Vauxhall Corsa VXR Arctic Edition (2009) CAR review

The Corsa VXR isn’t the subtlest of hot superminis at the best of times, although now it’s just got lairier, mainly due to an exhaust that will have the neighbours’ curtains twitching whenever you drive by. But can you live with a car that’s not so much in your face as in your ears?

What’s the difference between the Arctic Edition and the bog-standard Corsa VXR?

It’s chiefly the Remus exhaust, which is about as in-your-face a piece of automotive kit as any major manufacturer has used in recent times. More of which in a moment, but let’s just say it’s so noisy, it’s like driving around with Basil Brush and Brian Blessed in your boot (not that Brian would fit in the boot of a Corsa).

On top of the stock VXR kit – like the ridiculously proportioned gearknob that’s the proportions of Ricky Hatton’s right knuckle – there’s ‘Glacier White’ paintwork, black 18-inch alloys with 225/35 low profile tyres, electric sun roof, tinted windows and black-painted roof and door mirrors. In other words, lots of black and white. It’s unlikely to sell well in Wearside.

Why Arctic?

Because it’s ‘cool’, perhaps? We have no idea. But that nomenclature is a little ironic, isn’t it? Here we have the Corsa with the range’s highest emission figures (at a whopping 190g/km C02, the VXR Arctic is some 63% higher than a Corsa Design 1.3 CDTi Ecoflex). It’s an ‘Arctic’ Edition and it’s been clad in ‘Glacier’ paint. That’s sure to get the environmental lobby’s backs up. This isn’t a car for those who favour the open-toed sandal and live on mung bean salad.

And whatever you do, don’t drive it in sandals, because it is on the quick side of spritely. The exhaust, says Vauxhall, can add up to 15bhp on top of the 189bhp of the standard VXR. Over 200bhp for a car weighing in at less than 1200 kilos sounds like too much power and the reality nearly proves that.

>> click next to read how fast the Corsa VXR Artic goes