2005 Vauxhall Corsa SXI review from UK and Ireland

Selecting reverse gear requires a lot of work to stop it crunching. Must be idling and stationary for 5 seconds with the clutch as far down as it will go.

Accelerator drive by wire means there is a 0.1 second delay in telling your injection pump what to do. Cable on others cars are better as it is instant.

Models fitted with A/C like mine when turned on reduces power of engine a great deal at low speed.

Fuel economy poor for size and technology of the engine.

Driver and passenger door window seal easily removable.

My alarm that I paid for fitting when I bought the car bran new is great and detects all thing an alarm should do except for vibration.

For a diesel it is very quick at low speeds especially when the inter cooler/turbocharger kicks in at 1950rpm+- with 3/4 acceleration. It will beat most 1.3 petrol's, with 16V.

And as with any Diesel you still have excellent torque in 4/5 gears.

I've been up the steepest hills in the UK at 35% to 20% gradient over 4 miles and the car had no problem. In fact the turbo works even harder and produced more power as you were thrown back in your seat going up these hills. Very comparable to a 747 take off.

Tyres are excellent and have lots of grip and handling is superb.

I've also had cruise control fitted to my vehicle, but its of no use on motorways in the UK as it is too congested. But really good for long drives during the night. I drove all the way from Carlise to Birmingham non stop without cancelling the cruise control at the middle of the night. Brilliant.

The paint job in black is brilliant when kept clean.

I have actually managed to achieve 100mpg, but you've got to be doing motorway driving at 55mph with not many appliances being used.