Astra Turbo

General Motors operates in the European markets through a subsidiary named Opel. The Opel family of cars are solely designed and produced in this company’s numerous plants spread across Europe. The brand is known as the Opel Astra, in continental Europe, Japan, the Republic of Ireland, the Middle East, North Africa, South Africa, and India, as Vauxhall in the United Kingdom, as Holden in Australasia, and as Chevrolet in Latin America. The same vehicle is also available in Russia and known as both Opel and Chevrolet.

The Astra Turbo is built in Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Brazil, South Africa, India, Poland and Russia, as well as being assembled in CKD kits in other countries. Opel launched a new model – Astra Xtreme in 2001. The model had a turbo charger unit to enhance the performance of a regular car. Astra Xteme, otherwise as Opel Xtreme, unveiled at the 2001 Geneva motor show, featured a single-production V8 engine sourced from the G-series Astra DTM.

This Astra turbo, as locally known, features a 4.0L V8 engine, producing 444 horsepower, gull-wing doors supported by gas struts, carbon fibre panels, and race-specification interior with five-point seatbelts, much like the DTM race car. The Astra turbo paved the way for a high performance OPC version of Astra GTC series that was introduced in 2005. The OPC uses an updated version of a 2.0L turbo ecotec engine that produces 240PS(177kW) and 320Nm of torque. It also sports a bodykit and interior, a six-speed manual gearbox, xenon headlamps and 18" alloys wheels.