Next gen Opel Astra OPC will debut in 2017

Opel’s Performance Variants Manager Wilfried Dieh has announced that the next generation of the Astra OPC will launch in 2017.

You may have read that a few spy photographers have already caught on camera the prototypes that Opel is testing. 

According to Opel official, the upcoming Astra OPC will drop the 4-cylinder 2.0-liter turbocharged petrol unit for a smaller 1.6-liter engine that will develop around 280 horsepower. 

As you may know, the current Astra has a weight of 1.475 kilograms (3,251 pounds), but according to Wilfried, the next generation will lose as much as 150 kilograms (330 pounds). The diet will be possible thanks to using some lightweight components already seen on the Opel Astra OPC EXTREME concept revealed in March at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show.