History
OPC was established in 1997. The first OPC car, an Astra 2.0 litre with naturally aspirated engine developing 160 PS (118 kW; 158 bhp), sold out all 3,000 limited edition units within four months when it was launched in 1999. Since then more than 50,000 of these high performance cars have been sold in a variety of models, ranging from Corsa OPC to Zafira OPC.
Opel was the first brand to offer a high performance variant of a MPV when it launched the Zafira OPC with a 2-litre turbo producing 192 PS (141 kW; 189 bhp) in 2001. More than 12,000 units of that sporty Zafira generation were sold.
The most popular OPC car was the Opel Corsa D OPC in 2008, with its 1.6-litre turbo engine and 192 PS (141 kW; 189 bhp). This small car accelerates from zero to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 7.2 seconds and can hit a top speed of 225 km/h (139.8 mph). The maximum torque of up to 266 N·m (196 lb·ft) with overboost is delivered to the front wheels by a standard six-speed transmission.
Prior to OPC models, Opel used the Grand Sport Injection (GSi) designation in the mid 80s and the late 90s for its high-performance and hot hatch derivatives. Opel has offered many models as GSi, e.g. the Manta B GSi, Kadett E GSi or Astra F GSi. The last vehicle with the GSi name was the Corsa C GSi which was offered in the Opel model range until 2004. After three years, Opel decided to use the GSi name for the Corsa D in 2007, and more recently for the Astra J from 2012 again.
Read more about this topic: Opel Performance Center
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