Spec your 148bhp Corsa SRi with air-conditioning as you would surely have to and it will set you back just 1350 less than the range-topping 189bhp VXR version (15,625, air-con standard). With that extra 41bhp costing just 33 per unit, you might reasonably wonder if there is any point at all in the warm Corsa. Why not just up your monthly payments a little and get the hot one?
Well, maybe youd prefer the SRis group 13A insurance rating to the VXRs group 16. Maybe you also find the VXRs styling a touch tarty, something the SRi counters with a smart and far more subtle collection of spoilers and skirts.
Inside, there are aluminium pedals, a leather steering wheel and firmly padded bucket-style seats, and its sat in one of these where the SRi best makes its case. Drive it back-to-back with the VXR and it immediately feels more nimble, more eager to please. The SRis suspension has less initial resistance in its movement, so rather than fidgeting over humps and bumps, it absorbs them. Get it loaded up in a bend and the amount of roll is similar to the VXR (i.e. a little more than is perhaps fashionable), but its progression to that state feels more natural. Its a sensation not unlike that found on a generation-old French hot hatch, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
Yes, theres less outright grip, but the limits of the Dunlop Sport Maxx tyres wrapped around the 17in alloys are communicated early and clearly, and the power on offer from the detuned turbocharged 1.6 is a perfect match. It all adds to the SRis feeling of playfulness. Meanwhile, the gearshift has a light but positive action, and although the steering is not as weighty as it could be, it responds keenly and gives decent feedback. And with less torque on offer, theres less torque-steer too
Of course, the lure of the ultimate VXR Corsa will be hard to resist, but if you can look beyond the figures on the spec sheets and live without the more desireable badge, you may find that youll have just as much fun in the SRi.
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More subtle and supple than the VXR
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which will be hard to resist
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