Vauxhall - Tigra

1994-00  2004 onwards 

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Tigra looked great at first sight: a stylish coupe with Corsa underpinnings to keep ownership costs down. Then along came Puma, immediately clawing its way into top-cat position...

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	Low-slung sporty styling
	Corsa heritage keeps costs down
	Cheap now - most people want a Puma
	It's not the sports car it pretends to be
	Handling and ride betray its Corsa origins
	Very cramped in the back

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A big problem for Tigra is its name: big cat, rippling muscles, sharp claws. Did Vauxhall mean Tigger: cute, bouncy, slightly out of its depth?
Vauxhall-Opel designers did a good job on the body, which looks the part (though at the expense of interior space). But the Corsa chassis and warm rather than truly potent engines mean that Tigra has an identity problem: it's not a suburban supermini but neither is it the sports car that it might have been.
Buy a Tigra without great expectations and you'll have fun provided there's only two if you. There's power enough to nip in and out of traffic, the driving position feels sporty and it handles safely enough (pre-1997 cars aren't as well sorted as later versions).
Equipment is best on the 1.6i 16v: ABS, remote central locking, electric sunroof and twin airbags (all options on the 1.4i 16v).