Some of the best value motoring thrills can be found in the junior hot hatch segment. Here we pitch the Corsa OPC up against the best, Ford's Fiesta ST.
In the Metal
Neither Fiesta ST nor Corsa OPC are available in five-door format, which emphasises their sportiness. Both cars are relatively subtle to look at, though the Corsa OPC we tested ramps up the hot hatch look with gorgeous 18-inch alloy wheels (a €750 option). The Corsa also features a sportier looking dual-exhaust system than the Fiesta's and a more comprehensive body kit. The Fiesta only really looks like an ST from the front, but it remains a pert, pretty shape. Either way the Opel is a more modern design with contemporary detailing and surfacing - showing up the age of the Fiesta.
That's underlined inside these cars. The basics are right in the Fiesta, with a lovely sports steering wheel, Recaro seats up front and all the controls close to hand. It just feels a little old-fashioned next to the Corsa's cabin, which features a low-set touchscreen system and more modern looking instruments. The seats in the Opel are even more impressive too (high-backed Recaros are standard, though the test car came with the €1,850 OPC Leather Pack as an option), and previous experience in this car revealed that they remain comfortable even over prolonged use. In contrast, we can't understand why the gear knob is so large.
Naturally, large front seats detract from space and the view out for rear seat passengers in both cars, but it's less of a consideration here than it is in the hot hatch class a size up. For the record, the Fiesta's boot is the largest with passengers on board, holding 290 litres and expanding to 974 litres by folding down the rear seats. The Corsa's swallows 285- to 1,050 litres.
Driving them
First impressions in both cars are good. Straight line acceleration and top speeds are debatably irrelevant here, as these junior hot hatches should be about driver engagement and agility. They both deliver, but in surprisingly different manners given the largely identical mechanical layouts. Turbocharged 1.6-litre petrol engines with four cylinders? Check. The Corsa fires up with a more rousing noise from its exhaust and it creates a purposeful turbocharged blare when pushed, but it's the Fiesta that sings the more endearing tune thanks to a well-judged sound symposer, and at times it doesn't feel turbocharged at all. Don't focus too much on the peak power figures, as they appear to give the Corsa a lead, but the Fiesta never feels any slower thanks to an automatic overboost function and a considerable weight advantage. Both produce their best performance on the move, as they struggle for traction off the line, especially if it's damp, and they're plenty quick enough by any measure. Only on a large race circuit, where the Corsa can really stretch its legs, does it feel any faster.
Six-speed manual gearboxes and front-wheel drive? Check. Though there's a yawning chasm between the cars in terms of enjoyment here. The Fiesta's gearchange is a snick-snick delight, accepting input as rapidly as you can supply it with a satisfying action across the gate. It shows up the Corsa OPC's poor shift action, which doesn't like to be hurried and at times feels rubbery and vague. I'd have put it down to an issue with an individual test car if I hadn't experienced the same thing in several versions of the Corsa OPC now. Such a shame. The Fiesta is unquestionably the more fun of the two to drive quickly. Its reactions to input are instantaneous, while the steering is well-weighted and communicative, encouraging keener drivers to explore and play with the outer limits of the chassis. There they'll find huge adjustability. The uninitiated may not like how much the rear end comes alive when pushed, but it's well-telegraphed and a joy to control using the throttle. The Corsa is more anodyne. Sure, it generates more grip in the dry, and the steering isn't bad at all, but it'll struggle to keep up with a well-driven Fiesta ST when the road is particularly twisting and bumping. What's more important here, though, is that the Fiesta driver will be having a ball in the process, while the Corsa's will get frustrated by the lack of composure. There's a surprising gap between the cars in that regard, emphasising just how good a job Ford's chassis engineers did on the Fiesta.
What you get for your Money
We'll accept that Opel is far more generous than Ford here. Even the standard Corsa OPC features air conditioning, cruise control, Intellilink touchscreen infotainment, a heated windscreen, USB connectivity, auto lights and wipers, front and rear parking sensors, Bluetooth, 17-inch alloy wheels and even a heated steering wheel, while the most expensive Fiesta ST you can buy (not including the limited supply Fiesta ST200), the ST2 tested, doesn't even have most of those things on an options list. Even so, the price gap is huge, much too big really. The Performance Pack Corsa is €3,000 more again, and yes it features larger wheels, bigger brakes, firmer suspension and a limited slip differential, but the mechanical upgrades will only benefit those that intend to take their car on track regularly. The sucker punch from the Fiesta is its far superior efficiency numbers, meaning it uses less fuel (even when driven quickly) and is significantly cheaper to tax every year.
Summary - Shane O' Donoghue
In isolation, the Opel Corsa OPC is a cracking car. It looks ace, is fast, well-equipped and, driven at seven tenths, good fun. Nonetheless, it is missing something in terms of driver interaction and composure on challenging roads. This is brought into stark contrast by driving it back-to-back with the Fiesta ST. The Ford is a fraction slower, less generously equipped and less modern all-round, but it's an absolute hoot to drive, whether at sane speeds or on track. Simply put: this is one of the best hot hatch chassis there is - at any price. And there's the final clincher: the Fiesta ST is considerably cheaper to buy and run than the Corsa OPC.
Summary - Dave Humphreys
Even though the Fiesta ST is getting on a bit in years it has yet to be surpassed in sheer driving pleasure and real-world performance. We motoring journalists may differ in opinion of certain cars but when it comes to the little Ford there is unanimous agreement as to its excellence.
As Shane pointed out, the Corsa OPC on paper is very much a rival in terms of performance - leaving aside the colossal tax bill from its emissions - but it fails to deliver the sheer level of involvement that the Ford offers up in spades. The Opel also comes with some minor niggles that would annoy me as an owner, such as that overly large gear selector. I know this sounds nit-picky, but given the importance of this one touch point, having it not feel right (it's also covered in coarse cross stitching that isn't particularly pleasant to touch) just seems like an oversight on Opel’s part.
From its sports seats to its close-to-perfection gear shift the Ford feels every bit the car that you will simply love driving, even if it’s just down to the shops. Across your favourite back road it delivers a level of driver involvement both physically and acoustically that is down-right addictive. Crucially, the Ford is also that little bit more forgiving when driven closer to its limit. When we drove both cars back to back it was the Opel that had a tendency to snap away suddenly when its limits were reached whereas the Ford telegraphed this better and ahead of time.
For me the Ford wins hands down every time. I wish the Opel was better, especially given that is seems to only need minor changes to improve it. The Fiesta ST though it just such a great car that it continues to not only be the benchmark but also one of the few new cars that I desperately want to own myself.