Since it was first launched in the UK in 1993, the Vauxhall Corsa has been among my least favourite small cars. The first generation was horrid to drive and its successor in 2000 was so dull I tried not to notice it at all. And I’d have managed it were it not that every time I found myself at the airport car hire desk it appeared impossible to drive anything else. Three times on the trot I booked a Fiesta yet ended up in a dratted Corsa.

So it’s fair to say I was not exactly slavering to get behind the wheel of this latest Corsa. It looked good, but so did the original 13 years ago. Besides, the last year has seen unprecedented activity in the small car class. Some of the Corsa’s rivals, including the Toyota Yaris, Renault Clio, Peugeot 207 and Fiat Grande Punto, are new from the ground up and present formidable opposition. Could the Corsa really squeeze among this lot and make a credible case for itself? Somewhat to my surprise, it seems it has. Vauxhall’s engineers appear to have spotted that, however good these newcomers are, they fall into two camps. On one side there is the fun and funky approach of the Yaris and Punto, where ride comfort, refinement and interior quality are in short supply but at least they’re worth driving. The French take the opposite view: the 207 and Clio are well built, quiet and comfortable but about as much fun as clearing security at Heathrow. The Corsa aims straight for the centre ground and is all the better for it.

The car I drove was a five-door Club with a 74bhp 1.3 litre diesel motor and a price of £10,695, placing it roughly in the middle of a range that starts at a highly competitive £7,495 and ends at a decidedly steep-sounding £13,545.

At first I was a little startled by the diesel clatter from the engine, but it quietened down as soon as it was warm and provided adequate performance (0-60mph in 13.6sec, top speed 101mph) with outstanding fuel consumption (61.4mpg combined). It should be said that most users will be better off with the more powerful and £400 cheaper 90bhp 1.4 litre petrol engine, which should still average 47.9mpg.

Even so, the diesel Corsa is a pleasant performer with light, precise controls and an attitude to the open road no former Corsa would recognise. I took it down the same roads on which I’ve been testing cars for nearly 20 years and despite its lack of power it did not disgrace itself. In fact it became quite fun to go barrelling into corners seeing how much of your hard-earned speed could be carried through the curve. A Yaris is better still on these roads but not by much, while both Renault and Peugeot — names once inextricably linked with fun small cars — are depressingly po-faced by comparison.

There is a price to pay: the Corsa is less compliant and comfortable than its French opponents but not irksomely so, particularly in a class where limousine comfort is not expected.

And the promise the Corsa makes on a quiet, open road is largely carried over into the real world. The cabin is attractive and, if you get a Club model or above, nattily finished with a piano-black dash. It’s not Clio quality but it’s a wild leap forward from Corsas of old. It has one of the biggest boots in the class, which on most models comes with a false floor under which you can stow valuables. That said, the back seat offers unexceptional accommodation for adults and cannot be slid to and fro to vary the ratio of space allocated to passengers and luggage.

All bar the most basic Corsas come with six airbags and while no Euro NCAP crash test results have been announced yet Vauxhall says the Corsa “is expected to achieve maximum levels for passenger protection”, which means it already knows it will get the full five stars.

All of which means the Corsa has earned its place on the shopping list of anyone looking to buy a new small car, and no one is more surprised than me. I don’t think it’s the best car in the class — despite its high price and many faults I’d say the outstanding practicality and fun of the Yaris keep it on the top spot. But put it this way: the next time I’m hiring a car at the airport, not only will I now not mind in the least if they give me Corsa, I might even ask for one first.

THE OPPOSITION

Model Toyota Yaris T2 1.4 D-4D 5dr £10,580
For: Looks, handling, frugality – spacious, versatile cabin
Against: Cheap cabin plastics, stiff ride quality, expensive

Model Renault Clio Expression 1.5dCi 68 5dr £11,280
For: Well built, high quality interior, ride and refinement
Against: Expensive, deadly dull to drive