Opel Kadett GSi Superboss

[DarrenH]

not so much a question or a statement. just chucking up some trivia for the new guys. give general chat the kiss of life

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...

[Kris]

So let em get this straight ,on the XE engines there was three types of head the GM head A Coscast and A Cosworth ?.Or was the Coscast The Cosworth Head ,Oh im all confused .Im just a simple child you understand

[Rob_S]

the original design and casting was cosworth, gm later copied the head with inferior casting and cheaper metals & innerds

there are 3 types tho i believe, coscast, KS and GM. i say i believe as KS was a company who did some of the LET castings i think, anyone know?

[Kris]

So Cosworth heads do exsist ?

[DarrenH]

without sounding litigious, the design for the road head was in-house at opel, but somewhat borrowed from an earlier cosworth designed vauxhall 16v motorsport head! GM only commisioned cosworth to cast the initial run of heads.

in that quote when it says cosworth, it means coscast.

[Kris]

Im with you now ,Cheers for explaining that one

[DarrenH]

KS stands for Kolbenschmidt. these are GM heads, its the same difference.

[GTE16v]

So how do we identify what head weve got?

[DarrenH]

lots of little things, however the clincher is this under the ledge below exhaust port 2 (second one along from cambelt end)

[GTE16v]

can this be seen with the engine in the car?

[Rob_S]

i thought ks wasnt gm, gm have gm stamps, but some lets have ks, no gm stamp. i dunno tho tbh

[Harvey]

If you use a mirror and squint you can see the stamp on the head with the engine and head in place.

Got a mate who's girlfriend runs one of only two 200ts known to of been imported into the UK. It will be at Billing this weekend at the VBOA on the East Anglia stand of the VxlSCC. You can't miss it and it's as God intended apart from a few blue silicone hoses under the bonnet. My GTE valver won't be there as it's my runabout so it's the last outing for my Veccy ST200 #0005 before the winter hibernation begins.

Cheers

Harvey

[Brett]

I've always used the core plug in the side of the head to tell. I know its possible some Cossie heads had the core plug, but its less hassle.

I rember when I opened the bonnet on my GTE when viewing it thinking 'F plater, has to be cossy' and my heart sinking as the core plug stared back at me. Got a mirror to look for the stamp to be sure it wasnt.

[Rob_S]

its no big deal, we can make them to 'coscast spec' for not much money

[Count DRAGula]

Re: Opel Kadett GSi Superboss

Thats the ultimate kadett in S.A. A true S.A legend....get more info on www.opelownersclub.co.za

Theres a few around and they **** off!!! We even have the later shape kadett in turbo guise...200TS, only being in S.A

Iv got the earlier 1.8 8v GSI kadett they started the story with.. I wud love to get a Superboss..but they expensive and hard to get in good nic.