2005 Corsa 1.8 SRi (Vauxhall Corsa SRi 1.8i 16v 3-door)

Member Name: NJ_Warlock

Product:	Vauxhall Corsa SRi 1.8i 16v 3-door
Date:	21/01/09 (275 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Power, Handling, Looks

Disadvantages: Economy

Looks:
In my opinion this is a very good looking Corsa, being far better than the previous ones.
The SRi has a number of styling upgrades from the standard of the same shape. The rub strips on the sides of the car have been removed giving it a smoother look, 16" five spoke alloy wheels, nicer wing mirrors, disc brakes all around with red calipers, stainless steel exhaust and spoiler and has lowered suspension - as well as some other updates to the bumpers and side skirts.
In general it looks a nice sporty car, I prefer the metallic black colour, as it goes with the smoked out rear lights and plastic trim a treat.
The interior is fairly simple, again the SRi adding a few features here such as aluminium pedals, sports gear knob, white dash dials and sports seats, leather being an optional extra.

Equipment:
Comes with all the standard equipment you would expect, ABS, power steering, CD player, steering wheel controls, air conditioning etc. Mine has optional extras of leather heated seats (which work excellently, and are needed when having leather in the winter) and cruise control.
The CD player works well, but a changer would not go a miss, also is is fairly simplistic, and does not play MP3 CDs, or have an auxiliary input for a music player.

Driving:
First of all, its very quick! It has 125bhp and can get to 60mph in 8.0 seconds. It has a quoted top speed of 126mph, though I have never tested this out, and will not be relevant to most people. This makes driving at speed on a motorway easy, and having the extra power to accelerate when needed even at higher speeds.
The car does not seem to like lower speeds as much, and is a little jerky in first gear, this can be avoided with good clutch control when you get used to it.
The handling is very good with firm suspension and sharp steering.
I rarely use the cruise control, however it seems a little temperamental and canceling itself when not wanted, for example when indicating it tends to cancel itself out. This would be a little annoying if I were using it all the time, although does keep your mind on the road, this may be just a problem with mine however.
Inside the cockpit can be loudish, with some road and wind noise, also above 3k rpm you can hear the exhaust noise kick in a bit more, I quite like this, as it has a nice sound to it, although possibly not everyone's thing.

Costs:
The cost of the car was quite reasonable when compared to similar ones, I managed to find a standard one with low millage for a good price - there are a fair few modified ones on the market, so it depends on your viewpoint whether this is a good or a bad thing.
It is group 9 insurance, which is very reasonable considering its power.
The economy I have been getting over the last 6 months has been fairly poor, around town getting around 200-230 miles of a (44 litre) tank, though this being mostly driving on cold. From motorway driving around 350 miles off a tank is much more normal.

Reliability:
So far *touch wood* I have had no problems with it, hopefully will stay this way, many of my friends owning Vauxhalls have also commented on how reliable they are.

Summary: Very nice, quick sporty car, stands out from your standard Corsas. Recommended

Processing/Quality:
Reliability:
Driving comfort: