Opel Adam S: The Fiat 500 Abarth Has A New Opponent
A few days before its official unveiling at the Paris Motor Show, Opel presented the first images of its latest hot hatch, the Adam S.
The base-model Adam uses a 1.2 litre engine generating 69 horsepower. It’s enough for city driving, but it’s not what you would call fast. The engineers at OPC (Opel Performance Center) saw the business case for a power bump in the Adam, so they installed a turbocharged 1.4 litre mill producing 150 horsepower and 162 lb/ft. of torque. Coupled with a six-speed manual transmission, this little car can sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in 8.5 seconds. For better handling, OPC also fitted sport brakes, 17-inch wheels, a different suspension and 225/35 tires, which should give a lot of traction.
While the Opel name is not widely known in North America, its cars are: Buick has been importing and rebadging them for a while now (the Buick Regal is known as the Opel Insignia in Europe). And since this strategy has been successful so far, we just might get this little Adam on our shores…