2009 Opel Insignia OPC spied and rendered
April 2, 2009 by George Skentzos
The performance flagship of the recently released Opel Insignia is nearing completion with an almost completely undisguised prototype captured lurking around its natural habitat at Germany’s Nürburgring.
While the more timid versions are already available in showrooms, the OPC-variant embodies the “wolf in sheep’s clothing” design philosophy, packing a turbocharged V6 engine under the bonnet delivering over 224kW.
Hinting at its performance capability is a new front bumper with much larger air intakes, wider sills and fenders, larger wheels and a more prominent boot lip spoiler.
This power is speculated to be transferred through an advanced all-wheel-drive system compared to the standard Insignia’s front-wheel-drive configuration.
It was wildly speculated that Holden may introduce the Insignia into the Australian line-up but with the unveiling of the new Cruze this has become far less likely.
Print it: 
I like it. The rear tail lights look a bit like Hyundai Tiburon’s, but the side profile of the car and the front look nice and aggressive. And the specs look promising. Hopefully Holden will change its mind and bring this one onto our shores…
seee that’s wat Holden Aus should be designing and producing in Australia.
and an aussie barina sized car.
sif we need to still be importing cars.
Okay pessimistic attitude I know, but surely Opel would be better served getting the garden variety Insignia to become a wanted vehicle first before investing so heavily in a cooking version wouldn’t they?
isn’t that what the new holden 4 cylinder is gonna look like?
Hot as lines and looks the goods fully!
Good alternative to the VW R36! Looks nice!
I had a look and sit in an Insignia in Germany late last year. Its a very nice car. A little bit bigger than a Cruze, more of a Mondeo size with just a touch less rear leg room. Not sure what Frontman is meaning by “but surely Opel would be better served getting the garden variety Insignia to become a wanted vehicle first before investing so heavily in a cooking version wouldn’t they”
The Insignia is actualy selling quite well in Europe all be it in a heavily depressed market (close on 50% down). When you consider that NOBODY’s cars are selling that well, its not doing too bad.
I think Holden would be better off building this and the Astra here in oz and then they could price it competitively.
Keep the Cruze as bargain basement Korean crap like the Barina.
Nice car by the way.
Holden should develop a version of that engine for the commodore to compete with the xr6 turbo models!!!
once again golden has stuffed itself up. introduce Chevrolet put all the Korean crap there and have a simplified Holden lineup. Corsa,Astra,Meriva,Insignia,Commodore,Caprice. and for chevy Spark,aveo,cruze,epica,captiva. also word is that HSV will bring this over
Good looking machine, with that much power will it need some sort of launch control?
224kw in a Mondeo sized AWD isn’t that much power. It’s not much power from a V6 turbo, period. Presumably it’s at least a 2.5litre, so if this was tuned it should easily make a tractable 275kw.
No worries about needing launch control :) – you also really need a dual clutch trannie for LC, and a strong one too, not like a certain Japanese maker who removed LC from its supercar. Does GM have such a trannie available yet – don’t think so.
^ Reckless1, it’s about 35% more power (i.e. more than a third) than Ford gets out of it’s 2.5L 5cyl turbo engine in the Mondeo, so I’d say this is pretty good for this size car. Certainly nothing to be sneezed at.
I can not see how the unveiling of the Cruze would have anything to do for not coming here as they are different sized cars. The Cruze is Astra sized and the Insignia is larger aka Mondeo sized so I can see it being part of the Holden Family even if it is built in South Korea for the Australasian market.
Is it me or does it look like Audi.
Yep. The Cruze is compact car. The Insignia is mid-size car. They cant replace each other.
The CRUZE, alike the Golf, is a lot smaller. No alternative.
CRUZE is ASTRA size.
mr subaru liberty and mrs honda accord euro,meet the new neighbour.coming to a holden dealership soon(global doom pending)…
Dunno, I find the lines a bit awkward. Some things just don’t seem to gel.
Anyway I don’t think we’ll see it in Aus. Holden have the Epica in that market don’t they? ha ha.
The roof’s profile is squashed at the back, isn’t it Bret?
This looks good and dare i say it but it looks waaaaaaaay better than the commondore
Time to pick up your act!
Your “artist impression” is WAAAAAY off the mark. Just take a look around the net and you’ll find spy pics of the car totally unconvered. Why couldn’t you have posted those?
And whats with saying it wouldn’t come here because of the Cruze?
Hello! the Cruze is Astra sized and the Insignia if it came here would replace the Epica.
It looks a little awkward like the old Tarus did.
Especially the rear
Didn’t Holden already re-badge the Suzuki Ignis and call it a Cruze circa 2002? Surely there are other names they could rehash.
Must admit this is newbie is 100% on the DAT cars currently utilised by Holden in this segment. Looks promising.
Frenchaffair, Holden did use the Cruze name in the past, but the new Daewoo designed and built Chev/Holden Cruze is a global car using a global name, Holden weren’t given a choice.
Don’t expect to see the Insignia here – it’s VERY unlikely. I’ll probobly win lotto first (& I don’t even enter).
This is the car Holden shoulfd be building instead of the Cruze.
Because as I have said before the Crze is also being built in other countrise such as Korea and China where its cheaper for Holden to import cars from.
Whereas teh Insignia is only being built in Europe wherer its more expensive to import cars from.
The other reason Holden should be building this is because the Epsillon platform on which the insignia is built on can accept FWD RWD and AWD configurations
Therefore Opel can use their expertise and focus on Building FWD insignias.. whilst Holden can use their expertise and build RWD insignias.
Not only that but by having another modern highly productive plant buildig Insignias it will help meet demand of whats going to be a very popular car.
As for the Insignia making it to Australia – Itr could still happen despite the introduction of the Cruze.
The Cruze is said to be a replacement for the Viva whereas the Insignia would/could be a replacemnet for the Epica
Plus HSV are not only looking at introduciong a number of different engines into their range [Turbo Diesel Smaller V8s etc] they are also looking at importing a few Opels in particular the Corsa and the Insignia as a way of increasing their range and the appeal of their cars – apparently HSV are relatively impressed with the sales/popularity of the VXR Astra
Therefore; if HSV can put together a viable proposal for the Opels then that migh convince Holden to start importing them which would then reduce the cost per unit [for both of them].
Then there’s the fact that GM have said as part of their restructuring plans that they are going to design and build cars that have more “international appeal” – which the Insignia definitely has unlike Cadillac or Buick.
WHOYLES Magazine says that the Cruze is not the car Holden will be building here. That’s still a secret, but it can only be the Astra or a modified version of it.
This Insignia is Mondeo sized, I believe. Am I right?
Wheelnut, the Epsilon platform cannot accept RWD configurations, it is FWD or AWD only. Otherwise medium-sized RWD GM products would have already been made. Rumours about GM creating a RWD midsize have circulated for years involving the Alpha RWD platform, this platform would be completely redundant if Epsilon accepted RWD.
golfy,
i’ve heard that rumor(cruze)also.i reckon it’s b.s.!after all,holden IS in deep financial trouble,why would they initially bring cruze in,only to later change panels,seats,whatever,later on.makes no sense at all.however,propulsion changes may be on the menu.pivotal car for holden,as most local sales are now smaller cars.
Myke: you say the Epsillon platform can only accept FWD and AWD..but not RWD
Yet inorder to be AWD doesn’t that mean that it must be able to have a transmission shaft and diff etc at the rear of the car as well as the front?
Therefore; wouldn’t it be possible to make the car RWD by removing the front drive shaft and leave the rear one?
Yes there were rumours/hopes that a compact car would be built on the Alpha platform. However it has effectively canned in favour of the Epsillon Platform.
GM know there are markets where FWD are more popular than RWD cars [and Vice versa] However GM were/are after a platform that is versatile/flexible which can take a number of configurations not only interms of drive but also engines and even body styles…. which is why they went for the Epsillon
If the [Holden Designed] Alpha platform was still an option then why didn’t GM let Holden develop it further than simply use it for the TT-36 Torana [RWD] Concept?
Eitherway – the Insignia more modern looking than the Cruze not to mention closer to the images/sketches of “Holdens new Car” that have appeared in Motor and Wheels magazine in recent months.
Yet Holden have said by the time the Aussie built Cruze rolls off the production line it would have had a facelift
so well have to wait and see.
The Insinia would be more popular than the Cruze as the Cruze will most likely be afflicted by the Daewoo/Korean stigma the Viva Barina Epica Captiva have been hit with.
^Perhaps in theory, but I don’t know in practice, I’ve never heard Epsilon being tooled for RWD and the fact that Alpha is out there (whether is it to be developed or not) may mean is it an easier option for development of a compact RWD vehicle.
I have heard rumours that Cadillac are using Alpha for their BLS replacement and that a stretched Alpha platform maybe used in future for GMs large passenger vehicles (Commodore included).
But who knows, GM is so fluid in their decision making and especially in the state they are in at the moment.
GM Holden have announced today that production will effectively halve with the closing of 1 shift (but no job losses?)
Guys, Holden chief has already publically stated that the car to be built here WILL be the CRUZE, and it effectively will be IDENTICAL to the Korean and US built versions. There are likely to be minor powertrain variations.
Insignia is too large for the target market, or indeed to attract the targeted Govt funding assisstance.
Wheelnut, the only thing stopping Epsillion from being dedicated RWD is that it is a transverse (east west) engine configuration. Yes it can accept AWD, but then you can do AWD on transverse engines. I have never seen, nor does it make sense to do an RWD on this layout.
I think the 2013 Commodore will be the size of the Insignia, based off ZETA. Not a bad effort with the Insigna, still can’t get there engines and trannies right tho.
Poor buggers on the Assembly line accross the road have been told you get every second week off….and only half your pay.
What do you do? Eat half as much?
Better than no job at all I guess.
I’ve also heard that even though Holden are saying 3rd qtr 2010 there is still absolutely no sign of any tooling up yet to produce the Cruze, whereas the boys over in Geelong are well down the track to Focus production facilities.
Bret if you watch Mark Reuss’s interview he doesnt mention that Holden will produce the Cruze only that they will produce a 4cyl small (aka Astra) sized car. Wheels feb issue has an artists impression of the proposed car. The cruze has been out for a while so why would they keep the design a sectret.
As we have seen with Fords announcement to stop production of the Falcons Inline 6 at Geelong then reverse the decison 3 months later.. some things can change pretty quickly in the Auto industry.
Therefore; whilst Holden have said they will be building the Cruze [Why?]- that could change because as Bret said Holden haven’t started installing the new Tooling for the Cruze yet – However; the tooling etc [for the JS Vectra] has all but been removed.
So an Aussie version of the Insignia [Torana] is still a possibility.
Who knows? Holden may be reading the positive comments about the Insignia and the not so Positive commetns about the Cruze on this site – thereby getting an ideaas to which car is likely to be more Popular
Aussies really need HOLDEN INSIGNIA, right?
Well we already had Holden Epica, so no need to have Insignia. Because they are same size.
@ Golfschwein
The FORD MONDEO is slightly bigger, especially the pax cabin got ore space.
In Europe the Insignia sells unexpectedly well. OPEL, as reported, got more than
75000 orders in the first 5 weeks.
Shak,
All of the artists impressions are meant to throw the public off the fact that Holden will build the GMDAT designed Cuze.
Holden did the design work on the 3 door hatch version – maybe they will only be building that here and importing the 5 door from Korea?
Reuss IS on record as saying that the Aus built Cruze will be virtually identical, inside and out, to the Korean built version
The Insignia looks very good. The Mondeo/6/Liberty/Accord midsize market is pretty crowded already, but Holden has nothing (the Epica is complete garbage) worth comparing to the benchmarks yet, so I think the Insignia is needed.
IMHO, Holden should spin-off a cheaper “lifestyle” brand to sell the Cruze, Epica, Captiva stuff as they’re not in the same league as the Vauxhal/Opel cars.
^GM Europe sells the old Daewoo (and new Daewoo) stuff as Chevrolets thus keeping their reputation in tact. The Matiz, Aveo (Barina), Lacetti (Viva), Tacuma (horrid looking 5 seat “people carrier”), Epica and Captiva are all badged Chevrolet. Vauxhall continues with Agila (sub Barina sized), Corsa, Meriva, Tigra, Astra, Zafira, Insignia, Antara (Captiva MaXX) and VXR8 (HSV R8). Europe is a totally different market now from a few years ago when the main manufacturers got fid of their large cars as they could not compete with BMW/Mercedes and Audi. Up until then Ford had the Scorpio, Vauxhall the Omega (on which the last Commodore was based) and Rover the 800 which was replaced by the smaller 75.
is there any more news on weather holden will bring the insigna to au shores?
Muito bonito o automovel, merece motor 2.5 bi turbo. 0 a 100 km/h alguns sequndos. 270 km/h.