The 2020 Vauxhall Corsa is a great little car that’s packed full of excellent safety and convenience features, but it’s not without its niggles.

If you’re in the market for a small, affordable hatchback, our 2020 Vauxhall Corsa review is a must-read. I’ve been driving it and I have to say it has surpassed all of my expectations. Having said that, I wasn’t expecting much given my disliking of the old model. Don’t ask why I didn’t like it – I’ve not really got a valid reason.

Now, though, it’s more sophisticated than ever, and in my opinion, it’s class-leading in terms of its appearance. Perhaps a slightly controversial statement but just look at that colour!

Cost

The 2020 Vauxhall Corsa ranges from £15,750 to £25,990 which, admittedly, is a very high top-end for a small, “affordable” car. It gets even more expensive if you go for the all-electric Corsa-e – that starts at £31,315! This one’s in the Elite Nav Premium trim, which sits one below the top-of-the-range model. With the ‘Power Orange’ paint added, the Corsa is £22,730. That’s not too bad considering how kitted out it was and you don’t have to pay it all in one go. Vauxhall offer lease, hire purchase and PCP options.

It’s affordable to run, too. Thanks to the small petrol engine, insurance will be cheap compared to most cars. Tax is also cheap at £145 per year and Vauxhall claim a combined economy of 48.7mpg. They’ve yet to release fixed service pricing for the new Corsa but it’s only little isn’t it? Expect servicing and parts to be slightly cheaper than on the larger Astra.

Practicality

The new Corsa is both longer and wider than the previous generation but only the passengers in the front really benefit from this.

There’s more space in the front of the car than ever before and there’s better storage, too. However, with two adult passengers in the front, there’s not a lot of space for those in the back. Children will be fine but if you wanted to get adults in the back as well as the front, it’d definitely be a squeeze.

Also, whilst the boot is slightly more spacious than it was before, it’s still quite small at 309-litres compared with the Volkswagen Polo, for example, which has a boot capacity of 351-litres. So that’s the boring bit of our 2020 Vauxhall Corsa review out of the way… Moving on!

Performance

Fitted with a 99bhp 3-cylinder 1.2-litre turbocharged petrol engine and an 8-speed (yes, eight!) automatic transmission, the new Corsa was very capable.

The engine was great. It was smooth and quiet when driving normally but had more than enough poke to overtake with ease and was relatively quick when you wanted it to be. Vauxhall’s claimed combined economy of 48.7mpg is very achievable in the Corsa. I got 47.6mpg on my way home from the dealership but that dropped down to about 42mpg when we went out to take photos. With a more economical driving style than mine, I reckon you’d top 50mpg.

The 8-speed automatic gearbox was amazing. Like the engine, its operation was smooth and responsive. I never felt like it was in the wrong gear and it dropped down nicely when I wanted to accelerate. ‘Sport’ mode allowed the engine to rev higher and sharpened up the changes. The extra couple of gears allowed me to comfortably cruise at 70mph without the engine screaming at me at 3500rpm.

Handling

The suspension was soft enough that the ride wasn’t affected too badly by the low profile tyres and sportier 17-inch alloys. Obviously I felt the bumps a bit more on uneven roads but not to the extent where a trip to the chiropractor was next on the to-do list.

In cornering, the Corsa wasn’t too bad at all. The steering was very light and at normal speeds, it cornered very well. As I mentioned before, the suspension was soft but not so soft that there was excessive body roll. This meant on a nice twisty A-road, I was able to maintain quite a bit of speed through the bends.

It could, however, have benefited from being a little bit stiffer and using some wider tyres as it did struggle for grip round the tighter corners. Whilst most of you won’t be affected by this, it does take some of the excitement out of it for those of you who like to drive a bit more quickly.

Comfort and Convenience

The 2020 Vauxhall Corsa’s interior has improved massively making it a much nicer place to be. The dashboard looked smart and the multifunction steering wheel was very nice. The seats were comfortable but could maybe have done with a bit more lumbar support.

One aspect of the new Corsa that really blew me away was the amount of equipment it came fitted with. It had all of the usual features such as air-con, heated seats, cruise control and Start/Stop but it didn’t stop there.

Keyless entry and front and rear parking sensors were standard as well as the panoramic rear parking camera which offered a 360-degree view of the car. The placement of the camera did become a bit of an issue after about 100 miles of driving in the rain. It’s situated just above the rear number plate so as soon as the car started to get dirty, it was rendered useless.

It had automatic windscreen wipers and the LED headlights with automatic main beam are brilliant and make driving in the dark much easier – a relief for many drivers.

The 10-inch touchscreen display was excellent and comes with smartphone integration via bluetooth, Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. Apple CarPlay made it very easy to navigate through songs and playlists on Spotify and allowed me to use the Waze navigation app on the display. The voice control feature actually works pretty well, too, enabling you to switch between apps and reply to texts without taking your hands off the steering wheel. The display did randomly stop working for about 45 minutes at one point – this made it impossible to use the navigation or rear parking camera but the sound did still work.

The Vauxhall Corsa also comes with safety features such as lane assist, blind spot detection and road sign detection. These are features you’d expect to find in a Volvo or BMW – not a small hatchback!

The road sign detection was great. A camera behind the rear view mirror picks up the road signs and displays the speed limit on the instrument cluster display. A very handy feature if, like me, you can be quite forgetful.

Whilst I was in disbelief of the fact that the Corsa comes with lane assist, I did find myself turning it off very quickly. It was absolutely fine on dual-carriageways and motorways. On normal roads, however, it was far too sensitive for my liking. A great idea that perhaps just needs tweaking slightly.

Ultimately, I was very impressed with the Corsa and would absolutely recommend it to anyone who asked for my opinion. It is worth remembering, though, that this was a very well equipped model. If you’re on a tighter budget, there are trim levels available to you that are cheaper but won’t come with all of the same trims and equipment. Alternatively, you can wait a few months and there will be a wave of low-mileage ex-demonstrators like this one popping up at a massively reduced price.

So has our 2020 Vauxhall Corsa review got you itching to get behind the wheel of one? Will it be your next car or do you prefer one of its rivals? Let me know what you think in the comments section below or via our Facebook and Twitter pages.