Opel Astra OPC hot-hatch priced at $42,990

By Jez Spinks | October 18th, 2012

FIND DEALS

A price tag of $42,990 has been announced for the Opel Astra OPC hot-hatch at the 2012 Sydney motor show.

The range-topping version of the Astra small car goes on sale in February 2013.

It’s relatively sharp pricing for a model that with a power output of 206kW trumps rivals such as the slightly cheaper 155kW Volkswagen Golf GTI and 184kW Ford Focus ST, the similarly priced 195kW RenaultSport Megane and the more expensive 188kW Volkswagen Scirocco R.

The Opel Astra OPC produces its notable power from a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cyllinder engine and is capable of accelerating from 0-100km/h in 6.0 seconds.

Standard equipment for the range-topping Astra includes 19-inch alloy wheels, adaptive dampers, nappa leather sports seats with heating, Bluetooth connectivity and a satellite navigation and infotainment system with 7-inch colour screen.

There are only three options: $2000 for an advanced headlight system, $1000 for 20-inch alloy wheels and $695 for premium paint.

Sponsored Ads

Vti07

Why buy a pulsar sss when you can spend a little extra and get this?
- Able
  
  You don’t know what the asking price for the SSS is. I’d predict it to be about $36,000 on-road whereas this will be close to $50,000. “A little extra”?
- Amlohac
  
  what you should be asking is…
  
  Why buy a pulsar SSS?
  - jekyl & hyde
    
    ask someone who’s got one or even had one,you will get your answer…
    - Modern Man
      
      the Pulsar SSS is NOT in the same ballp[ark as this hence the pricing is not in the same ballpark.
      
      different power different type of demographic etc.
    - Amlohac
      
      Yes, the older one i understand. The new one…. meh
- jekyl & hyde
  
  apple’s and oranges.
- Zaccy16
  
  exactly! this is a much nicer car!
milkman

Good competitive price. From the reviews it drives well though not as hardcore as the megane. Love the looks. Too bad it’s also 150kg heavier!
Mick Dunn

Looks awesome! I’d take the Megane over it as a driver’s car but the interior on this is better. I like seeing lots of buttons.
Huwtm

I’m just going to gloat for a sec, “Told you so!” That’s great news, recon’ it’ll put the wind up the competition. This car is hard core enough for me. Opel prices are on road as a rule so, this shouldn’t be any different unless our CA friends decided to pressure a non on road out of them.
- nik
  
  If this is an on road price plus a bit of haggling you may drive away at $40990.00
  which is okay. Not sure about the handling compared to the RS265 .
  - Huwtm
    
    I’ve seen quite a few video tests of it and all have been very positive about the handling. One showed how the new suspension system works. I’ve yet to hear or see a bad report. No one has mentioned torque steer yet, by the way.
    - Hectic1
      
      Some torque steer is inevitable when you put that much power to the front wheels
      - Huwtm
        
        True – think it must be within reason though. Wouldn’t be a killer for me buying one that.
      - Amlohac
        
        This is true, however why doesnt the rs265 have any torque steer. I drove one yesterday and was totally blown away, and i have a deep seeded hatred for french cars. Made me feel… dirty.
      - Dave W
        
        How hard did you drive it though?
      - Golfmother
        
        Yes its pretty good , drove one 18 months ago got close , worried about resale and the interior was a bit naff , but no other hot hatch comes near it in performance and handling .
        
        They are starting to get a real following .
      - Tex
        
        I can’t reply to Golfmother… but worried about resale?
        
        I just sold my December 2010 delivered RS250 Cup Trophee for $37,000 with 33,000kms. Most new are around $53-55k. So, given that… I was pretty impressed with the resale.
        
        My last BMW however was $72k new, I bought it at $50k when 13 months old and sold it at 3 years for $30k.
        
        Now that is depreciation.
        
        I now miss my RS250
      - Amlohac
        
        Dave W, driven on track at winton. They had a day down there to show it off recently.
        
        As I said, French cars make me vomit in my mouth. But this has seriously changed my mind. At least for that one very particular vehicle. I can now see how it gets very good reviews.
  - mosmanite
    
    Unlikely to be an on road price as it will be different from state to state. Afterall tt is the Australian International Motor Show these days, not the Sydney Motor Show. Also, Opel came out earlier saying the price would be just under $50k so this will work our about right.
    
    I have to eat me words though. I was expecting this to be over $50k after ORC – makes it a very competitive bang for you buck option.
    - Huwtm
      
      The variation if any is only going to be slight, based around third party I would suspect, and who’s driving. Of course a good hagler should be able to go lower than the average.
Pauly

No Auto = No Sale

I understand that its a hot hatch and manual needs to be offered. But at least give people the OPTION of Automatic if they want it!
- Huwtm
  
  There’s always the GTC Sport, think you can have an auto in that.
- Amlohac
  
  Why? Why would anyone worth their salt waste a car like that with an auto?
- Zaccy16
  
  If you want an auto, by a scirroco, its great the opel still offer a manual, this is a hot hatch not a corrola sedan
- Pauly’s Dominated
  
  OH MY……does pauly’s mum drive his cars ? I can’t think of why any Driver would want a Girlmatic in a Sports Car…maybe it’s you BF pressuring you ?
Tex

Wow, that is indeed a hot price! Sat Nav, Leather and 19s as stanard.

Renault should be worried.
Tex

And I should be worried about my spelling.

standard*
Huwtm

I think Opel gained a lot of credibility with their pricing, unlike Holden who tried to screw people to the wall, as with all their ars and subsequently had very slow sales at the top end .
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Karl-Sass/100000921334936 Karl Sass
  
  If Holdens margins were so slim they couldn’t make a profit on them, how’s that screwing people to the wall?
  - Huwtm
    
    What i’m saying is obviously that their products are and were over priced, as is that of a lot of manufacturers who sell cars in our market. It’s like petrol, the market gets pushed as far as it will bare.
    
    So you are saying that Opel are selling their cars with even less profit. Even though Holden had government subsidies to help it bring cars in.
Dave W

The price of these hot hatches need to be on the high $30ks rather than low $40ks.
- Huwtm
  
  I agree low $30s, but if you subtract dealer charges and on roads they are in the $30s. Low $20s would be even better.
  - Dave W
    
    I don’t know how much this car goes for in Europe. All I know is, by looking at the 86 and Civic price, the Aussie price should be around $6k above the US price.
    - Huwtm
      
      well that’s going to be hard to calculate Opel don’t sell in the US, I think chev, used to market them like Holden, but are now doing the Korean thing too. I think we’re around the same price the Germans pay. But again you can’t judge these things that way. There’s actually an economic equation for this but of course I don’t know it. The simple logic of selling any commodity is you price to what the market will bare.
      
      Once upon a time our big cars used to be cheaper than just about any other car, no matter what size. Now they are trying to run a tiered pricing structure. Tiny cars are the cheapest, Big cars Most expensive. So you have a reason to pay more when step up. That doesn’t take into account the cost to built the car. Those costs don’t vary that much from big to small.
Sanjay

Good pricing but would have been nice to see it closer to the Focus ST price-wise. Still, considering how much I adore my RS Megane 225 I couldn’t see myself upgrading to anything other than an RS 250/265 in the future….:)
Amlohac

does anyone else find it shameful that the only get 6.0 second 0-100 times with more power than the RS265? Just shows you how well put together that car really is.
- Huwtm
  
  According to the test on this very site the number is 5.9 sec. As far as the compromises go with a road car, I’d guess that’s why most of the FWD, are bottoming out there. Primary issue is physics based, inertia on take off. I doubt you could get around that unless you had No suspension movement at all. Who would want a car like that. Next step is to go AWD, but you had weight and complexity and dollars. I think around 5 to 6 is pretty livable acceleration, considering you want your fast numbers in the mid rang if you are actually using the car day to day.
  - Modern Man
    
    the 5.9 times are 0 – 60mph coincedentally the same time renault acheived for the same split.
    0-100 is a bit longer.
    
    60mph is actually 96.56 kmph
save it for the track

I see some interesting multi vehicle comparos coming up in the near future. If thats a drive away price that will put some cat among the pigeons in the segment. Depends how it drives though.
- Zaccy16
  
  yeah very interesting, this verse the new ST, rs265 and scirroco r/golf r
Aussie

So there is only one question left. How does it handle? Can’t wait for the review.
R10RRK

Seen this car on the UK roads (Vauxhall Astra) let me tell you that it turns heads around ! Over here your more likely to be recognised driving this that my usual 3 series coupe.

It will be interesting once the Golf R MK7 comes out !
nurb608

This price excludes on roads.

In regards to the 0-100 time, its all down to the weight.

Looked very impressive in person and can’t wait to see how the drexler diff performs
- Huwtm
  
  really? Opel quotes al on roads dealer stamp duty etc for all states. Who said its not?
  - Millsie00
    
    I was at the motor show in Sydney and was told only options were paint and 20″ rims. And that the price would be $45k drive away with the special headlights included.
Guest

wanna review ? that’s been done ova here in G’y , the Astra OPC vs the VW Scirocco and guess what happened… The VW Scirocco lost that comp-test so dramatically in all aspects. If you do understand German then check the web for it. OPEL Blog just to say