Opel OPC In Detail

Press Release

Page 1 – Overview
Page 2 – Nürburgring
Page 3 – Driver training
Page 4 – Models

Association Steeped in Tradition: Opel and the Nürburgring

• Four million test kilometers since 1960

The “Ring�, which is for many synonymous with motor sport and legendary car races, plays an equally important role in the development of chassis and suspensions for Opel production vehicles. The 20.8-kilometer track in the Eifel mountains, which in parts winds around breath-taking curves through wooded hills (“green hell�), and has a height difference of 290 meters, has tested the might of such classics as the Opel GT and Commodore GS/E to their limits.

“Its combination of curves, inclines, and changing road surfaces represents the reality of driving better than any other circuit in the world,� says Otwin Fleischmann, an Opel chassis developer. “That’s why it ideally complements the test centers in Dudenhofen and Pferdsfeld, as well as the testing laboratories at our International Technical Development Center (ITDC) in Rüsselsheim.�

All conceivable aspects of handling performance are tested on the Nürburgring’s Nordschelife. Handling and braking stability pushed to their limits, roll-and-pitch behavior of the vehicles, tire properties, and much more. Its ability to uncover the substance of a chassis in every detail is unrelenting. And irreplaceable.

For this reason, Opel is present at the Nürburgring during the entire test season, from the end of March to mid-September. Depending on the type and scope of the current test program, up to 15 test engineers and mechanics are based at this important vehicle development location. Permanent guests of the course include the OPC models: as best performers in their model ranges, they must continually prove their status at the top of their variant classes.

The large number of characterisitc track sections test the chassis’s durability to its limits. In the “Schwedenkreuz� for example, test drivers anaylze the self-steering properties at high speeds, and in the following “Aremberg Passage� the trail braking through tight curves. Track sections such as “Metzgesfeld,� “Wehrseifen� and “Schwalbenschwanz� highlight the car’s resonance steering behavior to its limits – does the car push out the front wheels, does it remain neutral, or does it tend to yaw at the vertical axis, causing spin? All questions that the “Ring� answers clearly.

“Brünnchen� and “Fuchsröhre� – quaint and nature-oriented sounding corner names, but tough to negotiate. In these corners, the car enters a valley at high speed, and is mercilessly attacked from all sides. The suspension is stretched to its utmost, flexural and torsional body strength of the highest order are required. The complete opposite is the jump at the “Pflanzengarten,� where the car becomes lighter and lighter, then lifts off the road and lands hard again – traction and balance are tested here to their peak. Finally, the long finish straight at the “Döttinger Höhe,� a preferred test area for abrupt lane-changing at high speeds, which demands the highest level of controllability and stability from the car.

The most important measurement tool on the Nordschleife is the driver. Above all, the subjective impressions of experienced test engineers determine the fine tuning the vehicles receive. The OPC models draw on the know-how and experience of two former Opel works drivers, who numbered among the best and most successful touring car drivers in Europe, Manuel Reuter and Joachim Winkelhock. Both are intimately familiar with the Nürburgring, and are key members of the testing team during the fine-tuning drives.