The Opel Corsa is undoubtedly one big success story. It is hardly surprising therefore that the German marque hasn’t messed too much with its winning formula for the latest version. Motoring takes a closer look.

We were recently invited down to Cars International in Qormi to test-drive the new Opel Corsa. We had heard many good things about it and we simply wanted it to see for ourselves.

The car we were presented with was the 1.4 turbocharged version; a sporty-looking yet elegant, three-door model. Its dynamic silhouette with flowing, sculpted shapes and precise details matches Opel’s design philosophy ‘Sculptural artistry meets German precision’.

The small segment market, the B Segment, is a tremendously cut-throat market and manufacturers are trying everything to improve on the competition. And improve they certainly have.

The new Corsa’s drive and acceleration on open roads gives you a kick and road-holding is indeed impressive. The Germans have really gone to town when it comes to performance.

A smooth gear change and a light clutch make scaling up and down the gears truly effortless. The brakes are highly effective and the ABS works to perfection.

The car comes with City mode to reduce the steering effort at low speeds, standard in all versions. While we drove around on our bumpy roads, this function gave the steering a great feel and managed to ease off some of the frustration of Malta’s ever-growing traffic problems.

The new Corsa comes with different variants, ranging from a 1.2 petrol engine with 51kw/70hp to the 1.4 turbo­charged version with 74kw/ 100hp which we drove.

There is also a 1.3 diesel with 70kw/95hp, all with Euro 6 emission standards.

At first glance, you could easily be forgiven for mistaking the new Corsa with its predecessor. It has the same door pillars and glass area as before.

And while most cars tend to grow with each passing generation, the latest version uses the same basic underbody as the previous model. The car’s interior dimensions therefore remain unchanged so one can still fit four people comfortably inside the car, possibly five. There’s also lots of headroom.

The new Opel Corsa remains as practical as it always has been. The car’s driving position is commanding, with full visibility all around. During the test-drive, we could not help but notice those little things that really makes the Corsa feel so special.

Besides the cockpit’s fresh design and premium touches on the dashboard, one also finds the state-of-the-art Opel Intellilink touch screen entertainment system which includes a seven-inch colour touch screen and apps. This is worth having because it features logically laid out menus backed up by software that responds very precisely. One can also download apps to bring extra functions, such as satnav.

Opel purposely kept the air-conditioning controls separate from the system’s touch screen so you can quickly adjust the temperature or fan speed.

The new Corsa comes with parking sensors and side/roof airbags, hill hold and start system, not to mention a series of useful cubbies for phones, keys and bottles of drink... little touches that make all the difference. At the rear of the car, the lights extend over the tailgate, while new wheel designs add a lovely finishing touch.

The new Opel Corsa comes in both three- and five-door versions with four different variants, the Essentia (both three- and five-door), Enjoy (five-door), Colour (three-door) and Sport (three-door). The three-door models look sporty and smart but, like all such models, may prove to be slightly tricky when clambering into the rear seats. The five-door version is practical and a great all-rounder.

Clearly, Opel is catering for all market needs in this segment.

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