa D is just 1,160kg. In an era when cars are getting bigger and heavier, the Corsa D is an outlier next to contemporary superminis. Imagine: it's lighter than a Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Ahem.

There's something about the exterior design too. Yes, I know looks are subjective, and no, I'm not saying it's a cool car, but... you could do worse. Yes you could do better, but still. It had a style that was vaguely respectable, and wasn't an utter embarrassment.

And even though that engine was a tad impotent, it was reasonably affordable. You could do upwards of 60mpg (if you really, really tried), and with road tax costing only £20 it was cheap to run (and to insure, too). These things aren't cool and exciting. These things are very Real World. And therefore these things are Important. 

There’s no disputing the Corsa D was second-rate, and I shouldn’t really like it. Nevertheless, I kinda dig it. When you look under the surface, there’s more to the Corsa than you think... like rust, mostly.