Top Car

28 TOPCAR.CO.ZA|January 2016

FIRST DRIVES.

Rocks embodies open-
topmotoringwitha
full-lengthfabricroof
that opens in just seven
seconds
T

HEADAM HASbeen a

messiah of sorts for Opel in South

Africa selling over 1200 models

since its debut last year, a figure

that accounts for ro ughly a third of

all luxury superminis sold ov er the same

period. What’s more , Opel is gunnin g for an

even higher market share with th e

intr oduction of this, the Adam Rocks – a

ragtop urban crossover of sorts.

In partial justification of that ‘crossover’ bit,

Opel has beefed up Adam’s exterior with

plastic cladding and front/rear skid plates,

raised the ride height by15mm, tweaked the

suspension and widened the tracks. It looks

pretty stylish as a result. While not a

convertible in the traditional sense of the

word Rocks still embodies open-top motoring

with a full-len gth fabric roof that opens in

just seven seconds. Inside, the architecture

and switchgear remain pretty much

unchanged over the hardtop sibling, with a

decent amount of spac e despite the dinky

propor tions. As with

the regular Opel Adam

the Rocks can be

personalised quite

extensivel y with

various wheel clips,

logo bars, side mirrors,

rear-view mirror covers

and stickers.

Powered by Opel’s impres sive 1.0-litre

three-cyli nder turbo engine that produces

85kW and 170Nm, the Rocks feels perky

from lowdown and is able to overcome its

1088kg kerb weight with relative ease.

Tractability is also exce llent but the little

engine does feel starved for power up at

alti tude, especially in the

higher echelo ns of the rev

range. Keep the throttle pedal

pinned however, and the

0-100kph sprint should be

covered in less than 10 seco nds.

Fuel economy is also very good

with a quoted co mbined cycle

of 5ℓ/100km (we managed

8.2ℓ/100km over an

undulating launch rout e). And

the ride quality? Well, it can be quite hard at

times yet still manages to deliver a good

balance between sporty and comfort, while

the responsive steering allows you to

confidently scythe through corners.

With no direct rivals the Opel Adam Rocks

looks set to carve a successful niche for itself

in the luxury A-segment and

continue Opel’s new-found verve

in the market. While not pocket

change by any stretch of the

imagination the R273400 sticker

price will attract many trendy up

and comers looking to set

themselves apart from the glut of

quotidian offerings currently

doing the ro unds.tc

AaronBorrill

HIGHS

Fun todrive,

customisable

LOWS

Ride quality abit

harsh

VERDICT

Ideal for trendy

individuals

OpelAdam Rocks 1.0T

>PriceR273 40 0 >Engine1.0-litre 3cyl turbo,

85kW@ 5 000 -6000rpm, 170Nm@ 1 80 0-4 500rpm

>TransmissionSix-speed manual, fwd

>SuspensionMacPhersonstrut front, torsion beam

rear>Length/width/height3 747mm/1 966mm/

1 493mm>Weight1 088kg

>Performance9.9sec0-100kph, 196kphtop speed,

5.0ℓ/100km, 115g/km CO 2 >On saleNow

Up and Adam

The Opel Adam Rocks adds the convertible

crossover treatment to an al ready good car

ByAaronBorrill

OPEL ADAMROCKS