Vauxhall Corsa VXR CAR review

Not exactly the shy and retiring sort is it?

Come on, this is a product of Vauxhall’s VXR division, a sub-marque that makes a point of being ruder, lairier and louder than any of its rivals. So while Renault kept things decidedly low-key for its Clio 197, Vauxhall is taking the opposite tack with the hottest Corsa. Spoilers, skirts, massive rims, fancy door mirrors: it’s got the lot.

It looks very different to my gran’s 1.2 Club. Talk me round the changes

Big bumpers with aggressive air intakes and gills on each corner set the tone before passing the baton to the strange triangular-shaped door mirrors, and finishing at the rear with a prominent roof spoiler which Vauxhall claims produces real negative lift, unlike the smaller version fitted to Opel OPC cars in mainland Europe. That rear end was influenced by a certain Ferrari’s behind and features a neat triangular exhaust finisher, although as usual, the shiny bit is just dressing – the real exhaust pipe tip hidden some way back is much smaller, although still three-sided. Don't be fooled by the wide-hipped look. There are no sheetmetal changes. The Clio 197 gets unique steel flared arches but the Corsa makes do with plastic trickery to achieve the same effect. And for buyers who can’t quite stretch to the VXR but still want some VXR flavour for their cars, dealers will offer a range of VXR-style body kits to give regular Corsas the demonic look.