Vauxhall Corsa GSE Vision Gran Turismo is an 800bhp tease for an Alpine A290 rival
A flight of fancy from the Gran Turismo digital realm it may be, but this Corsa is a nod to a proper hot hatch on the way from Vauxhall
The Vauxhall Corsa isn’t the first car that springs to mind when thinking of models to give the extreme ‘Vision Gran Turismo’ treatment but then, incongruity has surprised and delighted in the past. So let’s give it a chance. This is the Corsa GSE Vision Gran Turismo which, on top of being a wild concept car destined for the digital race tracks of Polyphony’s GT7 racer, is trumpeting the return of GSE as a proper performance badge and previewing a new hot hatch on its way from Vauxhall, to take on the Alpine A290, Mini Cooper JCW and Peugeot 208 GTi.
It might be very futuristic but the Vision GT does have something of the old box-arched Manta 400 about it – like a Group 5 special production racer from a dystopian future. It’s all sharp edges and big scoops.
The arch surrounds at the front put in mind Marcello Gandini’s Countach arches, while at the rear we see a huge increase in width compared to the standard Corsa – it’s 1.87m wide, or wider than a current 911 Carrera. In fact, there’s nothing shared with the humble hatch as we know it.
Looking at the front the lurid green colour that bleeds up under the nose and lights, out under the windscreen, demarcating a clear air path. Other important and prominent aero elements are highlighted in green too – the skirts, the wing and the giant rear diffuser. Styling elements that could make their way onto future derivations of the Corsa include the new ‘panel’ at the front as well as the revised lights that move slightly away from the existing angular claw motif.
The wheels (21in at the front, 22in at the rear) are strikingly futuristic but not without nods to Vauxhall heritage too. The triangular shape is effectively a modern interpretation of the controversial three-spoke wheel, a stalwart option going back to the Corsa C and even the Nova before it.
The inside is just as lairy as the outside. The lurid green bucket seat features six-point harnesses. In front of the driver, a yoke steering wheel with all the vital controls. The dashboard and door cards are back lit to be able to display messages for the driver, like for instance, if someone or something is in the car’s blind spot – a strange acquiescence to practicality and safety for such a racey thing but at least you’ll be less likely to pit maneuver your mate on the way up Trial Mountain. Look down and you’ll cringe at the ‘-’ and ‘+’ on the pedals.
Being a Vision Gran Turismo the figures are more supercar than B-segment hatchback, with 789bhp and 590lb ft coming courtesy of two electric motors, one on each axle, which can also deliver power boosts of 79bhp for up to four seconds. Those motors are fed by an 82kWh battery. Weight is 1170kg. The performance figures are 0-62mph in 2sec on the way to a 199mph top speed. It’d certainly give a hopped-up red top a run for its money, if it were real.
Except of course, it sort of is. Not confined to the digital realm, Vauxhall/Opel has built the thing to be displayed at the 2025 IAA Munich Motor Show from September 8. Will this wild concept result in something people can buy?
You could imagine a Vauxhall rival to the Renault 5 Turbo 3E, though more likely is a new Vauxhall Corsa GSE, following much the same themes as the new Mokka GSE, with power outputs and hardware to match. That means 276bhp and 254lb ft and a proper limited-slip diff, as found across Stellantis’ new range of hopped-up yet attainable EVs, from the Mokka, to the Alfa Romeo Junior Veloce, to the new Peugeot 208 GTi. Watch this space, it seems Vauxhall are serious about making GSE a proper performance badge.
