Time was that you needed to spend a big amount of money to get an automatic version of a car. And if that car was small in the first place, you suffered the double whammy of big money and significant fuel consumption penalty.
Like as not, you also needed to get a 1.6-litre engine anyway, costing even more.
Well, none of the above apply with the new Opel Corsa auto!
First, the extra cost is just £650. Half the minimum extra for a standard autobox. Then, because it is in fact a standard 5-speed gearbox which has all the changing bits controlled electronically, it doesn’t suffer from the power losses inherent in the other. Finally, you can order it with the standard 1.2-litre engine, avoiding that usual third extra cost factor.
There has to be a catch, right?
Dunno. If there is, I haven’t found it. Though a colleague suggested that it is slow to change. Maybe with more bite than that - he likened it to a puppy that was petted, and in response stood up and wagged its tail before getting on the move. Unfair, really.
Sure, the autobox on the Corsa won’t light fires for fast changing. Nor is it as smooth as that in, the Lexus RX300, say. But that’s not the point, is it? We’re looking at the advantages of automatic shifting at a non-Lexus price. At even a non-Ford price, actually. Anyway, with a 1.2-litre engine, how fast d’you WANT to shift?
But back to detail. This is a multi-mode auto, with semi-manual shifting a la Tiptronic (Opel calls their’s Easytronic) ... eg that you can opt to retain manual control over the gears by flicking the gearlever forward to go up through them, and backwards to come down. It takes a small bit of getting used to when a manual trans is your norm, but it works well when you do get the hang of it. (You know which gear you are in by a small screen in the speedo.)
And, as I’ve found with similar setups on other cars, it can prove very useful to be ‘mixed’ with automatic use. Particularly on twisty valley and hill roads.
First, though, the full automatic use. This particular box is used just like any other auto, by going into Drive and leaving it to do its own thing (or Reverse, if you want to go backwards, of course). Now, there is a trick you learn, to smoothen out changes. It’s one I’ve often used with automatics anyway, and it is to use your right foot to MAKE the changes, by lifting off slightly when you want it to shift up to the next gear. Again, it takes a little getting used to, but works well when you do. Otherwise, if you keep the welly down, it WILL shift in a more clunky manner.
Now, on those twisties, here’s the best part. In full automatic mode, there’s normally little engine braking going downhill (though on this one it DOES ‘learn’ the current conditions and load and goes someway along the right road to being in a suitably lower gear). By simply flicking the gearshift into ‘manual’ mode, you can then select a gear suitable for the braking need, such as going into a bend. Then, when you’ve lined yourself up for the ‘out’, flick back to automatic and it does its own thing again.
By the way, in that ‘learning’ situation, the Corsa auto can also manage to hold itself in the correct gear for uphill work, and if you have to do a quick brake-and-accelerate, it will select the right gear rather than hunting up and down through the box.
All in all, you’re getting a lot with this Easytronic, for decently small money. Bluntly, I wouldn’t have a Corsa for myself without it. But that’s me.
June 2001
by Brian Byrne
