SA Road Tests

Welcome

This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Most, but not all, the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

My most recent drive is on the home page. Archived reviews and opinion pieces are in the active menu down the left side. Hover your cursor over a heading or manufacturer's name and follow the drop-down.


This is a launch report. In other words, it's simply a new model announcement. The driving experience was limited to a drive over a prepared course chosen to make the product look good. We can therefore not tell you what it will be like to live with over an extended period, how economical it is, or how reliable it will be. A very brief first impression is all we can give you until such time as we get an actual test unit for trial. Thank you for your patience.


First drive: 2015 Opel Corsa 1.0T

OH! Corsa!

Posted: 21 February 2015

The cheat sheet
Prices: Essentia – R185 500, Enjoy – R216 200, Cosmo – R236 300
1.4 Enjoy automatic (coming later) – R216 500
Engine: 999 cc, turbocharged three-cylinder
Power: 85 kW between 5000 and 6000 rpm
Torque: 170 Nm between 1800 and 4500 rpm
Average fuel consumption (claimed): 5,0 l/100 km
CO2 tax rating: 117 gm/km
Tank: 45 litres
Luggage space: 285 litres
Warranty: 5 years/120 000 km; with roadside assistance
Service plan: 3 years/60 000 km; at annual or 15 000 km intervals
Performance numbers - British source:
Zero to 100 km/h – 10,3 seconds
Maximum speed: 195 km/h


It began with Adam, an almost infinitely customisable little car for Generations eX to Zee - and old people who reckon they’re too cool to conform. Next up in Opel’s “new Germans” rebranding drive with new models, new engines, new image and new OH! is the just-launched Corsa series E. It’s for us practical, mainstream people who simply like nice things. Mokka is expected shortly – for the ladies’ morning coffee club perhaps?

Corsa’s face is thoroughly new, without a single common panel, plastic moulding or sheet of glass. The engine, tempted away from Adam, is a three-cylinder, one-litre, turbocharged hothead developing 85 kilowatts between 5000 and 6000 rpm and 170 Nm of torque between 1800 and 4500 revs. Those numbers place it neatly in the middle of the trio of tiny turbo triples available in SA at present.

It claims to be smoother and quieter than similar offerings from Ford and Renault, thanks to a contra-rotating balance shaft and improved sound insulation. We’re too aurally insensitive to comment conclusively, but will state that it’s a mighty fine little mill. Power delivery feels endless and almost unstoppable, but we must concede that you do need to change down a notch or two when there’s serious work to be done. Think of it as equivalent to a decent 1600.

Then they built a new chassis that rides and handles amazingly well; and reworked suspension settings to almost eliminate dive under forceful braking. Another team worked on build quality and sound-deadening, so it looks and sounds the way a German car should.

After that, the interior equipment boffins went to work, adding Intellilink with its almost infinite variety of radio broadcasts, music streaming, and coupling to smartphones so you don’t have to shell out big money on things like satellite navigation – it’s just a phone app.

There are three models at present, all using the same engine and six-speed manual gearbox, but an automatic powered by the familiar old-tech, non-turbo, 1400 cc engine is due soon. Prices range from R185 500 for a no-frills Essentia to R236 300 for the top Cosmo version. But, truth be told, you probably won’t want the bare naked Essentia because it has no music centre, Bluetooth, satellite controls or aircon. The R12 200 Option Pack 1 will fix that little oversight, just as an “OH! why the hell not” five kay would add hands-free parking, blind spot monitoring and front and rear park assist to the Cosmo.

Without spending hundreds of words describing the differences, let’s just deal with what they all have. Suspension is by means of the usual McPherson front struts and compound crank rear end; ABS brakes use discs front and rear (except the automatic that has drums in the back); powered front windows with one-touch; folding, heated and powered side mirrors and reach and rake adjustable steering wheel.
 
Then there’s speed-sensitive power steering with city mode (pioneered by Fiat, this lightens wheel effort in traffic), daytime running lights, fabric upholstery, foldable rear seat backs, a 12-volt power socket, ESP, hill start assist, six airbags, pedal release after a collision, ISOFix, alarm, immobiliser and remote central locking. Everything else you need is either part of Enjoy or Cosmo standard specification or included in one of five option packs. These are model dependent so you can’t simply buy an Essentia and add everything.

It’s a beautifully made, responsive and solid little car but there are a couple of silly niggles; like the visor mirror placed for the driver’s use rather than the passenger’s and the tiny glove box that looks as if it was annexed from a French car. This is evidently to do with placement of the passenger airbag, but other manufacturers get around it.

At first glance, the new Corsa may look a bit expensive when compared with some others, but consider the added safety kit before deciding. While we would obviously prefer most of the options to be standard fittings, we reckon this little Opel is a big improvement on some of the company’s recent efforts.

Would we invite one home? OH! Yes.

Information gathered at a manufacturer-sponsored press launch.

Our review of the 2015 Corsa Cosmo is here

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.

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.

Comments?
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