What’s not?

• It is a good thing that the Viva’s 1.0-litre engine is so smooth and refined, as you’ll have to rev it very hard to make decent progress out of town.
• The Viva’s handling might be tidy, but its steering frustrates, lacking in any sort of feedback.
• The five-speed manual is light and slick, but the clutch is too – when making quick changes to keep the speed up it’s all too easy to ride it.
• Yes, the Viva’s cheap, but some of the hard plastic finishes lower down the dashboard and around the door handles look like they’ll scratch and look tatty quickly.

Verdict on the Vauxhall Viva 1.0 SE A/C

When the original Vauxhall Viva was launched back in the 1960s, it was sold as a small car that was well-equipped, affordable and practical. Spin forward over 50 years and we think the new car follows the same values.

While the affordable list prices and standard equipment play into the Viva’s hands, other rivals are similarly equipped and more fun to drive. But as a city runabout, business buyers are sure to be tempted by the Viva as a low cost, easy to run company car. And if you want the ultimate in low tax Viva motoring, then there’s also a greener Ecoflex version with its 99g/km CO2, 65.7mpg and 14% BIK figure available.