I’d love to tell you that I’ve racked up hundreds of exciting, economical and pain-free miles of driving in the month since Vauxhall delivered our new long-term Corsa, but sadly that’s not entirely true. Less than two weeks after taking delivery of our Olympic White five-door hatchback, a local driver decided to remodel the driver’s side doors while negotiating a roundabout.

It’ll be an interesting comparison for me. My last couple of personal cars have been latest-generation Fiestas – the Corsa’s biggest rival. Vauxhall will be hoping that the significant improvements to this model will be enough to keep the car competitive in the supermini market.

The test vehicle is powered by Vauxhall’s new 1.0-litre turbo petrol, generating 90hp, which is more than enough to propel the car along without feeling sluggish, especially when paired with a six-speed manual gearbox.

Our car is in SRi trim, which has a generous level of standard spec, including air conditioning, Bluetooth, 16-inch alloys, cruise control, and an IntelliLink touchscreen. No options have been specified – but fleets will be likely to add front and rear parking sensors at a cost of £450.

Interior quality is a big improvement over the last model, with plenty of design cues taken from the Adam. A soft touch leather steering wheel, piano black dash inserts and easy-to-use steering wheel controls make life behind the wheel pretty pleasant for a supermini. The touchscreen offers digital radio, and the IntelliLink app system allows you to run sat-nav from a mobile phone connected by USB.

On the first tank I’ve been achieving a fuel economy of high-to-mid-forties – which I’m pleased with, considering my journeys have been mostly short, stop-start runs.

I hope to achieve better economy as I get used to the car – watch this space.