The What Van? Road Test: Vauxhall Corsavan

Date: Friday, April 13, 2018 | Author: Steve Banner

Interior and equipment

The LE Nav’s interior complements the exterior, with sports-style seats and a leather-covered steering wheel.

Your eye, however, is immediately drawn to the 7in touchscreen designed for use in conjunction with the Navi 4.0 IntelliLink satellite navigation and infotainment system. The satnav offers European as well as UK coverage and features Eco routing: the most fuel-efficient way to get from A to B.

The package includes a DAB digital radio with remote controls on the steering wheel, Bluetooth connectivity with audio streaming and a USB connection with iPod control.

Our demonstrator and its driver were protected by Vauxhall’s optional OnStar service. Press a button in the cab 24/7 and you will be connected to an assistant who can summon help if you have a problem. If you have been involved in a smash serious enough to trigger an airbag – the Corsavan has six, including curtain airbags – then the assistant will contact you automatically to make sure you are okay. If necessary, he or she will get in touch with the emergency services, tell them what has happened and give them your vehicle’s precise location.

OnStar also delivers a 4G Wi-Fi hotspot that can be employed to connect up to seven devices.

Hopefully, the package of safety measures will make a collision less likely. ABS, electronic stability programme, emergency brake assist, electronic brakeforce distribution, straight-line stability control, traction control and hill-start assist are all included in the deal, as is a tyre pressure monitoring system.

Ventilated disc brakes are fitted at the front while drum brakes are deployed at the back.

Our demonstrator was equipped with an optional, and rather expensive, Driving Assistance Pack. At its heart is an intelligent front-mounted camera system. It spots traffic signs you might have missed, displays the speed limit, alerts you if you are drifting out of lane on the motorway, and tells you how many seconds you are away from the vehicle in front at speeds above 25mph. Get too close and a red light flashes to warn you to lift your foot off the accelerator pedal and drop back. You get an audible warning too. Collision alert, as it is known, can be switched off, but it makes sense to leave it on.

A sudden cold snap made us appreciate the optional heated seats and heated steering wheel. The latter’s heater imparts gentle warmth, ensuring the wheel is never too hot to touch with ungloved hands. All vans whose drivers have early starts on winter mornings should have both heating features.

Electric windows are fitted, as are electrically adjustable and heated exterior mirrors, and this Corsavan variant comes with air-conditioning, cruise control, a 12V power socket, front fog lights, and a heated windscreen with rain-sensitive wipers. The steering wheel is adjustable for reach and rake and you can alter the height of the driver’s seat.

The cab interior is roomier than one might expect, with even the tallest of drivers unlikely to feel too cramped.

Storage space for oddments includes large bins in the doors with accommodation for a 1.5-litre bottle of water and a lidded glove box. You will find two cup-holders in the centre console between the seats plus a tray and another bottle/flask holder to the rear of the handbrake lever.

Our LE Nav’s alloys were shod with Continental ContiEcoContact 195/55 R16 H tyres. Get a puncture and you can always call on the steel space-saver spare wheel.

What Van? Britain's biggest and best van buyers' guide