The 1.0 litre three cylinder engine is sluggish taking almost 20 seconds to 60 mph but offers remarkable economy. In fact, the 1.2 and 1.4 engines offer little real performance improvement and only the 16 valve 1.4 fitted to the Sport is quick. The 1.5TD is punchy from low revs, but generally the engines are unrefined and noisy.

Steering lacks precision and handling is not sufficiently precise to match rivals. Grip and road holding are not that solid. In 1997 Lotus tweaked the suspension for the better, so it’s finally fun to drive on back roads, but under normal urban conditions the Corsa feels, well, rather coarse and the ride is jarring at times and can pick up every rut in the road.