The earliest spiritual predecessor of this car was the Nova Sport. A homologation special, produced in limited numbers simply to give Vauxhall a better chance in lower-capacity motorsport classes, the Sport seems crude and ineffective in today's terms, but was quite a machine for the mid-1980s. The key to this was the fact that it came as standard with twin Weber 40DCOE carburettors, which improved the 1300cc engine's performance no end and made this by far the fastest - and best-sounding - Nova of its day. The 1600cc GTE, launched a couple of years later, was much quicker again, though it didn't sound nearly as good. Driving a press fleet version shortly after this car was announced, I intensely annoyed a friend whose newly purchased Peugeot 205 GTi couldn't keep up on a certain stretch of road, despite the fact that the 205 had 130bhp to the Nova's 105. I tried to tell him that the Nova's corner exit speed was much better, but he kept muttering that it must have had a lot more power than Vauxhall was letting on. The 1.8-litre version of the Corsa SRi (there's also a 1.4 if you prefer) to some extent carries on the tradition of small but hot GM hatches, though it's unlikely to attract the attention of boy racers in the same way as, for example, the more obviously aggressive Citroen Saxo VTS clearly does. Only the most minor of exterior upgrades - namely a set of 15" alloy wheels - distinguishes the SRi from lesser Corsas. There is more visible evidence inside in the form of sports seats, alloy effect trim and the more or less obligatory white dials. Compared with the long-ago Nova Sport, the SRi fairly bristles with standard equipment such as remote central locking, air-conditioning, traction control and even cruise control. This last term may, for at least part of the target market, bring to mind police cars appearing in large car parks on a Saturday night to spoil the fun. If you don't get the reference, don't worry about it. Although the SRi is the most powerful Corsa available, a race circuit is perhaps not the place you would consider putting it through its paces. Perversely (but through circumstances rather than personal choice) that's exactly the first thing I did with the test car. I wasn't expecting anything particularly special, and was therefore surprised when the car zipped out of the Croft pit lane in a notably spritely manner to the accompaniment of a very rorty engine note. Echoes of the Nova Sport after all, then. Around the challenging Croft layout the Corsa was ridiculously soft but quite chuckable. A hefty dose of understeer through the Jim Clark Esses could be cancelled by kicking out the tail end. It all felt quite safe even though the car was going through that section at about 90mph. Do not, however, try this at home, unless you happen to live at a race circuit. Splendid fun, of course, but not at all relevant to road driving (anyone who thinks they can drive as fast on the public road as they can on a track can't drive fast on a track). So a more sober investigation of the public highway was in order. In this real-world environment the Corsa actually felt less sporty, partly because the engine doesn't start gurgling and throbbing unless it's in parts of the rev range which are difficult to sustain in road driving. More importantly, though, the Corsa simply doesn't handle like a true hot hatch. At Croft it was possible to put the huge amounts of body roll and resulting understeer down to the fact that the car was being driven harder than it wanted to be. On the roads of North Yorkshire, at more appropriate speeds, it became more difficult to forgive the bouncy ride quality and uncertain cornering. It was as if the road wheels were reacting to the surface they were riding on, and the steering wheel was reacting to what the driver was doing with it, and in between them the suspension was trying to reconcile the two inputs and becoming hopelessly confused. It was another, sadly familiar example of the discrepancy between road conditions in Germany (Vauxhalls being rebadged Opels, of course) and the UK. The average German highway bears a far closer resemblance, in terms of surface quality and lack of undulations, to Croft than to the network of roads around Darlington. Vauxhall has gone to some lengths to point out that the new Vectra has been retuned by British chassis engineers specifically to take account of British road conditions. If the Corsa has gone through the same process, there is very little sign of it. Standard Novas were a bit like that too. The first thing any Nova owner did to sharpen up the handling was to fit stiffer front springs. Thereafter it was possible - and indeed quite easy - to make further modifications which would make those cars handle supremely well. The same could be done with the Corsa. With a set of adjustable dampers, a range of springs and perhaps an assortment of anti-roll bars, CARkeys could transform an SRi within a week. So could Vauxhall, and the result would be a modern Nova Sport or GTE, a car that could look a Saxo VTS squarely in the face. How about it, guys? For old times' sake? Engine 1796cc, 4 cylinders Power 123bhp Fuel/CO2 35.8mpg / 190g/km Acceleration 0-60mph: 8.0 seconds Top speed 126mph Price £12,995 Details correct at publication date
