Tue 13 Jan 2004
- Edit: this article was put up ages ago (circa Jan 2004) for melbccr.com. It copped a lot of flak as to whether it’s a geniune OPC Astra or not. Without divulging too much, you’ll just have to take my word for it. Sure it’s a naff claim, but try and find an Astra with these specifications.
That was when Mohammed (well Modsy for sake of key strokes) threw me the keys to his OPC Astra turbo. Now a lot of good things have been said about the Astra already, so what’s so remarkable about Mod’s? It’s a very rare Opel Performance Cars (OPC) version. Now it’s getting interesting.
Moh’d got the car from her native Germany as a personal import after working there for a while. It’s basically stock except for the 16” stocky rims (the 17”s were cop bait and too expensive on rubber) and some Holden badges. After all, some people don’t want to stand out. And with cops and the EPA ‘dicking’ anything shiny these days, that’s definitely wise. But he has got the Recaro seats, Opel spec front bar and OPC gauges that come with this OPC version (kinda like the HSV of Europe). And these rare puppies are worth their weight in shiny metal objects and monster tachos to a Riceboy.
So anyway, how does it drive you ask? Modsy reckons that the 17’s make a huge difference to the mid-corner handling, but 16’s work well enough in the twisties. Unlike its convertible brethren, you don’t feel every bump in the road. It’s firm yet comfortable. At speed, it’s purely effortless. There’s not a hint of turbo lag and the harsh, Hiace-like whine of the NA motor is replaced with sweet, usable grunt all through the torque curve.
There’s no ‘brrrrr wa-tish’ sound of a blow off valve or melee of sexy VTEC noises, but hey you want sexy sounds, bung on a Barry White CD. It’s very linear, top shelf smoothness that sees you at the end of the tach in no time.
What this car does so well is that effortless grunt that makes you wonder if it’s a turbo at all. While you can at times feel the turbo kick in, this car is so quick off the mark for a stocker you won’t have time to notice it. It would do 0-100 in about 7.5 seconds. I really like the short shift of the 5 speed manual. Unlike the Peugeot and the Honda tested earlier, it’s got the perfect throw (I kept shifting from 2nd to 5 th in the Pug!) and the clutch is a little soft, but just right. She chirps a bit on 16s but Modsy says the 17s appease a lot of that.
Like any good performance car, she stops quicker than Justin Timberlake’s hands at a Superbowl half-time show. There is an ABS system but it doesn’t rob the driver of feel. So too the traction control, which really helps at the traffic light Gran Prix. Nor does the car buck or axle hop to a stop. So brake and chassis wise, this car is the business. Modsy for some reason knows a thing or two about cornering and down the same roads we put the Peugeot through, the Astra could match it 100%. Albeit, there is no real comparison with the Pug. This wasn’t designed to be a rally car, just a bloody good performer.
This car to me feels more like an S15 Nissan Silvia to drive: smooth, capable and likes a good poke more than a Frankston town bike. But that’s where the similarities end. This is probably as good as an Astra gets. You can’t go much harder modification wise, because all that grunt’s going through the front hoops and if she was any more boosted, she’d well and truly be a handful. So the Astra’s more the go if you want something to keep stock standard. It’s not a Rex beater, but it doesn’t set out to be. Dare I say to drive it’s probably more fun. Hell Modsy reckons you can just about drift them!
Would I own one? Hell yes, providing I needed a stock car that wasn’t cop bait and had a weekend car, you can’t get much better! Big thanks to Mohammed for his time! Can’t wait to see your next German import.