Vauxhall Corsa 1.3 Turbo Diesel...Strangely Wow!

[Number Juan]

my driving instructor trusts me...in fact he trusts me so much he offered me a couple of hours breaking in his new car along the very fast, very nice roads of mid-kent in a vauxhall corsa 1.3TDi. i initially thought it was going to be another Daewoo Kalos, but i was VERY surprised by the performance of this diesel engine! i managed to go from 0-60 in around 10ish seconds changing at 5000rpm, this thing takes off!

is anyone else surprised by this ind of performance?! i thought diesels were slow and pokey, i thought corsas were la-la cars with about as much oompf and driveability as an old skoda with a cold, but i managed to out-pace anything on these kent roads with ease!

[Dani Filth]

yeah .. it;s a Fiat engine i think .. the same as in the new Panda ..

[RTH]

Last week I drove a new 3 ylinder 1.0 litre Corsa - which I fully expected to be hopeless - and was surprised just how free reving it was , how well it went - and the engine is physically so tiny it could fit in a motorcycle.

[davemorganfan]

Two comments here, one on diesels, one on Corsas. Had a Focus TDCi as a hire car recently, and I couldn't believe how quick it was from a standing start - something diesels have never usually been noted for. Trouble was, it still made awful diesel noises all the time, so it won't be on my shopping list. As for Corsas, I hired a 1.2 petrol one for a few days last year. When the bloke reminded me I would be responsible for any speeding tickets, I laughed and said "what, in 1.2 Corsa". "You'd be surprised", he said, and I was - it didn't half move for a little 'un. Great engine, smooth and quiet too, but frankly the rest of the car was rubbish.

[tangoed sparky]

These modern turbo diesels have got a lot of torque and thats what makes them go so well. Why do you think that VW now do a turbo diesel GTI and Audi do a quattro S3 with a diesel. They have come along way with since the old 2.3 diesel sierra you know. The newer type diesels use common rail fuel injection and even trucks have it on now. I remember seeing a Golf GTI diesel in a race for VW's last year it did very well.

[fast95pony]

I take you haven't had the chance to drive a modified supercharged 5.0 Mustang. Zero to breaking all the country's speed limits in under 5.5 seconds

[oily oaf]

Originally posted by fast95pony
I take you haven't had the chance to drive a modified supercharged 5.0 Mustang. Zero to breaking all the country's speed limits in under 5.5 seconds

I might have known you'd swing the thread round to a Pony related thing mate Sounds like a tasty bit of kit tho. Any pics?

[fast95pony]

LoL , I grew up in England . My dad had a Fiat van with a whopping 903 cc engine. Mum , Dad and 5 kids in it made for rather slow van . The car to have was a 2.0 Cortina . I came to Canada for a holiday and had a ride in Corvette. I fell in love with the sound of V8's .
I still like euro cars though. I'd sell my Stang for a Focus RS ,but they don't sell them here..

I have some pics at www.yyc95gts.stangnet.com

[oily oaf]

Thanks for the pics Pony man. That's a fine ride u have there fella. You wouldn't really swap that beauty for a Focus RS would ya. Sure they do go like off a shovel but they're supposed to be a real ***** to handle on the road due to the "twitchy" steering. All the best mate Oily

[DAVID PATERSON]

A lot of Australians complain that we don't get a lot of really good cars over here, but fortunately we don't get 1.0 and 1.2 Corsas either. Over here the Corsa is called the Holden Barina and the base model is a 1.4. The sports model is a 1.8, my Aunt has one and it's not too bad.