Monday 29th September 2014

Vauxhall hots up the Adam

Adam S uses Vauxhall's 1.4 turbo tuned to 150hp (nobody ask about steering feel)

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Vauxhall has done what it promised us earlier this year and produced a hottish version of the Adam city car. The Adam S debuts at the Paris motor show later this week ahead of a showroom appearance in March next year and beefs up what so far has been a lacklustre small car, at least as far as most PHers are concerned.

It uses the brand's familiar iron-block 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine but tuned to 150hp, putting it ahead of the 140hp the engine manages in the Astra SRI, for instance. According to Vauxhall, it's good for a top speed of 124mph and a 0-62mph sprint time of 8.5 seconds.

<Insert steering recall gag here> and all that

That makes it look tardy next to the bigger VW Polo BlueGT, which manages 7.8 seconds again using a 1.4-litre turbo rated at 150hp, but it's too early to say whether a quirk of the gearing is to blame rather than a failure on Vauxhall/Opel's part. Maybe so, given we're promised lots of torque without actually being offered a number as yet. There's no official price yet either, but an inside steer from Vauxhall puts it at just under £15,000. That includes 17-inch alloys (18s also on offer), leather seats and Vauxhall's IntelliLink smartphone connection system that migrates apps to the seven-inch touchscreen, including a sat-nav app.

The styling brings a bit of machismo to the Adam via a rear spoiler, a more prominent exhaust pipe, front lip spoiler and extended side sills. Looks good we reckon, but if you didn't much fancy the standard Adam, we don't think this will swing it, style-wise.

The car comes with what Vauxhall calls a 'specially tuned performance chassis', with steering that's claimed to be more direct. The brakes are said to be 'VXR S' spec, whatever that means (we suspect the discs are larger, although no size was given). We're keen to test the claims - if Vauxhll has got it right then this could be a decent little rival to the likes of the Abarth 500.

[MrGeoff]

That red roof just looks silly.

[anonymous-user]

I'm impressed.

They've actually managed to make it look even more stupid.

[qube_TA]

1400 and 150 horses?

That's going to be a screamer

[V8 FOU]

It will look even more sh*te when the Renaultsport Twingo appears. And RWD.....

[daveco]

charltjr said:

I'm impressed.

They've actually managed to make it look even more stupid.

I think it looks better than the Abarth.

But it's warm hatch at best with those figures.

[sh33n]

Looks a hell of a lot better than the Twingo (as does the standard Adam). Surprised by the 0-60 time given the size of it, but if it drives better than the 500 Abarth (which is just awful) then it could a good fun little car.

[athol]

Oh come on.

I've said it before but how the F*** did that name get past the board? Idiotic to say the least.

They have alienated 50% of the market with a stupid error.

[Rich1973]

How can 150 bhp in something that small be so slow?

[greggy50]

Mk6 Fiesta ST had 150hp and did it under 8 second and 130mph top end don't get how something smaller and with more torque can be slower :s

[Johnnytheboy]

To my intense shame that didn't completely horrify me.

[Mr SFJ]

Mine with the same engine (Vx and Fiat shared engine I think) gets to 0.-62 in 8.9 in a car that's heavier, and with 120hp. So not that great imo.

[thepook]

athol said:

Oh come on.

I've said it before but how the F*** did that name get past the board? Idiotic to say the least.

They have alienated 50% of the market with a stupid error.

Vauxhall Barry, anyone?

[Podie]

The concept of a small city car with a bit of poke has appeal - but this seems to miss the mark a bit.

PH editor mght want to correct the "Vauxhll" typo too...

[eliotrw]

I reckon the 0-60 is with passengers for low insurance group. As per the 306 Gti-6.

There's no way it takes as long as that in a car as small as that

[shakotan]

athol said:

Oh come on.

I've said it before but how the F*** did that name get past the board? Idiotic to say the least.

They have alienated 50% of the market with a stupid error.

Homage to Adam Opel, founder of Opel cars

[TaylotS2K]

Having encountered how woeful the current Corsa is, I'd give this a wide berth.

[militantmandy]

sh33n said:

Looks a hell of a lot better than the Twingo (as does the standard Adam). Surprised by the 0-60 time given the size of it, but if it drives better than the 500 Abarth (which is just awful) then it could a good fun little car.

Abarth awful? Really? I thought it was a hoot! When I first saw the Adam I thought it looked pretty good....then I drove one and realised it was nearly as horrible as a Corsa.

Has anyone driven a Corsa VXR? Is it just like a Corsa, only fast? Or is it actually a reasonable thing to drive?

[smaybury]

Rich1973 said:

How can 150 bhp in something that small be so slow?

I tested one on the GF's behalf and it felt like it weighed a tonne (ok, a tonne and a half). Soulless lump with a wheezy N/A engine, it was. And crap around corners.

Ridiculous that they have to get an engine up to 150bhp now to give a small car even vaguely acceptable performance. The Panda 100HP is pissing itself laughing.

[sh33n]

militantmandy said:

Abarth awful? Really? I thought it was a hoot! When I first saw the Adam I thought it looked pretty good....then I drove one and realised it was nearly as horrible as a Corsa.

Has anyone driven a Corsa VXR? Is it just like a Corsa, only fast? Or is it actually a reasonable thing to drive?

It was a laugh I'll admit, but definitely not a car you'd want to live with every day, we were looking at them as a purchase from my wife (ended up with an MX5) and drove a normal one and one of the special editions (may be an SS, definitely had the rock hard Koni suspension). It just felt like a toy car, the plastics and quality of it was ridiculous. The salesman convinced us to go out in the Punto Abarth and that felt light years ahead in terms of being a car that you could drive fast and use daily.

Not driven a recent Corsa or indeed an Adam however.

[Frimley111R]

I like it, it looks good IMO. And I think it will sell well.

Not sure why PH would compare it to a Polo? That competes with the Corsa in the class above?