Opel previews 2017 Holden Commodore?

The car which might preview of the 2017 Holden Commodore SS and HSV ClubSport has just been launched in Australia.

The Opel Insignia OPC, which had its $59,990 price announced today, crowns a performance car range from the new-to-Australia German car manufacturer that also includes the Astra OPC and the Corsa OPC.

The turbocharged 1.6-litre Corsa kicks off the range at $28,990, while the 2.0-litre turbo-petrol Astra OPC three-door – which had its $42,990 recommended retail price confirmed at last October’s Sydney Motor Show – is the meat in the sandwich and expected to be the biggest seller.

But for those of us keen to get a picture of where Commodore could shift technically post the VF generation revealed publicly last Sunday and on-sale in May, the Insignia OPC is the most interesting car.

That’s because it is based on General Motors’ Epsilon II architecture, which an all-new Commodore could migrate to in 2017, swapping from rear to front and all-wheel drive in the process and – shock horror - dropping its V8 engine.

Holden is yet to confirm such travesties about the fifth generation Commodore, only saying it will be built locally and based on a global architecture rather than the VE-VF’s locally-developed Zeta platform.

The Insignia OPC is powered by a 2.8-litre turbocharged V6 engine – ironically built by Holden in Melbourne – and rolls on all-wheel drive chassis so it can cope with the engine’s 239kW and 435Nm outputs.

Insignia is the most powerful production car to ever wear the Opel ‘blitz’ badge and OPC claims a 0-100km/h figure of 6.3 secs and a thirsty combined fuel economy average of 10.9L/100km.

OPC, which stands for Opel Performance Centre, performs the same function for Opel as Holden Special Vehicles does for Holden, taking mainstream models and hotting them with more performance, chassis tweaks and exterior and interior customisation.

The OPC-HSV analogy works especially well because Opel is owned by General Motors, just as Holden is.

Barring the wagon version of the Insignia, the entire OPC line-up is heading for Australia. The Astra and Insignia arrive in showrooms in mid-February, while the Corsa goes on-sale in late April, giving each model in the local Opel lineup – all launched last September – a flagship.

Opel Australia hopes the OPC models will provide a kick of between 10 and 30 per cent to the sales of each of its three model lines, figures commensurate with the sort of share obvious competitors such as the Volkswagen Polo GTI (Corsa) and Renault Megane RS (Astra) achieve.

The Astra is the newest of the three OPC models and is the most powerful European hot hatch on the market, offering 206kW and 400Nm. OPC clams a 6.0 0-100km/h time and 8.1L/100km fuel consumption average with the help of auto stop-start.

Despite its prodigious outputs, the Astra OPC remains front-wheel drive, with torque steer and kickback controlled by a mechanical limited slip front differential and a ‘HiperStrut’ front suspension that separates steering and suspension inputs into the MacPherson strut front-end.

The Insignia also uses the HiperStrut front suspension as well as an electronic rear LSD. Both cars employ an OPC-tuned versions of Opel’s Flexride adaptive chassis system. But while the Insignia uses a six-speed auto operated by paddle shifts, the Astra is six-speed manual only.

The Corsa OPC is powered by a 1.6-litre turbo-petrol engine that produces 141kW and 230Nm (260Nm on overboost). It accelerates from 0-100km/h in 7.2 secs and has a claimed combined fuel consumption average of 7.5L/100km. It too employs Brembo brakes and a six-speed manual gearbox, but its sports-tuned chassis lacks the gizmos of the Insignia and Astra.

Insignia standard equipment reflects the Select model line and includes Recaro bucket front seats, perforated Siena leather trim, bi-xenon headlamps with LED daytime running lamps, adaptive forward lighting and premium audio system with seven speakers and seven-inch colour screen.

Nineteen-inch flow-formed alloy wheels are standard and forged alloy 20-inch wheels optional.

Astra standard equipment includes 19-inch wheels, dual front, front side and curtain airbags, Nappa leather front sports bucket seats with electrically adjustable bolsters, seat heating, a manually extendable front seat cushion and electric lumbar adjustment, Bluetooth connectivity with voice recognition, infotainment system including seven-inch colour information display, satellite navigation, iPod connectivity, SD card reader and seven speaker audio.

Compared to the GTC it is based on, the Astra OPC actually loses front foglights and front parking sensors because of a different lower bumper design which includes brake ducts.

The Corsa OPC, which bases its equipment level on the mainstream Enjoy model with Technology Pack, includes 17-inch alloys, heated body coloured mirrors, body kit, rear roof spoiler and a centrally mounted chrome exhaust tip.

One optional extra available for iPhone and iPad users is the OPC PowerApp, which allows drivers access to up to 60 different data sets, including engine boost pressure, throttle position and lateral acceleration. While the App is only 99 cents, Opel charges $399 for a smart phone controller that is directly connected to the CAN-bus of the vehicle and transmits its data va Wi-Fi to the iPhone.

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