Used Vauxhall Corsa review: 2014-2019 (Mk4) - Practicality and boot space

The Corsa Mk4’s boot will swallow one large and one medium-sized suitcase together with two or three soft bags thrown on top, which is good going for a supermini. The passenger cabin accommodates four adults with ample room for heads, knees and shoulders – although there’s less rear headroom in the three-door Corsa – and if you’re not going too far you can squeeze a third passenger into the back. 

Fold the rear seats and you liberate enough luggage space to haul your offspring to uni or take your mower in for repair. Unfortunately the rear seat back doesn’t fold flat in line with the boot floor, making it hard to slide heavy loads all the way into the cabin. Another handicap to practicality is that only a small handful of models have a 60:40 split folding back seat – in the rest, the rear seat back folds as one piece, so you won’t be able to combine that extra cargo with a rear passenger.

How big is the Vauxhall Corsa Mk4?

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Depending on the model, the Corsa Mk4 varies in length from 3,839mm to 4,021mm, although the whole range is 1,944mm wide. Sportier versions of the car (Sport, SRi, GSi and VXR) have lowered suspension and are 1,440mm tall, whereas the rest of the range stands at 1,488mm.

The Corsa’s compact dimensions mean you should have little trouble parking it, while in a regular domestic garage you should be able to open the doors without hitting the walls.

How much space is there for passengers?

For a supermini the five-door Corsa Mk4 is quite spacious inside, able to seat a quartet of sub-six feet adults in comfort with plenty of room for their heads, shoulders and knees. For short trips the back seat will accommodate a third passenger in the middle, but that puts a real squeeze on shoulder room and the central portion of the seat is uncomfortably shaped.

If it’s cold and raining and you need a lift back from the pub you’ll endure the discomfort; for a journey from London to Leeds you’ll opt for the train.

The three-door Corsa Mk4 has a sloping roof at the rear, and consequently there’s less headroom in the back. It won’t matter for kids, but tall adults may grumble. The other factor that impacts the three-door’s versatility is that to access the rear of the cabin you have to clamber past the folded-forward front seat; the sports seats of some models make that even more of a chore.

While passengers will enjoy the space of the Corsa Mk4, they won’t find much storage for their stuff. The Corsa’s front door bins are large and will fit a 1.5-litre drink bottle, but its glovebox is small and there’s a dearth of other storage.

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How big is the boot?

With the rear seats occupied the Corsa Mk4 offers 280 litres of boot space, enough to stash one large and one medium-sized suitcase, together with two or three soft bags piled on top. The boot has flat sides that help maximise the amount of space, and a false boot floor was available as an option, under which you can store valuable items out of sight.

Folding the rear seat creates a 1,102-litre luggage space. The trouble is that the back of the rear seat doesn’t fold completely flat, making it a pain to slide heavy items deep into the luggage space. Still, it’s a useful-sized area, handy for the uni run or for hauling small pieces of furniture.

Annoyingly, only a handful of trim grades have a 60:40 split folding rear seat back, limiting the Corsa’s versatility.