Test drive Opel Astra Sedan 1998 - 2008 Sedan

Weapon of retaliation

It never occurred to anyone but Opel engineers to release a purebred racing car on the road.
 
They take me to the astronauts!
It seemed that I was sleeping and seeing a dream. Can't be! I was offered to drive a fantastic car right. Just a couple of months ago, I marveled at the predatory features of his bright red body at the Opel stand in Geneva. And then I thought then: 444 forces per ton with a small total mass, acceleration to hundreds in less than 4 seconds and maximum speed for three hundred, carbon -tone brake discs, 20 -inch wheels - all these extremes are designed to impress the imagination, attract attention, no more. Another concept car on a racing theme that exists in a single copy and stands for a million brands. In fact, this is a real racing car for the competition of the German annular DTM championship, dressed in a slightly altered civilian dress. There is as much practicality in it as in the doors opening up the wing of the seagull. And to travel on it is nothing to think.
And now, please: do you want to take part in Opel-Astra OPC X-Treme in the tests of Opel-astra? Ask! True, they took not everyone, as it turned out, the candidate should not be higher than 180 cm tall and weigh no more than 80 kg-they take away the cosmonauts right away, by golly!
On the airfield ...
PFERDESFELD air base (more precisely, the former air base - the military from here for several years has been moving out for several years) is not in vain that is called - a horse field in Russian. From the air, her green hills and the asphalt ribbons that were snaking around them could take a psychic for the airfield. Nevertheless, just recently, under each of these mounds, formidable combat vehicles were hidden. And along the bizarrely wriggling rolls, the racing track was now lying, on which I had to check what extreme Opel is capable of. Rather, he had to check if I was able to at least for something ...
My instructor was the chief of the research center of the German company Folker Shtrice, under the leadership of which, in fact, the car was developed. Short briefing ... As if I can forget about the cam - with a sequential gear shift - a box without synchronizers and carbon -fat racing brakes that begin to grasp, only warming up to 500 degrees. In the brakes, we applied special material, ”said Herr Stritsk,“ providing high efficiency even with cold disks. But still be careful.
The five -pointed seat belt will be fastened, headphones with a negotiation device are worn ... By the way, I note that in vain the organizers so severely cut off our brother in height and weight - although special sports seats from the rocker were installed in the cockpit, more solid could well fit here here driver.
The first two circles of the stitches roller me with the greatest caution, on the third decides, finally, show that this astra can. Maybe damn it, a lot! Yes, I’m afraid that I did not remember the useful for these few tens of seconds: airplane acceleration, braking, almost like a concrete wall, machine -gun gear shutters (three per second on braking - this is normal), we leave the turn with sliding ... However, not the gods burn pots - it's time to sit in the driver's seat.
It’s not easy to climb here, so the steering wheel is removable. Mechanics return it to its place, and you can go to the track. The main attention of the clutch is the pedal from the force of 20 mm, and the stroke recommends moving almost without touching the gas. Go! The second, cool left (very sharp steering wheel, it should be noted!), Then a protracted right turn. I licking the gas slightly with the sock, I move to the third, and on the display replacing the trivial speedometer, is already a hundred. However, the very unusual sensations do not allow you to drive quickly - an unusually wide car, a very low landing, wonderful brakes that need to be trampled more poerry, but at the same time they grasp very sharply. Only in the second circle I dare to press the gas to the floor in the third gear (they didn’t recommend this on the first and second)-as if some joker pulled out the whole track to turn from under the wheels! Urgently slowing down ... And again, the lack of a habit of a pure racing car played an angry joke with me - it was possible to put pressure on the brake 50 meters later. I try the third circle to go even faster: I move to the fourth to the fourth, and before the coolest turns - to the second, right leg, it seems, begins to be annoyed to strange brakes, but ... it's time to boxes. Eh, there would be ten circles ...
Extreme without compromises
However, it is a sin to complain. If you recall that this astra exists in a single copy and there is a lot of money, a miracle is still that I was generally allowed to drive. And ahead of the lesson was no less interesting - Herr Stritsk invited him to take a look that the carbon -plastic body panels of this rider were hiding.
Needless to say, the car and the one that is built specifically for competitions differ as heaven and earth? It is clear that in a racing machine a sacrifice of speed - which means, first of all, honed controllability, maximum streamlines of the extremely licked body, relieved the entire structure on the verge of the possible - its creators bring comfort and economy. Simply put - millions of people admire the victories of Ferrari Michael Schumacher, but try to drive the formula 1 car - after five minutes even the most ignorant driver will cure from crowns and heat, terrible shaking, turning the soul of the motor of motor, from the fact that it darkens in the eyes with a sharp acceleration and tears flow during braking, the head in the bends breaks off, the steering wheel breaks out of the hands ...
That is why, when the engineers of the Opel research center had the idea to make a road version of its racing car, that on the routes the DTM fights with a Mercedes and Audi, the first on the agenda was the question of how to make such a car more friendly to its owner.
 
The steering wheel from the spidster and the steering wheel switch from Astra is everything that reminds of standard Opheles in the X -Treme salon. Pay attention to three massive aluminum fan control knobs

Aerodynamics in action: At a speed of 200 km/h, the car presses the force of more than 700 kg to the road!
They started ... with the wheels. Racing, 18-inch, replaced with even more impressive, planting diameter of 20 inches. Not in pursuit of external efficiency. In order to convey to the future client the sharpness of the reaction and the level of adhesion to the road of racing astra, the road version needs the lowest profile tires, which means that the diameter of the rim must be increased as far as possible. Do not forget, universal tires have the worst than racing, adhesion properties, and to keep the car in a bend, they should be wider. The result of the transition to the road dunxation 9000 - tires with a size of 265/30 ZR20 in front and 305/25 ZR20 behind, respectively 30 and 25 mm wider than racing slides.
And the changes in the size of the tires entailed completely different chassis settings. After all, a racing car is like a violin - it should not only make a real master, but only a great musician can correctly configure it. Say, the main secret of the success of the same Schumacher is not at all in reckless courage, but in a truly brilliant ability to configure the car. Therefore, I will not even try to tell everything that the engineers from Ruselsheim were cheating on Astra. I will note only for example the changing angles of the wheel installation - the longitudinal and the transverse angles of inclination of the rotation axis are reduced at the road version. The case is again in the tires - ordinary, cars, require a more stable configuration of the contact spot. In addition, in life, the car drives much more in a straight line than in races. As for the adjustments of springs, shock absorbers and reptile stability stabilizers - here the suspension allows many options, there would be a desire.
 
American heart
But on the engine of extreme astra, one cannot but stop in more detail - it is painfully interesting. To start with the fact that, having opened the hood, I ... saw nothing but air intakes. To ensure the most favorable distribution of the mass of the machine along the axes from the point of view of controllability, the motor was shifted as close to the rear drive axis (I remind you, the serial Astra is a front -wheel drive machine).
The eight-cylinder V-shaped eight, according to the regulations of the DTM, the volume of four liters was created on the basis of the American Northtstar bloc, which is installed on the cadillacs. However, the heads of the block, pistons, rods and crankshaft are your own. The lubricant system with a dry carder not only reduces the height of the motor, but also provides uninterrupted supply of oil to the rubbing couples during acceleration, braking and turns. In this part of Opel-Astra, the OPC X-Treme compartment is identical to the racing. The engine of the latter is only 18 hp. It is more powerful and inferior to the road in a torque, although its compression is higher. The fact is that the Racing Regulation prescribes two throttle goals with a diameter of 28 mm at the inlet. Through two such tiny nostrils and the four -liter racing motor absorbs the air. And his road counterpart may well breathe full breasts, so the maximum turns can be noticeably higher. Without restrictions on the inlet, it would not be difficult to remove 600 hp from the engine, but German engineers preferred stunning power to a flexible character. Therefore, the power of the Opel-astra compartment OPC X-Treme is expressed an impressive, but not a record number of 444 hp, only 111 hp. for a liter of working volume. But the torque in a specific indicator is 13.5 kgf.m per liter - an absolute record for hopeless engines.
 
The engine is not visible under the hood - only the air ducts and the flood neck of the radiators

Carbon fiber brake discs and six -piston calipers stop the car frighteningly sharply
Seagull wings
For the first time in his history, Opel undertook to make a real supercar. It seems for a reason. It is no secret that in comparison with their much more eminent fellow countrymen-competitors, cars of this German brand enjoy the reputation of ordinary, without complaints. It seems that in Rousselshaim they decided to revive the image of Opel. In any case, a predatory, aggressive X-Treme body with doors like a wing of a seagull (this is an extremely impractical solution, probably will never go out of fashion due to the charm that gives any car) is clearly designed to be escorted with amazed views .
It is manufactured, as the technical requirements of the DTM competition, on a steel spatial frame, is equipped with a strong carbon fiber monocos, like a cocoon covering the place of the driver, and removable carbon fiber - the lightest, strongest and fabulously expensive panels. As I have already noticed, it is not easy to climb into it, visibility from the driver’s place leaves much to be desired, voluminous suitcases in the trunk will not be able to load ... But at the wheel of an extreme astrah you will get something that for some reason the ideal of the athletic motorist will not give you very much. Drilling in Porsche management, nor any of the road supercars from Ferrari.
This machine has an exceptional ability to increase the level of adrenaline in the blood. And - without question - could become a wonderful weapon of retaliation for Opel in the war against the competitors from Munich and Stuttgart in recent years. The only question is whether the company’s management will decide to produce a small batch of cars for sale or everything will be limited to the only example of a model in Geneva? Ah, how I want to take a chance in Ruselsheim! After all, no one else has such a car, it never occurred to anyone to let out on the roads, let a finalized but purebred racing car, with all its uncompromising character. Another thing is how commercially successful the supercar from Opel will be. But let the German accountants decide.
 
Anti -wing adjustable tilt of the tilt is an indispensable attribute of a racing car
 
 

Opel Astra OPC X-Treme
common data
 
Body
2-seater compartment
 
Equipped mass, kg
1075
 
Maximum speed, km/h
over 300
 
Acceleration time 0-100 km/h, with
3.8
 
Engine
 
Location
The front is longing
 
Design
8-cylinder V-shaped (90)
 
The number of valves per cylinder
4, two camshafts in each head
 
Working volume, SMZ
3998
 
Compression ratio
12.0: 1
 
Power, L.S.
444 at 7350 rpm
 
Torque, kgsm
54 at 4800 rpm
 
Chassis
 
Drive unit
On the rear wheels
 
Transmission
 
mechanical, 6-speed
with sequential switching, in the block
 
Suspension:

on double triangular transverse levers
and springs with adjustable shock absorbers
and reptile stabilizers
 
Steering
With an amplifier
 
Brakes

ventilated, carbonic discs
with a diameter of 380 mm in front, 340 mm behind, 6-piston brackets
 
Tire size:
  
 
front
265/30 ZR20
 
behind
305/25 ZR20
 
 
Anatoly Fomin, photo Opel
 
 

Source: Magazine "Limousine" [06/01]