Refer my earlier review posted earlier. My office shifted to Gurgaon in August 2006, and so I now drive in faster (at least for the most part) traffic, and this has done wonders to my Corsa’s fuel economy. In winters, with the AC off, I am now getting 13 km per litre. In October 2006, with the AC on 40-50% of the time, I was getting 11.5 kmpl. The mileage should improve by around 5% in Feb2007 since the Gurgaon highways are now nearing completion and the crawl of around 3-4 kms should end (which reduces fuel efficiency). I am confident that with improved traffic, it should give 11.5 kmpl in the summers, and 13.5 kmpl in the winters. My helpful tip: Change gears between 1,000-2,000 rpm; drive beyond 50 kmph in 5th gear, do change from 5th to 4th before 35-40 kmph, do not exceed 2,500 rpm (or around 100 kmph); add System G, anticipate traffic, drive at a constant speed, shift gears less, use light foot on accelerator and breaks (rather than clutch) in stop and go traffic. Corsa is very sensitive to being driven in correct rpm (can add or subtract around 1 kmpl to mileage), and clutch usage (another 1 kmpl to mileage). I hired a driver for 2 weeks, and as most drivers are, they over-rev the engine, use the clutch more than necessary, and anticipate less (resulting in fast acceleration and stops).

When I shifted to Gurgaon, I was worried about my fuel bills, and was thinking of buying a Wagon R to cut some costs. But, now with better economy and its vastly superior driving experience, I have postponed that idea. Trust me, if you ignore the slightly slow gearshift from 1st to 2nd (which you get used to), there is no better car in ride, stability, safety, pickup, and smoothness. I have driven in bigger and smaller cars and for cars upto 10 lakhs, only Optra and Innova exceeds its overall comfort. So sad that GM has discontinued the Corsa line. In UK, Vauxhall Corsa (which is part of GM) is considered one of the best small car.

Earlier comment posted in 2006:

I bought an Opel Corsa 1.4 GSI in September 2003, and since then have not regretted the decision, except for one thing-its low fuel efficiency of around 9-10 kms in summers (driving in congested Delhi traffic), and 11 kmpl in the winters. It is a silent car and has a very comfortable ride. Drive it around 80 kmph and there is no rattle, bumps, and there is a sense of total control. The other great thing is the great power steering is wonderful and I have absolutely faced no problems in managing any kinds of congestion. The only negative feature in the ride is the gearshift, which can be somewhat frequent at ver low speeds. But, I think the Autocar people have a prejudice against this car when they harped on how the placing of the accelerator/clutch hampered foot movement. I read about this when buying the car, and so far this has not happened, and shall not happen in the future.

I wonder why they have discontinued the Corsa and brought in the Aveo, when clearly the Corsa is better in looks. With the Opel cars (Astra, Corsa, and vectra), inspite of good looks and great ride, they did not get the marketing right, and the result was 3 flops. I wonder if things would be different with Aveo, and it may go the Corsa way after 3-4 years. Frankly, I would not now trust GM at all. As for my Corsa, I still feel happy with the car except for the mileage. I know it might have very little resale value, but my car is 3 years old, done 23,000 kms, has only 1 lakhs of loan outstanding, and god willing, it can easily go upto 100,000 kms with no extra financing cost in the future. I intend to extract the full value out of the car, and then sell it beyond 60-70,000 kms at whatever it can fetch. 

Purchase Price (INR):	500000
Dealer Name and City:	Regent, Delhi
Model Year:	2003