The Opel Corsa has not been good at any particular thing for as long as we can remember, but in the last year of production, the current model has shown the first glimmer of hope. Just as the new Clio RS and Fiesta ST came out, Vauxhall launched the VXR Clubsport in Britain, reminding the world that they've been making 1.6-liter turbo engines for much longer.
It's already defeated the lazy Clio RS's twin-clutch gearbox and the underpowered Fiesta ST on the track. A brand new Corsa OPC is likely to come out in 2015, since it's been testing for over a year now. Given all that we've said so far, this could very well be the best supermini hot hatch on the market.
This video taken by TourClips at the Nurburgring track shows this contender for the title in great detail. It's just a test prototype with many of its body panels borrowed from the outgoing Corsa D. But the part we're interested in is under the bonnet, the 1.6-liter SIDI turbo engine from the latest generation of Opel mills. It features a lighter block, direct injection and a more responsive charger. Fuel-saving measures such as better thermal management and low-friction cylinders will drop consumption to about 8 l/100km. Liked to it is a six-speed cog rowing machine which Opel believes is much better than anything before it.
The package will be kept as pure as possible: big power (200 hp or more), manual gearbox, big brakes and a sporty exhaust note… all the time. The only chink in its armor is the price. OPC products have always been a tad pricy, leaving plenty of room for the cheaper Fiesta ST and the manual Polo GTI also coming in 2015. We believe that car will drop the 1.4 for a bigger 1.8 TSI making 192 hp, available for the first time with a manual.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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