Rhythm Nation. Review on Opel Corsa Swing 1.6

Now I, for one, am no great fan of ‘station wagons’ – their frumpy, dowdy image bothers me a bit, and even the term “station wagon” is none too flattering. Call me vain if you will, but I want my autos to be smart and snazzy. When it’s my set of wheels I am talking about, the look, the street-cred, is important. Still, having said that, I liked the Swing 1.6 the first time I got up close. Frankly, what with its cool 14-inch 5-spoke alloys (optional, I am told…), the ski-rails on the roof, and the very well-executed rear-end treatment, the Swing looks way better than it’s notchback brother. This is one good-looking car, and no question about that. Good-looking station wagons? What is the world coming to…!?!

Get inside, and a quality feel pervades. Yes, this is a car of European descent, no doubt. Chunky plastics, good fabric on the seats, and comfy front thrones – what more can a family man ask for? Oh yes, that’s right, “family man”. This car is all about accommodating the entire family and its loads of luggage, isn’t it? But coming back to interior appointments, the Blaupunkt boombox (tape/radio only, no CD-player…) is a wee bit fussy in operation, there is no rev-counter in the instrument pod, and there are no seat-belts at the rear! Not that too many of our drivers use a rev-counter anyway, but any car that shows 200kmph as its max speed on the speedo should definitely have seatbelts for all occupants...

But settle into the driver’s seat, and you’d perhaps find that the steering wheel feels a tad too large. Could we have a smaller one please, Opel? The nifty power-assisted steering means we don’t need such a large wheel anyway. And as for the seating position, though the front seats are supportive, space at the front is rather limited. Switch on the Swing’s 1598cc in-line fourpot fuel-injected lump, and immediately it makes the right kind of noises – so important for any car freak. Put it in first and floor the throttle, and the car swings to 100kmph in no time at all! Well, in 14.68 seconds, to be precise, but that was with the AC on, and with three people in the car! Not bad, huh? The 92bhp that its engine produces, is quite effective in setting off the one thousand and four hundred odd kilos that the Swing 1.6 weighs.

The third cog in the Swing 1.6 is a delight – it will see you all the way from 30kmph to 130, though if you do the latter figure in thirdfrequently, don’t be surprised if the engine decides to pack up on you someday. Heck, there are five gears after all, so use them if you want to travel at triple-digit speeds! Speeding comes naturally to the Swing. The 1.6 engine is quite free-revving and loves to be thrashed hard. We saw speeds of up to 165kmph on the speedo, but the less-than-ideal traffic conditions on the Delhi-Jaipur highway, and constraints of time, did not allow us to find out the true top speedof the Swing. 165-ish is a fair old clip anyway, so no complaints there.

The first four cogs are what you’ll mostly be playing with if you like your motoring peppy. Fifth is for the economy set, and acceleration tails off a bit there. But fourth or fifth, what is more important is that the car stops well from high speeds. The brakes (discs at the front, drums at the rear) feel very well-modulated, and remain free from fade and fuss. One point of concern might be that the car tends to wander a bit while braking very hard from very high speeds. You get stopped in time, but if you are careless, the car could possibly catch you out, especially in tricky, wet-weather conditions. If you are a habitual speeder, be careful, that’s all. Apart from that, the handling is generally good, with the 175/65 MRFs working in conjunction with McPherson struts at the front, and double conical springs at the rear, to provide stability at the limit.

I personally find most Indian cars to be ‘under-tyred’, but that is not the case with the Swing – thank Opel for that! For hard-core speed-freaks (what are you doing in this car anyway…?), I will add that the car needs to be steered on the throttle if you are pushing very hard. Take your foot off the juice-pedal midcorner, and you could possibly be looking for trouble.

So where are we, then? Well, what we have here is a very competent vehicle, and at the right price. Also, the

Swing is not a drunkard – you get almost ten kilometers to every liter of petrol, which is a good thing. The aircon is average, but functional (if a bit noisy…), there is loads of space for stowing all your luggage (but not as much as the Siena Weekend…), and the ride is generally comfortable without getting too mushy when you are pushing things hard. Also, the 5-speed gearbox works well in tandem with the torquey engine. 126Nm of lugging power will see you through the worst of city traffic with ease, and that is a blessing.

All things to all people, then, without compromising too much on any one aspect. Take one out for a spin, and don’t be surprised if you end up jiving to the Swing’s rhythm...