The looks
The Opel Adam S is undoubtedly more of a boy-racer than the other models in the line up. For starters, the Adam S features sportier front and rear bumpers as well as side skirts. At the rear, one will find a new chrome tail pipe. Located behind the large 18-inch low profile tyres are red brake calipers and nothing says, "I mean business," like red brake calipers.
Opel will be offering the Adam S in some interestingly named colours. My favourite is the Saturday white fever; the body is white and the roof is red. Other colours include red ‘n roll and shiny rock.
Spending time at the racetrack with the new Opel Adam S. R330 000 gets you one of these 110kW/220Nm pocket rockets.
Posted by Autodealer.co.za on Thursday, 11 February 2016
Inside the Adam S
Not much has changed here. Sure, the S nomenclature gets some sporty trim such as a red leather gear knob and handbrake. There’s also an S ribbon-like design on the dashboard above the glove box. The main enhancement to the interior has to be the implementation of Recaro sports seats. These seats can be found on other Opel performance cars such as the Astra OPC. These however do feature different materials though. I found it somewhat "cool" that this pocket-sized bundle of fun has these two large racing seats inside.
Entertaining your geekiness
The Adam S comes similarly specced as the Adam Jam, which means that most of the options boxes have been ticked already. This not only gives you blind-spot assist and a self parking function, it also includes Opel's MyLink infotainment system. The system is operated via a large centre screen and is compatible with most smartphones.
Setting lap times
On most launches I usually drive around, head to a racetrack, do some laps, then drive to some fancy place for lunch; not this time! I landed in PE early in the morning and was whisked away to the iconic Aldo Scrabante racetrack where I spent all day thrashing the little Adam S around.
The brainiacs from StigWorx were at the track with their state-of-the-art telemetry system. The system uses GPS tracking and a VBox as well as other complex algorithms to assess your lap to the finest of detail at any given point on the circuit. The aim was to set a lap time and then improve throughout the day.
The little Adam S was perfect for the task at hand. It's petite 1.4-litre turbocharged engine develops 110kW and 220Nm of torque. Power is sent to the front wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox. The Adam S felt good on track and handled the twisty bits with ease. It is definitely a pocket-rocket.
Economy
Seeing as though I just spent the day driving around the racetrack it’s difficult to tell you about the car’s fuel economy. I did catch a glimpse on one of my laps and it was 10 litres/100km, which, considering the fact that all the car was doing was kissing the red-line all day, is not bad.
Verdict
The Opel Adam S is a small car, so don't expect massive amounts of space or practically. As for its competitors, the Fiat 500 Abarth and Citroën DS3 Sport seem to be its main rivals. The Audi S1 is much more expensive and the Polo GTI and Fiesta ST are more suited to the forthcoming Corsa OPC.
The Adam S is a true pocket-rocket and for its R330 000 price tag you not only get character, you get exclusivity as Opel is only bringing in 50 units.