Earlier this week a selection of Irish journalists made their way to Bilbao to witness the press launch of Opel’s latest offering in the OPC range – the Corsa OPC. Sadly, I wasn’t in a position to attend, but my colleagues tell me that this sporty little Corsa is a treat for fans of the OPC range.
Knowing that I wouldn’t be able to attend, and feeling slightly jealous, I put in a special request for a test drive of the 325hp Insignia OPC. Honestly, this made me feel a lot better about missing the launch.
I’ve made it known in many reviews that I am a fan of Opel’s. Maybe it stems back to my youth when everybody thought that Opel was Irish on account of good old Arnold O’Byrne and his sponsorship of the Irish soccer team. The Insignia as it is now is a very good car, and the Astra is completely under-rated. That brings me to their OPC range.
For a variety of reasons the Golf GTI is regarded very highly as a high-performance road car (and rightly so), what I don’t understand is why the term OPC doesn’t roll off the tongue as easily and as quickly as GTI. The Insignia OPC is a car that allows you to experience every beat of the road, and is therefore a true driver’s car.
You hit a bump in this car and you can feel it respond. The steering wheel allows you to map where the car is reacting to the ramp you’ve just gone over. Generally I would give out about things like this when I review normal road cars, but this is far from normal. This is abnormal – in a very good way. Cars like this should allow you to feel the road that’s beneath you.
There are three driving modes available within this vehicle and each one suits different conditions. Options include Normal, Sport and OPC – and trust me, when you click the relevant button you can feel this beast answer your request – especially when you click that little OPC button.
0-100km/h in the OPC is reached in a whopping 5.6 seconds - this comes from the massive 2.8 litre V6 Turbo engine. The same engine develops an eager 435Nm of torque. Of course, for the premium you will pay for a car of this nature you would have to expect all of the wheels to turn – so the good news is that there is an adoptive 4x4 system.
Sit inside the Insignia OPC and prepare to be hugged by the Recaro sports front seats. Notice the understated OPC gear knob and enjoy navigating through Opel’s IntelliLink infotainment system using the 8-inch touch screen (which can also be controlled via a mouse beside the gearstick or through voice control).
I mentioned earlier that potential Insignia OPC owners will have a large premium to pay – well it’s true. This machine will set you back a wad of cash amounting to more than €54,000. Apart from this you will also be paying annual road tax of €2,350 – oh, and you’re going to have to get a few loyalty cards to petrol stations, because this car isn’t what I’d call fuel efficient. But, anyone who considers a machine like this will not be in a financial situation where they have to worry about expenses like these.
On the other hand, if you are an OPC nut and your wallet can’t stretch to a price like this, the aforementioned Corsa OPC will arrive here in May at €29,995 – its 205hp, 1.6 litre turbocharged engine, is said to offer 0-100km/h in 6.5 seconds and it has a top speed of 230km/h.
Opel Corsa OPC - due to land in Ireland in May 2015
Overall it’s difficult to complain about a car of this power and nature. With that said, I’d only consider owning an Insignia OPC if I was living in Germany, where the full potential of a car like this can be enjoyed.
