After months of spy shots, rumors and speculations, we finally get to see the new city car from Opel and Vauxhall. It’s the Adam and represents a new model in the lineup with which both automakers hope to make the brands cooler. As you can image, the car will have some serious competition to face coming from the popular Mini and the Fiat 500.
This is a new territory for both carmakers in which they hope to attract those who are on the look for a city car that manages to blend advanced interior options normally found in premium cars with a bold design for both the exterior and the interior. One asset of the Adam is that the client will have the possibility of choosing from a lot of customizations, creating exactly the car that he/she wants.
As most of you know, through its development the city car was known as the Junior and has been styled by a team lead by design chief Mark Adams who starting with next month will be in charge of the Buick and Cadillac designs. We notice that around the door handles is a deep and crisp line which most likely has been borrowed from the Astra GTC, while the chrome bar found in the grille comes from the Astra. There’s also the blade surfacing for the doors which we can see on several models from Opel and Vauxhall.
The new Opel/Vauxhall Adam comes with a heavily sculpted hood while below the headlights it features a pair of big circular fog lights which make the car look different than other models from this segment. This city car can also get LED DRLs.
The interior cabin should be able to accommodate up to four people nicely thanks to the narrow pillars and the low beltline. The rear windows adopt a convex shape and are on par with the sloping tailgate. There’s also the roof’s floating effect which has been done by painting the roof and the pillars in a different hue compared to the bodywork’s color.
The all-new Adam is unusually wide for a car in this segment, measuring 1720mm, while the tracks stand at 1485mm (front) / 1478 mm (rear). It is 3700mm long which makes it just 23mm shorter than the hatchback version of the Mini and 154mm longer than the aforementioned Fiat 500. It has a width of 1720mm, just about the same as the Mini (1683mm). This city car has a 2311mm wheelbase which is shorter than the one of the Mini (2467mm) and longer than the one of the 500 (230mm).
The Opel/Vauxhall Adam is based on a shortened version of the platform used for the Corsa and it has been heavily revised so that it could match the shorter wheelbase that the Adam has. It uses MacPherson struts for the front suspension, while at the back it has a torsion beam configuration.
The car can ride on wheels up to a size of 18 inches, while as standard for the ones that ride on 17- and 18-inch rims is a sports chassis. The entry-level model comes with 16-inch alloy wheels. When it will go on sale, customers will be able to choose from three 4-cylinder gasoline engines that are borrowed from the Corsa.
The first power unit is a small 1.2-liter that pumps out 69 hp, followed by two 1.4-liter engines that deliver 86 hp and 99 hp. Information regarding fuel economy and the performance of these power units will be revealed at the upcoming Paris Motor Show where the car will get its public debut. We do know that all of the versions of the Adam will get the stop/start system as standard, while the engines will be mated to a 5-speed manual transmission.
In the future the car will get a new power unit from the SGE – Small Gasoline Engine family which according to Autocar is going to be a 3-cylinder 1.0-liter turbocharged engine that will have direct injection. In this SGE family there’s also a larger 4-cylinder engine in the works but the Adam won’t get it, at least for a while. To our surprise, there aren’t any diesel engines planned for the car, but Opel and Vauxhall are considering rolling out an EV version but this hasn’t been confirmed yet.
The car will be sold in three different trim levels: Jam, Glam and Slam. These are characterized by the automaker as being “fashionable and colorful” – Jam, “elegant and sophisticated” – Glam and “racy and sporty” – Slam. Optional features include the Advanced Park Assist II system which will make its debut on a car wearing the Vauxhall badge. With this system, the vehicle is capable of detecting a space in which the Adam is able to squeeze into and after that it automatically steers the vehicle into it, while the driver is in charge of the gearbox and the pedals.
It will have a new infotainment system consisting of a large 7-inch touchscreen display mounted in the center console, but it will not come with some of the usual goodies found on infotainment systems, such as a satellite navigation system. Instead, the owner of the car will be able to plug his smartphone into this system and once he does this the OS will then be mirrored on that display. From that point on the driver can control the applications and play video, music and navigation straight on the screen.
At first, this system is going to be compatible with the iOS and Android operating systems, while as standard the Adam will come with Bluetooth, AUX and a CD/radio with USB. The cheaper versions of the car will be fitted with a smaller screen and a simpler display which will only be capable of playing music from the driver’s smartphone. The more expensive versions of the Adam will come with a heated steering wheel which is a premiere for this segment.
As standard, the Opel/Vauxhall Adam comes with front + side + curtain airbags, ESP with Hill Start Assist, as well as a City mode which when activated it will increase the assistance of the electric power steering when the Adam is rolling at lower speeds.
There are no official details regarding the price tag of the new Adam but it is expected to be more affordable than the Mini First and a bit more expensive than the Fiat 500 Pop.
