The Vauxhall Corsa GSE will be quicker yet cheaper than the Volkswagen Golf GTI when it lands in the UK later this year.
Despite being pitched in the traditional ‘junior’ hot hatch class, once occupied by cars such as the Ford Fiesta ST, the new EV has the performance to outmatch many full-sized performance cars.
With 277bhp, it takes 5.5sec to hit 62mph from rest, beating the 5.9sec of the benchmark Golf GTI - and the 5.7sec taken by its electric equivalent, the Volkswagen ID 3 GTX.
That also makes the Corsa GSE quicker than the rival Alpine A290 (6.4sec).
The Corsa GSE will be priced from £34,495, or £32,995 if – as expected – it gets the £1500 Electric Car Grant from which the standard Corsa benefits. That's roughly on a par with the A290, and £9000 less than the GTI.
The Corsa GSE is Vauxhall’s first hot hatch since it discontinued the Corsa VXR eight years ago and is claimed to bring "the sporty GSi genes of the Vauxhall Nova into the future".
As with the new GTi version of its Peugeot 208 twin, the Corsa GSE swaps the regular Corsa Electric’s 154bhp motor for the 277bhp unit that's also deployed in the Abarth 600e, Alfa Romeo Junior Elettrica Veloce and Vauxhall Mokka GSE.
Power is delivered to the front wheels through a Torsen limited-slip differential and Vauxhall said it has tuned the throttle and brake pedal responses to emphasise the GSE's sportiness. The car also gets reworked axles front and rear, as well as stiffer anti-roll bars and new dampers with hydraulic bump stops.
