We brought you the first drive of the Vauxhall Mokka GSE recently – the civilised, practical, quick, small electric Vauxhall – and now it’s the turn of its hooligan smaller brother, the Corsa GSE. It shares the battery and motor of the Mokka GSE – a 54kWh battery with 281hp (207kW) motor. Vauxhall claims a range of up to 232 miles, which depends on your tyre option. Choose the standard Michelin Pilot Sport and the WLTP combined range is 220 miles but opt for Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 and the range is given as 232 miles. Exploit the Corsa GSE’s full performance though and either range would be a pipedream.

In launching the Corsa GSE, Vauxhall has been keen to remind us of its predecessors: Nova GTE/GSi, Corsa GSi and VXR. Corsa GSE certainly draws on the technical changes made to those cars and these include a limited slip differential, four-pot front callipers for the front brakes, with 355mm diameter front brake discs, lowered ride height, wider track front and rear, stiffer spring rates, uprated axles and shock absorbers and a stiffer anti-roll bar at the rear. It’s a fairly standard menu for a hot hatch, giving the driver better braking and handling.

At the same time, it’s an electric car and it offers three driving modes: Sport, Normal and Eco. In Sport, the GSE delivers full power (281hp) and torque (345Nm) and what is described as “Track” calibration for the accelerator, steering, brakes and ESC. Top speed is limited to 112mph, as it is in Normal mode, which brings 231hp, full torque and “sporty” calibration for throttle and steering. Eco model reduces power to 190hp, torque to 300Nm with resultant smoother acceleration. Top speed is restricted to 93mph.

Of course, the Corsa GSE has to look the part too, so it comes with a front splitter, front and rear bumpers unique to the GSE, high gloss black wheel arch extensions, black roof and rear spoiler, three-spoke alloys and GSE decals. Inside there are Alcantara and cloth seats with integrated headrests and chequered black, grey and yellow patterns, an echo of the Nova GTE, yellow seatbelts, Alcantara-covered steering wheel, aluminium pedals, customisable 10-inch display for the driver and central touchscreen display, which includes performance data, including a G-force meter, 0-62mph race timer and front wheel torque distribution.

What really matters is how the revised chassis translates into on-road behaviour. Not surprisingly, it’s quick and for some of us, the joy is that it is delivered without noise or fuss. You’d better have a spine in good shape though, because the ride is stiff. Perhaps not up with the Mini JCW stiffness but firm, nonetheless. To put it another way, it’s a load of fun. Exploit all that performance and what was already a fairly modest driving range will take a dive, just as mpg would suffer if you exploit the performance in a similarly powerful petrol or diesel model.

Just the same, it’s rare that you can exploit that performance for long on our roads, so you should still be able to travel a reasonable distance between charges. If you need a rapid charge on the road, DC charging can be at up to 100kW so it shouldn’t take long to get set and on the road again.

Clearly the target audience is not likely to be fleet users, but if you have choice and don’t travel too far generally and the Corsa GSE is within budget, it could be a fun way to travel.