It was perhaps unfortunate for General Motors that I stepped straight from the Nissan 350Z into their Opel Astra OPC. By comparison the Opel is just such a—well, nice car, despite being exceedingly quick. Where the Nissan wears sleeveless vests and boasts LOVE / HATE tattoos on its battered knuckles, the Opel is more like Pierce Brosnan on his way to a funeral in a James Bond movie – frightfully refined, but more than capable of taking care of itself in any company.
The Opel’s certainly capable of getting up and going when it has to, pushing you back into the sporty Recaro seats on its way to 100 km/hr in around 7,5 seconds. The 147 kW two litre turbocharged and intercooled Ecotec engine (pinched from the Coupe) gives the Opel a “Best Performance in Class” award, thanks to a top speed of 240 km/hr and dazzling acceleration. It’s quicker than the original two litre Opel Kadett Superboss, quicker than the turbocharged Kadett 200tS, and quicker than anything the opposition has to offer in its class today. That’s quick.
The Opel is also a brilliant handler, although I’d have liked the ride to have been a little firmer to remind me just how mean the car actually is. Some more exhaust noise would also be welcome, and a six speed gearbox, rather than the five speed currently fitted, would add to the car’s allure. I doubt whether any of my suggested improvements would actually make the car perform any better, though – they’d just appeal to the hooligan who hides away inside those of us who love fast cars.
The three-door Opel is a great looking car, with a large but stylish boot spoiler and massive 17″ rims sporting 215/40ZR17 rubber announcing its sporty pedigree. The wing tended to dominate the view in the rear-view-mirror, however, and I found the bright-blue safety belts to be a touch over the top. The interior is otherwise rather understated for a car with this level of performance, with the dash not being too different from more mundane models in the Opel range. Standard equipment includes aircon, power steering, traction control, a radio/CD player, electric front windows – the rear ones don’t open -, alloy pedals, satellite sound system controls on the steering wheel, and four airbags.
The Astra OPC is a real performance car that signals a return to the sporting heritage that once was an accepted part of the Opel cachet. At R232 500 it offers many buyers performance that would normally be way out of their price range, so we expect to see queues forming at Opel dealerships.