Corsa Car engine question

charlton4ever

My Wife has seen a Corsa 2024 (Petrol) car that she likes. Her current car is getting rather old and will need replacing very soon. She only does around 4000/5000 miles per year.  I have had a look and we test drove it. All seems ok for a " runaround".

My question is this. It's a small car,  but I note it has a 3 cylinder engine. Never experienced a non 4 cylinder before.

Any car experts have any views on a 3 cylinder ? Any  cons ?

Thanks 

SuedeAdidas

Should be fine as long as the flux capacitor hs recently been serviced 👍🏼

MuttleyCAFC

I would suggest you google the actual engine but it is quite normal for a 3 cylinder engine to be a positive for an older car. 

Dansk_Red

I believe that engine is used in most european small cars ie. Citroën, Fiat, Opel, Peugeot,

Hal1x

They are normally not as smooth as a Four cylinder, but are often more economical.

JohnBoyUK

We had the loan of a new Corsa last year as a courtesy car when our Volvo was in for a service.

I enjoyed driving it for the 3-4 days we had it.  Was reliably informed by the guy that delivered it that it was French made, which was a bit of a surprise.  Apparently it shares a Peugeot chassis (not sure which one mind you!)

Was a nice, right turning circle, could really throw it into corners, drove like a go kart which I loved.

I used to drive the old shape Tigra which was based on the Corsa a long time ago and that was fun to drive too, apart from being asked if I was a hairdresser!

Exiled_Addick

The Toyota Corolla GR is only a 3 cylinder. It makes 300 horse power! Small engines have come a long way.

red10

Think our smart 42 had 3. Turbo, was like a pocket rocket.

Valiantphil

charlton4ever said:

My Wife has seen a Corsa 2024 (Petrol) car that she likes. Her current car is getting rather old and will need replacing very soon. She only does around 4000/5000 miles per year.  I have had a look and we test drove it. All seems ok for a " runaround".

My question is this. It's a small car,  but I note it has a 3 cylinder engine. Never experienced a non 4 cylinder before.

Any car experts have any views on a 3 cylinder ? Any  cons ?

Thanks 

Had one from 2021 to March 2024. 

Fantastic car, great MPG, loads of gadgets fitted as standard. 

Getting a new one in April 2025. 

Had to change a spark plug one time and got bamboozled that cylinder 1 is not the one closest to the car wing (French engine designed for LHD). 

Gribbo

I know it's a relatively small island, but pretty sure there's a few garages on there mate

cafcnick1992

Exiled_Addick said:

The Toyota Corolla GR is only a 3 cylinder. It makes 300 horse power! Small engines have come a long way.

A turbocharged 3 cylinder engine isn't making it to 150,000 miles.

cafcfan

Just don't get a Ford EcoBoost with a wet timing belt. Horrendous reputation.

But does the Corsa have a wet belt too?  Real dumbass idea.

charlton4ever

cafcfan said:

Just don't get a Ford EcoBoost with a wet timing belt. Horrendous reputation.

But does the Corsa have a wet belt too?  Real dumbass idea.

Oh good question re Corsa 2024 - anyone know ? 

MuttleyCAFC

Vauxhall is a manufactuer which uses wet belts in some engines. The problem, whatever anybody says, rubber and oil don't do well together. I think the 1.2 Corsa may have a wet belt. You will be told they have improved the quality but I wouldn't touch a wet belt car.

charlton4ever

@MuttleyCAFC thank you,  and also @cafcfan, for the Wet Belt heads up. Did some research on the back of your posts and am going to avoid!! My Wife likes the look of the Hyundai i20 and so is test driving one this week. Thanks.

cafcfan

charlton4ever said:

@MuttleyCAFC thank you,  and also @cafcfan, for the Wet Belt heads up. Did some research on the back of your posts and am going to avoid!! My Wife likes the look of the Hyundai i20 and so is test driving one this week. Thanks.

Coincidently, I'm just back from Lanzarote where I had a Hyundai Bayon rental car which is based on the i20. It was a fine little car - 3 cylinder engine was good with a mild 48v hybrid feature and the heated seats and steering wheel were unexpected on a small rental car.*

The only thing I really didn't like was the so-called lane assist feature. It seemed to want to drag me off the road rather than steer in the direction I wanted it to go and really upset the "feeling" of the steering.  You can turn the feature off but it re-sets every trip. I could not buy a car with that feature.  Make sure your wife understands how this works and she is happy with it.

*Not so useful on Lanzarote though!

cafcnick1992

argh I totally agree re: lane assist features. Hopefully there's a fuse you can pull to stop all that nonsense.

Hal1x

Cars are always better on holiday, its only when you drive the car in uk traffic, in the rain, and a with loads of shopping and McDonalds wrappers in the footwell, that you realise there are niggles and flaws.

usetobunkin

As a retired mechanic the professional advice we use to give Vauxhall owners (From FB, to Insignia)
was to take the engines out and use the bodies to keep chickens in.

IdleHans

When I took Mrs Idle's car for it's MoT recently, the guy in the office I was chatting to strongly advised against anything, such as a ford ecoboost, with a wet belt. Said they don't last, and getting them changed is an expensive job.

Hal1x

usetobunkin said:

As a retired mechanic the professional advice we use to give Vauxhall owners (From FB, to Insignia)
was to take the engines out and use the bodies to keep chickens in.

Isn't the Corsa 3 cylinder engine a Peugeot engine, not a GM one, as it's basically a 208 in disguise just with Vauxhall branding?

I've owned 6 Vauxhalls (Chevette/Nova/Astra Bertone/Corsas (2) and a Mokka turbo) and had no engine issues. 

Hal1x

IdleHans said:

When I took Mrs Idle's car for it's MoT recently, the guy in the office I was chatting to strongly advised against anything, such as a ford ecoboost, with a wet belt. Said they don't last, and getting them changed is an expensive job.

I have checked, theres useful advice on line if you want to check if your car has a wet belt- 

So no need to worry then, just whip out the engine and have a looksie!

Billy_Mix

cafcfan said:

charlton4ever said:

@MuttleyCAFC thank you,  and also @cafcfan, for the Wet Belt heads up. Did some research on the back of your posts and am going to avoid!! My Wife likes the look of the Hyundai i20 and so is test driving one this week. Thanks.

Coincidently, I'm just back from Lanzarote where I had a Hyundai Bayon rental car which is based on the i20. It was a fine little car - 3 cylinder engine was good with a mild 48v hybrid feature and the heated seats and steering wheel were unexpected on a small rental car.*

The only thing I really didn't like was the so-called lane assist feature. It seemed to want to drag me off the road rather than steer in the direction I wanted it to go and really upset the "feeling" of the steering.  You can turn the feature off but it re-sets every trip. I could not buy a car with that feature.  Make sure your wife understands how this works and she is happy with it.

*Not so useful on Lanzarote though!

You can't now buy a new car from any volume manufacturer WITHOUT this 'safety' feature, like daytime fairy running lights
Lots of models provide the option to switch it off but just about all of them switch it on automatically every time you switch on the ignition
No figures available on whether anybody compared the incidence of collisions resulting from vehicles wandering out of their lane versus the number of collisions which are harder to avoid because of the 'safety feature'.

RaplhMilne

Mate bought a 2014 Ford Focus, only 40,000 miles and in great condition through out. No service history of a wet belt change. Said he would only buy if they put a new wet belt, oil pump belt and water pump.  They had this done and he got an invoice showing £610 for the parts and work. Parts about £45. So it’s an expensive job.