By Gareth Butterfield
There was a time when special editions were rife. Names ranged from the clever to the absurd and were often worn as a badge of honour. The special edition meant your car had equipment others didn’t. It might have only been some white stripes and some funky wheel trims, but it was still something to covet.
Nowadays, trim levels are usually pretty generous on modern cars, and while special editions aren’t unheard of, they’re less popular. But it’s still quite refreshing to see the Vauxhall Corsa offered up in a specially-badged trim. It’s called the “Yes”, and I’ve been testing it.
A cynic might point to the fact that the humble Corsa now costing nearly £19,000 serves up a solid case for a generous dollop of freebies, and that’s sort of what you get with the Yes trim.
You get smart 16-inch alloys, LED headlights and a two-tone exterior colour scheme, along with rear privacy glass and rear LED taillights.
There’s a ten-inch central touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, automatic lights and wipers, rear parking sensors, keyless entry, heated front seats and a heated leather steering wheel.
The front seats are sportier and there’s an option of a 100hp 1.2-litre petrol engine or 136hp 50kWh electric powertrain – the latter costing just north of £25,000.
However, predictably, it’s at its most honest with the petrol engine. Internal combustion suits the famously nippy Corsa, even if it has ballooned way beyond the original parameters we were first introduced to back in the early 1990s.
Now sitting on a familiar platform thanks to the Stellantis ownership, the Corsa wears the latest Vauxhall family snout well, and it looks stylish from all angles.
It’s by no means a sporty car to drive, 100bhp doesn’t go a long way in a car this size, but the suspension setup is nicely judged, and it handles corners with a reassuring capability.
It’s efficient, too, with 50mpg within easy reach, and Corsas are famously friendly in terms of tax and insurance. It’s still a solid choice for a first car.
The design of the cabin is stylish but otherwise fairly lifeless. It’s functional enough, but a sea of black lifted only by some bright trim here and there in the new Yes version.
It’s nice to see some physical nobs and buttons for the climate control, but it’s probably impossible to integrate them into what is unfortunately a relatively primitive infotainment system.
It’s a relatively easy interface to use, but the screen is smaller than it needs to be given the size of the frame, and it is a little laggy. Mirror your smartphone and this will matter less, of course.
The rest of the cabin is likeable, if not impressive. There’s a decent enough boot at 309 litres, but rear seat space isn’t huge, and tall adults are going to find it a squeeze.
Previous generations of the Corsa have been infamous for their mediocrity. Granted, it’s not necessarily a bad thing, hence why they’ve always been so popular, but this latest version with its Stellantis influence and sharp facelift feels more distinctive and memorable.
The added equipment you get in the Yes edition makes the base model a very tempting prospect, and it’s arguably the pick of the bunch. It makes a small, functional car a real pleasure to live with.
