I had a new Corsa as a hire car in Spain, diesel though, with a proper manual box.
For what is, in effect, a little shitbox, I quite liked it, although the car seemed an odd design - the Corsa, by nature, is a little car for blasting around town. To me, it seemed too heavy and cumbersome for that, and was much happier on the motorway. It wasn't just the diesel engine (which obviously will be more suited to cruising), there was just something else about it that I couldn't put my finger on.
That said, I would consider one, as it was quite capable of decent runs, and where I live, there isn't much town driving to be done. I must say, the interior build quality seemed far better than that of the Astra-H (not even been in an Astra-J yet). We both liked it.
Though all that said, after our Spanish holiday, we jumped back in her little Rover 25 at Luton airport, and both agreed that it was a better car than the newer Corsa, despite the amount of coolant it was throwing out of the exhaust
