[5K13.R3DL1N3]

200hp turbo 2.0 liter Eco-tech engine, of 0-100kph in 4.9 seconds, top speed of 247kph.
Read more here: http://www.germancarfans.com/news.cfm/newsid/2050808.001/opel/1.html

Only because there are several front engine roadsters on the market now, and GM (OPEL) already has the tooling/developement invested in this one.
5K13.R3DL1N3

 

[SkyMan 08]

And if it was it would cost as much as a Corvette.....

 

[nighttripper]

:agree:

And if it was it would cost as much as a Corvette.....

 

[KappaMan]

The Opel Speedster is based off the Lotus Elise. It is a tiny, mid-engined car. If you've ever driven one, you would know immediately what I mean - like a 3/4 scale hi-po version of an MR2 or Fiero.

The passenger seat is 30% smaller than the driver's seat.

The Vauxhall version looks like the Opel Speedster, but is RHD (like the British version of the Lotus Elise), and is called the VX220.

Here in the states, the Lotus Elise, as spartan as it is, goes for >$40,000!!!

 

[marklynn70]

That is the sound of a car leaving my price range.:crazy:

 

[brentil]

Moving to the other car discussion area since this is thread #countless# about how the Sky should have been a Elise/Speedster/VX220 based car.

 

[Fformula88]

There have been all kinds of rumors and pleas for GM to import a version of that to the US for a long time. However, it just wasn't very practical. The car itself is very impractical. Very small/cramped inside, no real luggage space to speak of, not much in the way of creature comforts, not much of a top design, etc. Pricing would have been very high, and they didn't have much extra capacity anyway. If I remember from the articles that were out when that car debuted, they only had a production capacity of something like 2000 units per year. If it was imported, it would have been in extremely limited numbers anyway, and just ended up as an ultra-niche vehicle. It is cool, but not something most people would ever be able to own.

 

[TastyBake]

Why mid range? Its already near 50/50 weight distribution.

 

[KappaMan]

There have been all kinds of rumors and pleas for GM to import a version of that to the US for a long time. However, it just wasn't very practical. The car itself is very impractical. Very small/cramped inside, no real luggage space to speak of, not much in the way of creature comforts, not much of a top design, etc. Pricing would have been very high, and they didn't have much extra capacity anyway. If I remember from the articles that were out when that car debuted, they only had a production capacity of something like 2000 units per year. If it was imported, it would have been in extremely limited numbers anyway, and just ended up as an ultra-niche vehicle. It is cool, but not something most people would ever be able to own.

Have you driven an elise? Just wondering - your description sounds more accurate than you could get from most of the magazine reviews, nearly all of which talk about how the Elise is a "blast to drive", "go-kart for the street", "outstanding", "light, nimble, amazing", slightly impractical but who cares so stop complaining, "phenominal", "pulls over 1g on the skidpad in stock form"...

 

[TastyBake]

Mid-range would isolate buyers. Don’t think GM can risk that.

 

[Fformula88]

Have you driven an elise? Just wondering - your description sounds more accurate than you could get from most of the magazine reviews, nearly all of which talk about how the Elise is a "blast to drive", "go-kart for the street", "outstanding", "light, nimble, amazing", slightly impractical but who cares so stop complaining, "phenominal", "pulls over 1g on the skidpad in stock form"...

Nope, I've never driven one. In fact, I have only ever actually seen one. I doubt there are too many in Buffalo! :lol:

I read a lot of professional reviews to get a feel for things, but I also dislike them very much because they all have biases that are inherent in the business. If I was a reviewer and Lotus tossed me the keys to an Elise for a day or two, or even a week, chances are I would write a glowing review and forget about the annoyances of the car too.

Magazine reviewers who write those reviews are similar to how someone would describe a person they were dating and really liked after just a couple dates. The relationship is so new, they still only see what they want to see... all the great traits... and are ignoring or have yet to find all the negative traits in the person. Their "love" is still more a lust and desire than a lasting, deeply rooted "love." Because of it, they gloss over potential negative traits because they haven't become an annoyance yet due to the short period of courtship, or they want to like the person/car so much that they are ignoring or glossing over the negative traits.

So although I enjoy reading those reviews to get a feel for the car and what it will do, I also do not read too much into their conclusions either.

 

[nighttripper]

Every review I've ever read about some of cars I've owned and their handling characteristics,never seem the same to me when I drove them. Of course I'm no professional, but the vast majority, have felt good to me and my driving habits

 

[Fformula88]

Every review I've ever read about some of cars I've owned and their handling characteristics,never seem the same to me when I drove them. Of course I'm no professional, but the vast majority, have felt good to me and my driving habits

This could be because of some of the inherent biases the press has due to their profession, and the habit of the automotive press to "nit-pick" differences, so they have something to write about.

As much as they try to be unbiased towards every vehicle they drive, the cumulative affect of all of their drives does leave them with some bias. Say they drive a Solstice for review right after they drive a Corvette (C/D did this). This exasperates the Solstice's low horsepower, since they just stepped out of a really high HP car. Although they know about the difference, and the realities of the situation, it still can lead to them over emphasizing the fact the Solstice feels sluggish to them because of their recent Corvette experience. Same with handling. After driving cars with amazing handling, they may interpret a car with good handling as not being as good as it really is, or over emphasizing a particular element in the car's handling.

The nit-pciking is a little different. In my experience, just about every car on the market has mostly positive traits. Very few are seriously underpowered, or handle really poorly, oor built considerably better/worse than the next. To keep reviews interesting and rellevant, they still need to point out differences. Since everything is more similar than disimilar these days, they end up having to search for and point out more and more minor differences (or even insignificant ones). This can lead to a car being overly criticised for seemingly minor issues, and minor differences being overemphasized either positively or negatively.

It's just the nature of the business. They are trying to be generally honest and straight forward, but they also have some built in biases and preferences, and they also have to remain interesting to readers and rellevent.

 

[MCW Sky]

Wine taster

So if a wine taster drinks water, eats a cracker, or whatever they do to clense the palate between wines - then a professional car "taster" should do the equivalent and do something like drive a 1979 Honda Civic with 300,000 miles for 30 minutes between any new taste drives.