The Corsair being as fast and agile as the Clipper was an out of context fabricated expectation. Frontier didn't say that. Partners didn't say and show that - the partner previews I saw showed the Corsair at 600 max.
Frontier said it was fast. It is. Frontier said it was agile. It is debatable if this is true without context, but if you compare a multirole Krait with a multirole Corsair build, it is pretty much as agile. While carrying twice the cargo. Of course it is compared to the Clipper, because it is the Gutamaya medium the Clipper should be. But all the Clipper brings to the table is speed and agility. Everything else basically sucks compared to the Corsair. Latching onto the (in a comparable multirole build miniscule) speed difference is... I don't know what it is.
As I understand it, the one thing you can't do with the Corsair is minmax it. Because it comes minmaxed stock.
Actually, they said it was nearly as fast as the clipper. And honestly, it's speed is fine. I was expecting faster. My point is the agility, where they kept talking about it flying on rails and being great for Canyon running. More below...
They said it’s a successor to it and compared it to the clipper. It certainly doesn’t compare to the clipper’s agility, not even close, so maybe that leaves the clipper’s speed? How else do you compare it to something that’s unique to the clipper?
To continue, this is is the problem. People heard that sales pitch and translated it to the terms were used to for these ships (pitch/roll/top speed). It's pitch rate is .5 degrees better than a Krait MK II. However... that isn't the whole story. This is where the "flight on rails" and vertical thrust come in. Because it has nearly no drift, and that incredible vertical thrust, you can use other tricks to outmaneuver foes. I'm better at getting on an enemies six in this ship than in my Python Mk 2.
So yes it's a good ship, with very different properties than anything we've seen before. So while the ship can live up to most of the hype, you have to know how to get it there... because it flies different.
Also, this is one of the first ships I've seen where the convergence is good and fixed weapon people are happy, but the firing arcs aren't great, so gimballed weapon users are seeing under performance. And some are having issues with missiles from the bottom C2 hitting the hull.
Summation: The ads were misleading, but not dishonest. This ship is very fast (but not as fast as the clipper). It is very maneuverable because of the zero drift, yet the low pitch rate leads people to think it's a brick until they realize how to utilize the vertical thrust and low drift to maximize the corsair's potential. Also, it doesn't help the some streamers - I specifically remember Cmdr Mechan - stating that this ship pitched much better than the Krait MK II. In reality, it does when you factor in using the vertical thrust in your turn. But in pure, standard pitch rate values... half a degree isn't "much better' in anyone's book.
Ok, I think I've said all I need to say on this. I hope they add 2 or 3 degrees to the pitch, but I'll be fine if they don't. I really hope they fix the problem with missiles from the bottom point smacking the ship.