Vauxhall puts all-new Corsa through extreme weather testing

Taking to the roads during the summer when the nights are light and the air is balmy can be a real pleasure – but what about during the winter?

Journeys in relentless rain and treacherous ice are decidedly less fun and can even be a source of real worry for some drivers.

Vauxhall appears to have had that issue firmly in mind when it was tasked with reinventing the Corsa for its all-new fifth generation model, because they didn’t just test its handling in poor conditions on the track – they sought out pretty much the worst conditions you can get.

Yep, they really did head to Swedish Lapland during a true polar winter, where they put the upcoming Corsa through its paces on snowy roads and lakes covered with metre-thick ice.

You can’t say they don’t go the extra mile for their eventual customers, and it’s likely to pay off as the fifth-gen incarnation becomes the most efficient ever seen from the brand.

The test vehicles were subjected to extensive chassis tuning programmes for balanced handling, traction control and braking in temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees C.

It means that even if we get another Beast from the East, motorists won’t have to worry about reliable functioning in ice, snow, slush or greasy Tarmac.

Another key piece of ideal winter kit on the new Corsa is innovative lighting technology from Vauxhall called IntelliLux. Each car will feature LED matrix headlights that automatically adapt to their surrounding conditions to minimise glare and ensure optimum visibility, which is something that could make a real difference out on the roads during dark evenings. It’s also a first in the small car market segment, so that’s fairly exciting news.

Finally, clever engineering has ensured the new Corsa will be more than ten per cent lighter than its predecessor without losing any of the functionality we’ve all come to expect. Vauxhall has said the car will strike the ideal balance between being fun to drive and practical, so fans are sure to be looking forward to when sales start this summer.

However, if all this news of extreme weather testing is anything to go by, it may be when winter rolls around again that they see the vehicle really come into its own.