Jamesemt

I've always wondered how good the 2L Corsas are. They seemed to be all the rage about 5 years ago (as did the Calibra Turbo engines). How do they compare to hot hatches these days? Are they still pretty nippy?

Am i right in thinking the 2L Turbo corsas will have a better power to weight ratio than a CTR?

Big Col

a CTR weighs what? 1250kg?

A Corsa B with a C20LET will be about 200kgs lighter.

Jamesemt

Cheers, I was just trying to gauge how quick they'd be these days...

NotoriousREV

No grip and no handling. Fun though, in a sweaty-palmed clenched buttock kind of way.

nickwrxstiV2

Nose heavy, spoils what steering they did have (which wasn't much!). They're only fast in a straight line, in the dry!! In the wet or the twisties, useless!

Would imagine they would be a handful, quite fun!!!

Moley

iTrader: (9)

They are very quick, but as stated above handling is what may let them down. Drop the engine in and a basic chip and you will have over 250bhp, in something which weighs very little.

May need a LSD fitted to get the most out of it though.

Awesome fun, and if i had the money i would love to built one as a little project.

fatherpierre

I think the word "****" sums them up.

Vauxhall would have done one had it been a good car.

Too much lard to the front of a poor chasis doesn't make for a safe car.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Corsas never handled or steered properly. Current generation version do handle, but are much heavier, and still don't steer right (electric steering)

Nova was always a better base vehicle, simply because that was ok(ish) to start with

ZYRUSS

the thing is, most are done in the way of, power first, safety second


things like brakes seem to get forgotten about, and for that reason, most are dangerous...


never seen one of the new versions about though, anyone know what they are like?

They sandard turbo ones???

Jamesemt

Don't know about the really new ones, but the wife had a 'Life' which I was amazed with (SXI with 1L engine, err I think ). It handled amazingly well - I reckon one of those with a blown big engine would be loads of fun...

Dark Blue Mark

****.

Worst image of any car.

MB

Moley

iTrader: (9)

Never heard of a Saxo?

Jamesemt

TBH I don't really care about image - Scoobs around here seem to connote certain things

Oh, and I quite like saxos

Dark Blue Mark

I dont mind Saxo's too much!

Corsa is a waste of time though, at least the Frog stuff handles properly. Be better to turbo one of them that a corsa heap. Why is it they all seem to be jacked up on 18's with offsets so bad they stick out past the arches, and always have a "Vauxhall" suns strip?? Like its anything to be proud of

MB

Jamesemt

That is so true

jimimac

local tuners which i frequent , did one for a lad i know , 2L turbo in his corsa B , needless to say the engine had phase 1 tune up aswell , they had some non ott spacers on the wheels , wider alloys and some good branded sticky tyres on (sorry cant recalll the brand) n inside was semi striped out with buckets etc, the suspension was also sorted but wit out going so far as ciol overs , n brakes were uprated calibra disc and calipres with corsa GSi rear brakes , im sure it probs had more done too , i had the time of me life when i had a go of it once , handled suprisingly well for FWD i thought and acceleration was on par with my Impreza at the time , perhaps a tad better even i dare say !, power for money i dont think you could argue. After driving that my impreza felt more like a regular saloon but thats probs due to the driving position in those proper buckets he had . Was fun but im sure under proper test conditions my imprezas 4wd would have giained the advantage .

sti-04!!

I built 2 nova's years ago with 2.0ltrs in them, one an 8v & one a 16v, used them for hot hatch days. Very quick & loads of fun

tath

Yep, problem is that people whack an XE or LET over the front wheels on standard suspension that couldn't alter the trajectory of a 1.2...

With the clubman/rallycross/1600 rally etc etc history of the corsa and nova, there is loads you can do to make them handle pretty well, although they'll never be the 'best', they can be made a whole heap better.

hades

I'd suggest like any modded car, there'll be good ones and bad ones. With nicely tweaked suspension and brakes, and 250-300bhp in a light car, they will be very rapid little devices.

Much less weight and less transmission losses means many will monster a standard UK STi once rolling in a dry straight line. They might struggle with traction a bit, but a properly sorted one with the right driver would be more than enough to challenge a lot of cars in a lot of conditions.

One with standard suspension, brakes etc and 300bhp would probably be quick in a dry straight line once it can get it's power down (which won't be very often), and otherwise downright scary/dangerous.

AudiLover

I was thinking along the same lines.

hades

Yeah, just think if you had all the weight of the engine in front of the front wheels - I mean what self-respecting manufacturer would do that?

AudiLover

No sport car manufacturer as that would just upset the balance. But in ultra luxury it would be a benifit as you would have extra cabin space Like a maybach

JonMc

iTrader: (51)

Being a vaux convert I had a subscription to Total Vauxhall mag, and in the last issue I got a lad with a 2.0L tubbie corsa quoted somnething along the lines of 'I've spent about £11k and now I can keep up with imprezas'.

I had a wry chuckle because my 51 plate bugeye only cost me £9.5k from a garage, and it's got leg room

tath

there's some uber fast corsas on www.migweb.co.uk - one with an XE and gas running low 12s

tath

http://s19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...=corsavevo.flv

pete1977

Very quick but id still rather have the evo,that way ive got more chance of scoring with the ladys .My chances of scoring with the ladys in a purple corsa are virtually nil

tath

lmfao because clicky

jimimac

The one i mention had some custom gearbox work donr and a lightened f/w to boot , think it was pretty much machined calibra box with some trick bits but it seemed to get traction OK to me . as some one wrote above you ll get good examples and bad ones all depends on who does the conversion / tuning etc

Sportboy

hullo .. thought id post as i have a corsa with a 2ltr turbo engine ..
if you can get over the image theres a car there with really good performance that would put a bigger smile on your face than just about any other car out there. the handling isnt the best. but i think alot of going round corners fast comes down to the driver more than the car .. ive had quite alot of 'races' and (yes subarus included ) the only cars that i have ever been beaten round corners is a civic lol and a mk kit car . yes it doesnt feel as planted on a bend lke a subaru etc but if you use the force lol there not too bad . any1 that changes to a bigger engine and doesnt uprate the brakes and suspention wants shooting anyway . yes they are utter rubbish and if your not thinking bloody dangerous when its wet lol in the dry there amazing fun . mine needs a lsd like yesterday as its running about 280bhp and out of slow corners i have to hog the road abit to stop ppl with 4x4s geting past untill i have the power down .. as for them not being safe .. safe imo meens boring .. also you can get 'chicks' in a corsa.. just that there normally about 15 years old .. but if thats your thing lol !

d4ve_h4y

theyre quick and fun

theyre not supposed to handle well

over 200bhp in a corsa is just cool