My Corsa - Initial impressions Hello guys,
Its been two weeks since i took out my new Corsa 1.4. I was planning a couple of long trips each weekend, but then the cyclones (Baaz and Fanoos) had other plans!
I took my car out from MPL Automobiles Chennai. Had an interesting presale tussle between Sundaram and MPL - with Sundaram bad mouthing MPL at every turn. That in itself put me off Sundaram. I also visited Sundaram's showroom at Mount Road. The display Corsa was shoved upstairs and surprise surprise there were no lights in the display area. So, i had to make do with a Corsa standing in the parking lot outside. What was refreshing though was the number of Opel Astras that could be seen there. I also spoke to an Astra owner and he was very happy at the service that he was getting.
MPL was much better. The Team Leader and their Corporate Manager personally visited me at my office and took me in their Optra Elite (snob value i think!) to their showroom at Nelson Manickam road. Had a good look at the display vehicle there and made up my mind.
The delivery was taken out from MPL automobiles on November 16th with the usual puja. We drove the car over to ultra crowded T.Nagar for fitting accessories. I had the base model MP3 player taken out and fitted in a Blaupunkt Monterrey player. I also had them add in 'Keyless Entry'. That was about it as far as modifications to the vehicle goes.
Oh - one thing to mention - the left front tyre had low air (22 psi) after i had driven out of the showroom. I found this out the next day and had it set right. Also informed MPL about this and they apologized for the oversight and thanked me for mentioning this to them.
The best unhindered drive that i had was a 40 km stretch on the East Coast Road in Chennai. And i did have fun on that drive.
Initial impressions:
- There is a significant difference in power delivery when you switch on the A/C. There is a drop of course! While it is not too bad after you rev the engine past 2000 rpms, i couldnt get a good taste of the engine as i am not supposed to rev past 3000 rpms.
- The fifth gear is pretty hard to slot into (expected in a new car). And the fifth is definitely not the gear to get into if you want to overtake anybody.
- The car is a very relaxed cruiser. I was able to do only a 100 kmph on the ECR Road on my way back into Chennai. Funnily i was able to zip past Ikons and Accents easily (the Ikons were 1.6 models). Well, an OHC put me in my place with a rousing exhaust note to boot! No worries there, really. More to the point, i was still below 3000 rpms when i was doing a 100 on the 5th gear. That is promising. The car promises a lot more muscle on tap. Also its easy to squeeze into gaps and twist and turn with this car. The twisting and turning is hardly for fun in Chennai - its very much called for.
- The ride quality is just superb. I really want to wade into all those reviewers where they say that the only area that the Corsa does good is in the ride quality department, and that too, dismissively. Is ride quality so down in your priorities, pray? Having had a taste of Chennai, i am not going to compromise on ride quality in a hurry!
- Once more, power delivery is laid back. Even though the car is capable of doing a 0-60 in close to 5 second times, it does not feel so fast. I believe it might be because of a combination of things - the gas filled suspension, the heavy frame and the ultra soft ride. The other thing could be that the steering is on the chunky side. But i quite like it that way - the steering i mean.
- The car is extremely well built - inside and out. The bonnet and the doors are very heavy. All control knobs are very nice to touch, feel and use. The A/C controls, admittedly, are an eyesore. But they work well and the A/C itself is an absolute chiller.
- Vibration damping is also extremely good. I could feel the A/C compressor along with the engine's thrum in my friend's NHC, but i couldnt in my car. The steering has a slight vibration but the gear stalk is completely free of it. A commendable job.
- Speaking of the gear shift, its a positive delight. It does not have a short throw that feels sporty, but all gears have a tight and slotted feel to them. They suck into place with a minimum of effort and i like the way the stalk is rounded off (i.e. all gears except the fifth where a bit of muscle is called for, at present). Oh and i forgot - i am still getting into terms with the GM norm of having a separate protective ring in the gear stalk to go into reverse gear. You have to pull in the ring and shift towards and past the first gear to get into reverse. I was told that all GM cars have this.
Those are my initial impressions. I will update this after i have been able to explore the vehicle a bit more over the next two months or so. And i think its far too early to yap on about German technology just yet!
Nobody at MPL seems to have heard about the K&N filters being mentioned in the forums. Can i fit one in my car and will it boost the performance regardless of whether the A/C is on or off? Are K&N filters model specific, i.e, is there a specific filter for a Corsa 1.4? And am i supposed to get this fitted in the GM showroom or at any other specific place? What are your thoughts? |