With this article on the Opel Corsa 1.4 GSI, I intend to make aware the pros and cons of the car to prospective buyers. The feedback given in this article are purely mine and the only intent of the article was to put across an honest feedback of the car after owning it for 13 months and having done 17,000 kms (most of it on the highways). I do not intend to shoo away anyone from buying this car or persuade one to buy it (one hell of a disclaimer, eh ?)
Buying of the car
I bought my Opel Corsa 1.4 GSI in Jan' 2004. I have owned a Maruti Zen & a Maruti 800 in India (both of them, I had bought new) and a Ford Taurus (second hand) in the US, prior to buying the Corsa.
I was clear about the segment that I was interested in : the mid-size sedan segment. I also had my priority list in place and it read something like this : (in the decreasing order of precedence)
1. The car should be a great driver's car (Since, I generally do a lot of long drives). Great Power, Good pick-up, excellent seating position (a must).
2. A decent boot space (since, I generally carry a lot of stuff with me when I drive out of town)
3. A very quite and a pleasant interior. I do not like external noise, and prefer to enjoy my music. (For this factor, I really admire the Baleno)
These were the top 3 priorities and I was ready to buy a car if it even just met priority #1.
A couple of things which I was not particular about was
1. Rear seat space, since I was aware that 95% of the times It would remain unoccupied
2. Extras like music system / speakers and things because I prefer my own selection over the company prescribed ones, and I have been moving a blaupunkt system with a 10 CD changer from the time I fit that on to my zen.
With these factors..I narrowed down my list to the Ford Ikon 1.6 SXI (now called the 1.6 ZXI, I will continue to refer this car as the SXI in my article) and the Opel Corsa 1.4 GSI.
(a) Ford Ikon 1.6 SXI met my priority #1 in a great way...and even today, I believe that the Ford Ikon 1.6 SXI is the best driver's car and it really is a sexy (SXI) car. I really love this car for the way it drives. Even now, I keep inventing excuses to visit the Ford dealer in Bangalore to drive this car. The last time, I visited them was when they launched Fusion. I went there on day 1 of the Fusion launch to drive the Ikon ;)
(b) Opel Corsa 1.4 GSI is a good package and a better offering than the Corsa 1.6.b Since, I had just then got back from the US, the german fever was running high on me..the BMW's, Merc, VW, Audi. The only german (50% atleast due to Vauxhall ?)which I could afford was the Corsa. When I test drove the car, the car appeared to meet all of my priorities, I was still not sure if it convinced me the way SXI did, but a great discount on the car at that time and a couple of other factors made me buy the Corsa 1.4 GSI.
The Experience
It will not take any one long to realize that the Corsa has a great ride quality, superior suspension and the feeling of a safe and secure drive is promised. The boot space is ample, and the GM's after service is great. The mileage in city and on the highways is not bad, It is on par with its counterparts. The engine is good. The car is slightly sensitive to the quality of fuel.
I only use Speed from Bharat Petroleum, since after several tests, I realised that Corsa drives the best with Speed. I have used the car extensively on the high-ways and the top speed I have driven it is at 145 km/hr (with the AC on), and the car was very stable at this speed...I have a very strong feeling that I can push it for more, and when I do it, I will update this article.
A couple of factors which may not please you are the lack of standard equipments like a cigarette lighter (I don?t smoker, but I would have definitely used it to charge my cell phone), rear defogger (something which you may rule out as trivial, but you will find it very useful when driving during rainy days especially on the highways), a dead pedal (one ?dead? pedal can help a lot?trust me !).
These were a couple of things which you still may do away with, but a couple of other factors which annoyed me were the driver seating position, and the performance. From the time I had bought this car I had not managed to figure out the right comfortable seating position and this really bothered me. I used to develop a pain in my knees whenever there was a lot of clutch usage and frequent changes from the accelerator to the brake pedal.
The pain has been so intense at times that I have even consulted my orthopaedic doctor if it was a case of arthritis, and it was not. The driver's space is cramped, and the seating position is awkward. I had tried all permutations and combinations of different seating arrangements , different footwear (formal shoes, Hawaii chappal, sneakers...I even bought a pair of Nike Max Air for this...) and it had just not helped me.
I decided to re-do the seat configuration by adding some extra foam towards the front part of the driver?s lower seat and got leather seat covers done. Since there is a change in the angle in which my legs are positioned, this has helped to a great extent, and I would strongly recommend this to other Corsa owners, if they have felt this problem with the seat.
The other aspect which bothered me was the way the vehicle performed at lower speeds and the vehicle not being quick enough (partly, it was my mistake since I keep comparing the vehicle to the 1.6 SXI), and it is a known fact that Corsa is not a very enthusiastic car.
I got the K&N air filters fit to the car, and the difference in performance is phenomenal. K&N air filters is something which you may want to adopt immaterial of the make of your car, and am sure you will want to thank me for this piece of suggestion. For the Corsa, it costs about Rs 4,000.
Apart from these factors, the Corsa is a great car. The 2005 model comes with a digital odometer and you also have the option of beige interiors which I feel are great value-adds and would enhance the looks of the car.
I am sure you will not be disappointed if you decide to go for the Corsa and you will realize that ?small is BIG?. Happy Driving !
