Review: Opel Corsa SC (2019-Present)

The Opel Corsa blends into the urban background of any city in Europe as easily as fast food restaurants and overpriced pubs. With early 2021 Corsa’s starting at €14’000, is it a good deal?

The Exterior

The Corsa hasn’t always been a particularly handsome car, but this generation manages to look stylish without being brash. I particularly like the headlight design and it’s simple yet elegant day time running lights. This face-lifted car features Opel’s Visor front end and while it does give the Corsa a high-tech look, it also brings the design closer to the Corsa’s French sister, the Peugeot 208.

The Drive

To drive the Corsa can be summed up with the following statement, boring but mature. The 75hp 1.2 three-cylinder petrol in the car tested gives no surprises, it isn’t fizzy or fun to rev out like a Clio but what it does do is give smooth power while remaining relatively quiet throughout the rev-range, something that can’t be said for the Clio. This quietness and soundproofing are a real star feature, making the Corsa feel a lot more premium than some of its rivals. Pair this to a 5-speed manual gearbox that while a bit numb feeling stays out of your way, and you have an easy-going driving experience. I regularly found myself thinking I was in a larger car, forgetting that I was in a supermini. When you do push it through the bends, the numb and light steering does little to encourage you, but for a first-time driver or someone just commuting in the city, this light easy steering is really a selling point rather than a negative.

I didn't know you could make a handbrake design boring.

The Interior

The trim I tested is aptly named the “SC”, which I can only imagine stands for “Super Cheap” as it gives you all the basics and nothing more. With this comes a big warning as not all SC trim cars come with air conditioning. This is particularly annoying when you consider that a lot of the Corsa’s rivals, come with air conditioning as standard. The SC comes standard with the smaller, non-colour touch screen. Almost all Corsa F’s are optioned with the larger full colour 10-inch and for good reason. This smaller display, while delivering you a surprising amount of information for its size, does bring down the overall feel of quality inside the car.

Everything is well put together with there being hardly any creaks or rattles coming from any of the trim pieces, with all the buttons and switches having that kind of feel only the Germans seem to be able to create. While I wouldn’t describe it as quite Volkswagen Polo quality, the Corsa does feel a better built car than competitors from France or Japan. It is let down by Opel’s almost trademark gloomy feeling interior design. Echoing the drive, it is all very well done, but very boring feeling.

In fact, that is my overall feeling of the new Corsa, a well-built, easy going super mini that is let down by it’s lack of fun or energy both inside and out.