DarrenH
14-09-2004, 01:16 AM
not so much a question or a statement. just chucking up some trivia for the new guys. give general chat the kiss of life :p
http://www.astra-mk2.com/0ddball/superboss/jainu003.jpg
http://www.astra-mk2.com/0ddball/superboss/jainu004.jpg
Opel first dipped their toes into the South African hot hatch market way back in 1984, with a limited run of GTE's. Based on the Series I Kadett, this vehicle was powered by an 115bhp, 1.8-litre fuel injected motor. However it wasn't until the release of the Series II Kadett a year later that Opel really opened the floodgates on a barrage of hat-hatches that were to challenge the likes of Toyota and the benchmark VW GTi. 'GSi' was to become the classification of the most athletic hatches in the range. The first to carry this badge was a GSi 1.8 sharing the motor previously found in the GTE. This was the range-topper until 1987, when it was replaced by the "Boss", a title bestowed upon it by the marketing division of Opel. This 2-litre 8-valve 130bhp hatch was making serious in-roads into the domination of the VW GTi range, but it wasn't until '89 with the arrival of the 150bhp 2-litre 16-valve "Big Boss" that Opel truly became the hottest of the hatches. Not happy with simply being top of the hatch heap, Opel went on to produce the limited edition (just 244 were sold) "Superboss". This pocket rocket produced 170bhp from its 2-litre 16-valve powerplant. This phenomenal output came with a little help from a Cosworth head (for the initial cars and GM-cast Cosworth design for the later cars), Schrick camshafts, a Brospeed exhaust and re-mapped ECU. And to put all that power down through the front wheels, a world first for a production front wheel drive - a limited slip differential (hmm not heard of the escort rs turbo then - odders). Such was the brutal nature of this car that Opel saw need for an advance driver training course for new owners. In essence the Superboss was basically a modified "Big Boss" with its raison d'etre being production car racing homologation. And not only did it just go racing but it gave the overall Group N championship to Mike Briggs three years running, over the much more powerful 155kW, 2.7-litre BMW 325iS. The battle of the hot hatches was drawing to a close, with VW (in the eyes of the fans) going a little soft with its underpowered GTi, but hope soon returned with the release of the VR6. But Opel though felt it had to have the last say and released the Kadett 200 TS. This was an unbelievable 215bhp 2-litre turbocharged 6-speed missile based around the Calibra motor, but with front wheel drive only in the Series III Kadett range. This was definitely the last say as far as hot hatches were concerned...
http://www.astra-mk2.com/0ddball/superboss/jainu003.jpg
http://www.astra-mk2.com/0ddball/superboss/jainu004.jpg
Opel first dipped their toes into the South African hot hatch market way back in 1984, with a limited run of GTE's. Based on the Series I Kadett, this vehicle was powered by an 115bhp, 1.8-litre fuel injected motor. However it wasn't until the release of the Series II Kadett a year later that Opel really opened the floodgates on a barrage of hat-hatches that were to challenge the likes of Toyota and the benchmark VW GTi. 'GSi' was to become the classification of the most athletic hatches in the range. The first to carry this badge was a GSi 1.8 sharing the motor previously found in the GTE. This was the range-topper until 1987, when it was replaced by the "Boss", a title bestowed upon it by the marketing division of Opel. This 2-litre 8-valve 130bhp hatch was making serious in-roads into the domination of the VW GTi range, but it wasn't until '89 with the arrival of the 150bhp 2-litre 16-valve "Big Boss" that Opel truly became the hottest of the hatches. Not happy with simply being top of the hatch heap, Opel went on to produce the limited edition (just 244 were sold) "Superboss". This pocket rocket produced 170bhp from its 2-litre 16-valve powerplant. This phenomenal output came with a little help from a Cosworth head (for the initial cars and GM-cast Cosworth design for the later cars), Schrick camshafts, a Brospeed exhaust and re-mapped ECU. And to put all that power down through the front wheels, a world first for a production front wheel drive - a limited slip differential (hmm not heard of the escort rs turbo then - odders). Such was the brutal nature of this car that Opel saw need for an advance driver training course for new owners. In essence the Superboss was basically a modified "Big Boss" with its raison d'etre being production car racing homologation. And not only did it just go racing but it gave the overall Group N championship to Mike Briggs three years running, over the much more powerful 155kW, 2.7-litre BMW 325iS. The battle of the hot hatches was drawing to a close, with VW (in the eyes of the fans) going a little soft with its underpowered GTi, but hope soon returned with the release of the VR6. But Opel though felt it had to have the last say and released the Kadett 200 TS. This was an unbelievable 215bhp 2-litre turbocharged 6-speed missile based around the Calibra motor, but with front wheel drive only in the Series III Kadett range. This was definitely the last say as far as hot hatches were concerned...