If Batman gets to drive the bad-ass Batmobile I'm thinking Robin should get to chase him around in a Corsa OPC.
I mean look at this car; it really looks like something straight out a superhero comic book. It's small, has lots of sharp lines and looks ready to nail the baddies at a turn of a key.
The Corsa OPC (as in Opel Performance Centre) is based on the three-door Corsa Sport but gets a whole lot of go-faster bits and pieces. We're talking roof spoiler and rear diffuser, sporty front and rear bumpers, and side sills.
My favourites are the wicked aero gills either side of the back bumper (why the Astra OPC doesn't get these I don't know), the triangular exhaust pipe and the sharp door-mirror design. The 18" rims are also quite hot, as are the blue brake callipers.
So yes, it screams OPC, and follows suit on the inside. Recaro racing seats, dials with red needles, squared-off steering wheel, aluminium pedals, branding just about everywhere.
And, get this, the racing seats have slots to accommodate a five-point harness, just in case you live near a track. Let me also say that, even though the seats are of the racing kind, they still worked normally when getting back seat passengers in and out - I was worried they wouldn't tilt enough, but they did.
Under the bonnet sits a force-fed (and intercooled) 1.6-litre that makes 141kW (88kW per litre) and 230Nm. There's also an overboost facility that throws another 36Nm into the equation should your right foot feel the need.
And the Corsa OPC, in comparison to its 177kW Astra OPC stablemate, scores induction and exhaust enhancements that, Opel says, improve power and torque.
Yet it seems all this comes with a weight penalty. The OPC is 80kg heavier than the three-door Corsa Sport on which it's based with the engine alone 15kg heavier than the same unblown version.
Handling-wise, Opel called in the boys from Lotus to refine the Corsa Sport platform before development moved to Nurburgring's Nordschleife. The results found the OPC 15mm lower than the Sport, with a stiffer rear axle and harder spring and damper settings. The traction control was also tweaked to give you a little more rope...
So how does it go? Well, it's not manically quick, but makes up for it by being so much fun. For starters, I didn't notice any lag off the line; the boost was always smooth and constant.
SIX-SPEED BOX
Opel says that the OPC's grunt is available from 1980-5850rpm and it feels like it. It's pointless revving past six thou as there's just no power there.
The six-speed box puts the power down nicely, and finds the next gear with confidence. But our little test unit had obviously been driven hard in its time, and I noticed that snap changes caused a split-second judder - not sure if the fault lay with the box, or even a worn CV joint. But besides that, with the traction nanny switched off, the OPC rocks.
It lets loose 1.3 bars worth of turbocharged drama through the front tyres with ease, and will wheelspin through most of first with the slightest provocation. When put against the clock, launching it was the trickiest part, with the answer being to drop the clutch at slightly lower revs to limit the wheelspin.
The manufacturer claims 7.2 seconds to 100km/h, and we managed 7.9 on a cool morning at Gauteng altitude. That's in the same league as rivals like Renault's Clio Sport F1 R27 Limited Edition and VW's Polo GTi 1.8 turbo, but the Corsa holds a distinct advantage in overtaking acceleration (see performance comparison chart above).
SIX-SPEED BOX
And the hard suspension begs for the track. But it hates bumps, and the roads en route to our testing facility are racked with them. The OPC hit them hard, and forced me to drive at a more sedate pace in the process. But that's a happy median to have, because it revels on normal roads and simply adores the twisties. Not to mention that those racing seats keep you plugged in.
But, and I've talked about this before, why do these manufacturers insist on not having a temperature gauge in these cars, instead of just a warning light when the engine gets too hot? If I had my way the Corsa OPC would have three more gauges: heat, oil temperature, and boost, which can help save the engine in the long run.
VERDICT
Awesome looks, good power, great handler, so all in all a very attractive package. But pricing is against it, especially with the Polo GTI delivering similar sprint times with a R25 000 saving. In my opinion though, none of the competitors has the overall flair of the OPC.,