Oct 06, 2004 10:13 AM
4239 Views
(Updated Jun 22, 2009 12:36 PM)
My parents picked up a Corsa with 1.4 L engine. Haven’t driven it much myself just around 300-400 km around town but heres what I feel.
Interiors:
The interiors are
of a light suede color. I think this will get dirty real soon. We’re investing in a set of leather covers to prevent this. Cost Rs. 7000 ($150).
The music player is some custom model. You cant fit any other model to it. You gotta buy the brand the dealer recommends.
Ground clearence:
The ground clearence is too low. I dont where the rest of you live. But in Bangalore we have roadhumps about 6-9 inches in height. 4 people in the car with no luggage and you have to go over road humps real carefully or your shiny car will be badly damaged.
Control buttons:
The buttons have odd icons on them. The visual representation of standard things like AC, lights, etc are all wonky on the corsa. Maybe its all German but I couldnt figure it out.
Control buttons for the AC are meant to be pulled out to switch on and pushed in to shut down. Strange dont you think. One would imagine turning a knob or switch clockwise and anti clockwise would be easy to figure out.
Locking the car is odd again. You have to turn the key clockwise to unlock and anticlockwise to lock it !!! Thats weird man. That the opposite of almost car I’ve driven.
Maybe its the Usability Engineer in me talking but these are things I’m trained to spot.
Or worse maybe all the switches are made in Saudi Arabia. :)
Pickup:
We sold our much loved Maruti Esteem for this car. The corsa weighs 1040kg. This is 10% more than the esteem and it shows. A 1.4 liter engine is just not enough to lug the car and its passengers around. I feel now we should have bought the 1.6 liter engine.
The car feels sluggish and you need a heavy right foot to do anything spectacular.
Safety:
Yeah well, safety and crash test ratings are all okay. I’m sure being German they’ve taken care of these things. Its the law.
Fun part:
I impress my car crazy nephew by telling him the Corsa is turbo charged. Hers how I do it. I drive up a steep slope with the AC in full blast. Halfway up I tell him now watch the turbo kick in... Then I turn off the AC and the car leaps forward immediately. Ha ha..
Overall:
The car is well put together. No rattles or shakes. Plastics seem to be good quality.
