Chevrolet Corsa Utility
Certain cars get a lot of attention. Drive the latest thoroughbred Italian supercar, and it isn’t too surprising. One isn’t surprised when you get the “Meneer, jus how faas can dis ting go?” You aren’t surprised by the little throng of people gawking when you return to the car. You aren’t even surprised when the wrong kind of woman suddenly wants to date you. I was surprised, when this week’s object of test attracted the little crowd it did. Returning to the sub one ton bakkie of test, the Chev Utility 1.4 Sport, there was a little huddle of men looking at it from every angle deep in discussion. This impromptu crowd of relative strangers had formed to discuss this, the third generation of what was the Corsa bakkie, and whether progress had been made. The Corsa variation parked nearby had its fans in the crowd, and not all were ready for progress.
Interestingly this bakkie seems to have found its place in our hearts to fill the void left seemingly by the demise of the venerable Datsun/Nissan 1400, historically South Africa’s most stolen car.
My first impressions of the car on driving were of a spongy and wooden set of brakes. They stop the thing ok, and without fuss, mishap or any hint of safety issue, but they reminded me of a feeling I rarely get these days. We have become spoiled with most modern cars being so good, that the feel here was noticeably poor. Having said that, the brake feel and the quality of the microphone on the Bluetooth system, where people struggled to hear me, are my only two real complaints. The steering on the other hand was noticeably crisp and sharp and the suspension well damped.
I think Chev has a winner here. The interior is pleasant while remaining very practical. The mod-cons abound, at least on the Sport level of trim on test, more on that in a bit. In short it is a highly competent bakkie capable of dragging you and a passenger and up to just on ¾ of a ton of junk about. There is a lot of interior space, the cabin being big enough to keep your hat on with loads of space behind the seats, it was easy to hide a valuable or two away from prying eyes. If you only ever need to seat two, it is the perfect leisure and work mini bakkie. The later arrival of a 1.3 diesel should turn more heads. Interestingly the 1.4 is rated to a full 3/4 ton, while the 1.8 is only allowed a smidgen over 700kg’s. That and a 10% fuel penalty should have the 1.4 getting the bulk of the orders. In Base spec too, I would presume.
While on that subject, the looks seem to be derived from their brute of an SS Ute, and successfully so, a good instance of the hero status of a top performer trickling well down. The 1.4 does the job, but unsurprisingly is no fire starter. What you get is 68kW and 120Nm providing 7.2 l/100km combined claimed. It does the job.
What doesn’t is the choice of sub-model name. They offer the Base, the Club, and the Sport. What they really mean is it has more trim options as standard, and things like aircon and windows and such become motorised with automatic winding on the remote central locking. Even a sexy ally roofrack thing. All of this is good, but choosing the moniker “Sport” on your 1.4 Base model? I don’t think so. Save that for the hot edition. Sport is hardly synonymous with “fully loaded”. I for one always thought it meant something else. I hope someone at Chev is listening? We could use one in sport spec couldn’t we?