Old member

[Mohawk]

Hi crew
Been a while
Gday to you oldies and sup to you newbies
Reason for coming back is im thinking of downgrading to the OPC CORSA
Currently running around in the RS Focus
Wanted to pick you guys brains on how the new Corsa is fairing so far
Cos i saw this nice Arden one in Vic.
Fire away

[guy 27]

Welcome back to oa

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[poita]

mondo would be the best one to answer this for you

Welcome back

[dutchy]

Welcome back

[faneca]

Welcome back!

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[mondo]

Hi, as mentioned by poita I currently have a Corsa OPC. I also have a tuned Focus XR5 and a tuned Volvo S60R so can give you a pretty good comparison to your own situation. what would you like to know?

[Mohawk]

Hi, as mentioned by poita I currently have a Corsa OPC. I also have a tuned Focus XR5 and a tuned Volvo S60R so can give you a pretty good comparison to your own situation. what would you like to know?

Well pretty much everything. are the engines as strong as our 5 pot, servicing costs, tyre costs, insurance im over 40, turbo lag, handling, mod pricing, day to day driving etc etc.

[mondo]

Mohawk

Ok, so here's my appraisal of our 2013 Corsa OPC.

It's a good, honest little car that punches above it's weight.

We've put 72k on it since purchase in March '14. The last 58k have mostly been highway miles.

Mine is stock standard apart from window tint and a Stage 1 Bluefin flash tune. The tune makes the car what it should be out of the factory.

Engine has never missed a beat. There's no turbo lag, acceleration is good for what the car is, but to be honest, you're going to be disappointed with the torque after running the RS!!

Performance wise, imho the car is on par with the Fiesta ST in stock form. I actually beat a stock one of those in a track day before I purchased the flash tune. They are very similarly spec'd cars. I get about 500km from a tank of fuel and over the life of the car since i drove it out of the dealership, I have averaged 7.6l/100km. That includes all types of driving.

The ride is firm but forgiving on the country roads where I live now. Steering is excellent, if anything after driving a Mondeo XR5 and the Focus it turns a little quicker than you expect due to being a shorter wheelbase.

I've never had mine dealer serviced, so haven't paid anything over $300 for a a service. I did have to replace rotors at about 35k and the mechanic said they seemed a little soft, but there's plenty of life left in the current OEM ones at 72K.

Tyre cost, well that really depends on where you live and what you buy. The original Dunlop Sports Maxx tyres were rubbish in the wet. I have fitted two replacement sets since those wore out. First I fitted Yokohama Advan AD08R and if i recall they were about $330/corner at the time. I went with those because I occasionally track my car and wanted the extra grip. At that stage I wasn't commuting much, but almost straight after I bought those I had a 100k per day commute! They were pretty good, but I didn't get enough life out of them to justify the purchase price. Then I fitted Bridgestone RE003. These have been great. Excellent in both dry or wet conditions and I have run them on the track a few times and been very impressed. I think I paid about $230/corner for those but not 100% sure as it was all covered under my lease.

While it all sounds rosy, there are a couple of issues that have reared their head. (nothing major though)

One is an intermittent rough idle/cold start issue. It's apparently quite common although I must say mine has not done it for some time. We get some zero or minus degree mornings out here too!

The Arden Blue paint is quite brittle. My bonnet is pock marked with stone chips. Yes, I lie in the country, but, I have two other cars and neither of those is suffering like the Corsa. The annoying part is that while the bonnet is covered in stone chips, the front bar has virtually ZERO chips!! For some reason the paint is fine on a plastic surface, but not on the painted surface.

I find the large A pillars can conceal cars when you approach an intersection, so you need to move your head sideways to ensure nothing is there. The C pillars are huge too and make reversing out of 45 degree parking a pain. (that's what we have here in town). It took me a while to get used to reverse parking it too as the car has hips and being use d to the Focus which doesn't, I found I was parking very close to the kerbs.

I don't regret buying the car, it was a nice replacement for my beloved Mondeo and I got a bargain when I bought it. But, do I love it in the same way I did the Mondeo? No. As I said up top, it's a good, honest little car that punches above it's weight.

Hope this helps.

Mine will be for sale shortly btw... :p

[Mohawk]

Awesome write up Mondo mate, thanks for all the info
Yes i knew the power drop would make me sad but im ok with that
I might just wait until your ready to sell then
Where abouts are you located now ?

[chris_r]

Also, there is one issue that does arise with the A16LER engine and that's when you start tuning it. It's usually to do with number 4 piston melting. These engines do not come with forged pistons from factory and the increase in cylinder temps will cause the piston to fail. On a stage 1 or 2 tune, you might be fine, but any more than that, you'll need new pistons. Water/methanol injection systems may help with keeping cylinder temps down if you venture that far.

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[chris_r]

Oh and the Arden Corsa you mention in Melbourne, I think the owner is on here too. Just bought a Subie I think.

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[mondo]

Awesome write up Mondo mate, thanks for all the info
Yes i knew the power drop would make me sad but im ok with that
I might just wait until your ready to sell then
Where abouts are you located now ?

I'm in Narrandera which is about 4 hours to Melb or 5 hours to Sydney.

I'm ready to sell, just received the payout figure from the lease company and considering what I will ask for it. Considering the stone chips on the bonnet i will have to take a hit on price over the 4 that are on car sales at the moment. tbh i think they are all a bit overpriced anyway.

if you are interested in talking, shoot me an inbox message.