It is a sleeper death trap that struggles with traction but we still love it.
The Opel Corsa B’s naturally-aspirated 1.6-liter gasoline engine produces 107 horsepower in the 1990s. However, it can’t match the Ferrari 488 Pista. This seemingly stock (if you exclude the roll cage, vented back window, and other features) German supermini is actually a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It packs two 2.0-liter four-cylinder engines at the front and the rear.
The Corsa boasts a massive 1,200 horsepower and 1,300 Newton meters (959 pound-feet of torque), which is quite impressive considering its small weight of 1,250 kilograms (2.756 pounds). The supermini is dangerous to drive due to its lack of antilock brakes and traction control.
Adam purchased it many moons back for PS300. Then he invested a staggering PS50,000 (roughly $69,000) over a decade to make the Corsa B a twin-engined beast. It takes courage to compare it with a Pista, especially because the subcompact hatchback has an automatic five-speed gearbox and obviously no launch control.
The Corsa B is a true rocket, as you’d expect from such an engine. However, once it can deliver all the power to the road, traction is its Achilles heel. Onboard footage clearly shows how raw and raw the uber-hatch is. It lost the drag race but managed to beat the Pista, which had “only one engine” during the rolling race.
The third duel was a brake test. We don’t need to tell you who won. Adam was so aggressive with the brakes that his Corsa’s Sunroof had to be closed. Although the final comparison was a moose-test, without power steering or any suspension modifications, the Opel could not match the agility of modern Ferraris.