Opel Astra X-Treme Concept
The Astra OPC X-Treme is a racing car for use on normal roads. It was developed and built under the supervision of Opel Performance Center GmbH (OPC), a subsidiary company, estab-lished in 1997, responsible for the Opel European motor sport activities and the de-velopment of exclusive Opel-based high-performance automobiles.The X-Treme not only became one of the fastest sportscars when it first turned a wheel, but even prior to this, in terms of rapid development work. Come the end of the first DTM race season the OPC engineers and Opel’s designers needed only seven weeks, in close cooperation with the International Technical Development Center (ITDC) in Rässelsheim, to create a ready-to-run car based on the DTM Astra CoupéThe high-tech sportscar’s overall concept is based on the DTM car: the safety bodys-hell has gull-wing doors, a spaceframe and various exceptionally rigid components reinforced with carbon fiber. Its 4.0-liter V8 engine, with four valves per cylinder, drives the rear wheels through a sequential-shift six-speed, transaxle gearbox. The wheels are suspended on double wishbones and there are carbon-fiber disk brakes at the front and rear. In the course of development work, however, at least half of the cars compo-nents were either modified or redesigned for road use. The metamorphosis from racer to road car can be studied in detail on the restyled and more harmonious outer skin, which was the work of body designer Ulli Hochmuth. In-stead of the DTM cars, double-wing front spoiler, the X-Treme has an integrated single-section version flush with the body. Similar modifications have been made to the rear end of the Astra OPC X-Treme. The tail, with its built-in diffusor, is smoother and has a restyled spoiler. Similar rounding-off work has been performed at the body panel joints, the outside mirrors and the side panels, while the two twin ex-haust tailpipes add symmetry and visual balance.In place of the 18-inch wheels called for by the DTM championship regulation, the X-Treme runs on 20-inch wheels of new OPC design; like their counterparts on the competition car, they have central fastenings. An equally dramatic visual aspect of this new high-performance car is its specially-created fiery red eight-coat paint finish.the engine, with its dry sump lubrication, doesn’t have to withstand thousands of prac-tice and race miles without any attention; as a result it is allowed to run up to a maximum speed 850 revolutions a minute higher than its competition counterpart, yet de-velops a maximum power output only 18 horsepower lower, namely 326 kW (444 hp) at 7350 rpm, more than enough to catapult this red-painted rocket’s to a place among the extreme high performers’, as its name implies. Acceleration from a standstill to 100 km/h takes no more than four seconds, and the top speed is beyond the 300 km/h mark.
