The new Opel Corsa isn't entirely new because underneath the body panels, it still shares its chassis with the old model, which has been on sale for a very long time. Despite getting a new front end inspired by its little brother, the Adam, the Corsa E also looks a lot like the D model. So, does that mean that these Germans have begun to slack off? No, they've improved on every aspect of the supermini and also launched an engine that will give the Ford Fiesta a run for its money.
You see, the 1-liter EcoBoost engine has not only won three Engine of the Year titles, it's also making up the bulk of Fiesta sales. In September, Ford sold 38,516 Fiestas in Europe, an increase of 9.3% over the same month of 2013. That's huge, especially when you consider the Corsa only managed 28,346 sales, which is a drop of 5.9%.
The official name of the new Corsa engine is "ECOTEC Direct Injection Turbo ecoFLEX", but fans have already nicknamed it the 1-liter Turbo. Officially, one of these will take your Corsa from 0 to 100 km/h in 10.3 seconds and on to a respectable (for this class) 195 km/h. This next video from the guys at Ausfahrt TV shows what that's like in real life. Despite only having 3 cylinders, the engine makes a nice noise inside the cabin and picks up revs very easily. But what you need to remember is that this is sort of the flagship of the model range, costing over €18,000 as standard and available only as a top-trim model.
Specs? This new Opel engine delivers 115 hp at 5,000 rpm and 170 Nm (125 lb-ft) of torque at 1,800 rpm. That's slightly more than the best 1.2 TSI that equips the Polo, Ibiza and Fabia, but less than the 125 hp Fiesta and 120 hp of the Renault Clio.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News