This is my Vauxhall Corsa GSi (aka Holden Barina). It's a 1995 model with a 1.6 litre 16V engine.

I've had it since 1996 @ 20,000km, and have taken it to 165,000km+ with few problems, unlike Jamieson and Greg, two other Corsa owning friends.

It's been to more Australian geographic extremes than most. Perth, Roxby Downs, Adelaide (home for a while) Melbourne (home now) and the north eastern corner of New South Wales.

Since 100,000km I have done all the service and repairs myself, including brakes, timing belt (@ 120,000km) and cooling system.

Mods from standard are:

Koni adjustable dampers
15 x 6 Compomotive wheels with 195 50R15 tyres.

I have tried Dunlop Formula R tarmac rally spec tyres on it. They stuck like the proverbial to a blanket, but were very noisy, with a capital V.

These lasted about 20,000km, quite a distance for a race spec tyre. Admittedly, a good proportion of this was freeway use, but all the cloverleaf interchanges and curves were taken flat out (way faster than the speed limit).

I've had an indicated 195km/h on the clock (and a photo to prove it). It was taken in Northern Territory or on a rolling road, officer, I can't remember which.

I've found some old photos, taken some time in early 1998. They're oldies, but goodies, showing how it looked with the first set of wheels. I like the look with these wheels, however, the offset of these suffered tramlining over ridges in the road, particularly at intersections, where heavy vehicles created shallow ruts in the tarmac. Anyway, here they are for your perusal