SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. We drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under South African conditions. It also just happens that most of the vehicles we drive are world cars as well, so what you read here probably applies to the models you can get at home.

*To read one of our archived road tests, just select from the alphabetical menu of manufacturers' names on the left. Hover your cursor over the manufacturer's name, then choose from the drop-down menu that appears.

*Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the reports.


We relish the 2013 Opel Corsa 1.4T Enjoy

Sporty mid-range alternative

Published in Witness Wheels on Thursday October 24, 2013

It’s all about swings and roundabouts; the right hand giving and the left taking away in the course of revisions to Opel’s Corsa range in South Africa. Fans gained a fire-breathing, three-door, OPC Nürburgring device but lost the sportily aligned 1400 cc, Colour Edition. A lightly turbocharged, 1400 cc, five-door Enjoy version replaced it, but life is never quite that simple. There is both good news and a measure of disappointment.

Hard to take is that the Colour Edition’s sport chassis, sports seats, 17” wheels with 215/45 tyres, glossy black roof, leather steering wheel, adjustable boot floor and one of its seven radio speakers have gone. Realistically though, the latter four items are probably not deal breakers and the racy tyres were definite overkill in a car of such moderate performance. They’re rather expensive to replace, too.

Better news consists of the newer 1364cc engine that has, as mentioned, been lightly force-fed to up the stakes to 88 kW and 175 Nm rather than the old 1398cc motor’s 74 kW and 130 Nm. What that means to you is lower emissions, two seconds quicker over the 100 km/h dash and 21 km/h more top end. The tyres are more practical 195/55 R16s with a fully sized steel spare wheel; you gain two doors; have automatic stop-start for economy; there are disc brakes at the back rather than drums and R5200 was sliced off the price. Thought you might like that.

Everything else stays the same with two airbags, powered windows in front with one-touch and anti-pinch, electric mirrors, alloy wheels, music and phone controls on the rake- and telescopically adjustable steering wheel, front fog lamps, ABS brakes with EBD and BAS, a six-speaker music system with RDS radio, Bluetooth and the usual inputs, driver’s side seat height adjustment, autolocking, filtered manual air conditioning, follow-me lamps and ISOFix mountings.

The 224 dm3 boot opens at upper thigh height, is neatly rectangular and is a little deeper than most at about 20 centimetres. It has a light, two lashing rings and it closes ambidextrously. Unfortunately, the one-piece seatback needs you to pull two catches, so it’s a case of kneeling on the cushion to reach both, or call for help. On the positive side, you gain one recline angle detent.

The SA Standard Tall Passenger found more than enough room for his head and knees, although foot space beneath the lowered driver’s chair was a snug fit. There are three head restraints and as many seatbelts for those in the back, while all outer seat passengers have grab handles. Seat material is of dark coloured fabric and entry and exit are easy.

There are lots of little trays, slots and stash places spread throughout the cabin, although rear door bins and the cubby are rather small.  Dash material is of hard plastic and quite nicely fitted, although we feel that Opel is falling behind its main competitors in that respect. This little Corsa is easy to drive with its smooth five-speed manual gearbox, reassuring brakes and pleasantly weighted steering action. Being turbocharged, it runs like a young bull at Pamplona; maintaining cruising speed quite comfortably up Key Ridge for example.

 With enthusiasts’ needs taken care of by the three-door twins, OPC and Nürburgring Edition, and basic transportation covered by the 1400 Essentia, we reckon this Corsa Enjoy fulfils the need for a sporty mid-range option even more effectively than its predecessor.

Test car from GMSA press fleet

The numbers
Price: R195 400
Engine: 1364 cc, DOHC 16-valve, four-cylinder turbopetrol
Power: 88 kW between 4800 and 6000 rpm
Torque: 175 Nm between 1750 and 4800 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 10,3 seconds
Maximum speed: 195 km/h
Estimated real life average fuel consumption: About 6,6 l/100 km
Tank: 45 litres
Warranty: 5 years/120 000 km; with roadside assistance
Service plan: 3 years/60 000 km; at annual or 15 000 km intervals


What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material. If I ever place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with that vehicle at least once already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

My reviews and launch reports appear on Thursdays in the Wheels supplement to The Witness, South Africa's oldest continuously running newspaper, and occasionally on Saturdays in Weekend Witness as well. I drive eight to ten vehicles each month, most months of the year (except over the festive season) so not everything gets published in the paper. Those that are, get a tagline but the rest is virgin, unpublished and unedited by the political-correctness police.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so they can see I do actually exist.



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