Vauxhall Corsa Hybrid 2024 review | Goodwood Test

Has time not been terribly kind to the Vauxhall Corsa? Just like an ageing driver, it’s begun to bloat, ballooning beyond its once tiny frame to become something quite different from the slip of a lad it once was. But, just like its owners, that ageing process has also brought upsides. Knowledge has been gained; new partnerships formed that have improved its capabilities. In fact, it’s barely even relatable to the car that came before.

And so, we reach the 2024 Corsa, now not only bigger, but based not on a platform from GM, but Stellantis, and even available as a hybrid. The car that helped a million youngsters begin their driving journey might now be (whisper it) for grown-ups?

Remember the Corsas from before the merger with the Peugeot/Citroën group? The years of Vauxhalls that the public bought because, well, it was what you bought in the UK if you wanted a small car, even if it looked like “styling” was a dirty word.

Well, that’s thankfully long gone. The current Vauxhall “visor” styling lends the smallest car from not-Luton-anymore a much more enjoyable face. It also benefits from having the proportions of the properly good-looking Peugeot 208 with which it shares a platform. At the back, it’s a little less aggressive and nice style and a bit more “the back of a car”. That said, it does benefit from a pair of proper little exhausts, somehow seeming to profess a little prowess, despite the relatively meagre underpinnings.

You’ll only see the Corsa as a five-door, so it’s not blessed with a diminutively rakish version lacking entrances. But even so, the current car must be the most handsome that the smallest Vauxhall has ever been.

The Vauxhall Corsa Hybrid (here driven in Ultimate trim) isn’t exactly a full-on hybrid. But it is blessed with a mild hybrid system, something which seems logical in this kind of small car. The majority of motivation comes from a 1.3-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol slung up front.

That means total power sits at 136PS (100kW) and torque is 230Nm (170lb ft) propelling the Vauxhall Corsa Hybrid on to 62mph in 8.6 seconds. All the kinds of numbers that rapid hatches would have been pleased with a few years ago. There is also, should you wish, an entry level version of the Corsa Hybrid with 100PS (74kW) and 205Nm (151lb ft). 

Both have the same mild hybrid system, which can motivate the car on its own when moving slowly through traffic and provides 27PS (20kW) and 55Nm (40lb ft). The battery is a relatively tiny 0.9kWh, so won’t send the Corsa singing silently down the motorway but with proper regen on the braking it recharges quite quickly enough. 

To drive the Corsa hybrid is a sprightly enough thing; when you get the full boost of 230Nm from both petrol and electric motors it nips about, especially from 30mph and above. But when it comes to anything a bit further out of town it is Corsa as usual to many extents. That super-light, totally unfeeling steering you remember from learning to drive (if you’re over 28) remains a staple of Corsa life. The integration between hybrid power and trad combustion is relatively unnoticeable, a bonus in just a small engine, and throttle response is acceptable. What is nice, and has been a part of Corsa life for a long time, is a smooth and simple gear change on the manual ‘box.

Other than that, it’s Corsa as you would expect. Feedback is minimal from almost any inputs, the ride is on the firmer side without being crashy, meaning that it holds the road reasonably well, but in general driving doesn’t try to hurt you. Nothing is particularly exciting but it also doesn’t veer toward unnerving. Pretty much what a Corsa should be.

I was pleasantly pleased with the Vauxhall Corsa’s interior design. Much like the rest of the car, it’s not exactly exciting and could even be labelled drab if you really wanted. But the integration for the 10-inch screen is good, angled weirdly upward, but also toward the driver, and the dash, with its plastic inserts, feels like someone at least cared about what they designed.

The seats are reasonably comfortable and the suede inserts into the door panels do give it the feel of a car that is perhaps higher up the price range than the £22k starting price would suggest. 

Boot space is 309 litres, putting it just a little bit above most of its rivals. That’s largely thanks to integrating the little battery neatly under the passenger seat so it doesn’t shave room off anywhere else. Rear leg room is a little squeezed, especially if you’re over six foot.

The Corsa comes with most of the things you’d hope for. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are available from base, the 10-inch touchscreen is also on all. Drowsiness alert, lane keep assist, reversing sensors and LED lights are also standard.

The Ultimate, as we drove, gets heated front seats, adaptive lights and rain sensing wipers, heated steering wheel Alcantara trim and keyless entry, but does boot the price up to £29,000.

The Vauxhall Corsa is the Vauxhall Corsa. To us, we can’t truly see that the Ultimate is completely worth the hike in price of around £6,000. But the basic car, sitting at £22,900, feels like good value. 

The powertrain is good – not verging on exciting, but sprightly when you are in the mid-range. The price, while undercut by the likes of the MG3, does not outstrip them to the point of concern. The hybrid is smoother in traffic and better on fuel economy than the standard petrol without hiking the price out of reach.