Already introduced on most of the European markets, Opel Karl or Vauxhall Viva is ready for an update that will bring some joy for those wanting a very frugal small car. The current Opel Karl, a replacement for the old Agila, can now be ordered in the economical ecoFLEX version.
The 3.68-meter long, five-door car with the Start/Stop system and three-cylinder, 75 hp 1.0 ECOTEC engine consumes just 4.1 liters of gasoline per 100 kilometers in the combined cycle, with CO2 emissions dropping from 99 to 94 grams per kilometer. The entry-level price of the environmentally friendly Karl variant remains under 10,000 euros at exactly 9,950 euros.
Its new one-liter all-aluminum engine is a member of the three-cylinder gasoline family, whose turbocharged versions of the Corsa and Adam impressed already. The engineers paid close attention to reducing noise and vibrations during the development phase with a low-resonance construction for the block, a split oil pan, the noise protected integration of the exhaust manifold in the cylinder head and a sound absorbing cam cover.
From the fall of 2015, Opel Karl can be ordered with the new-generation IntelliLink infotainment system and the personal connectivity and service assistant Opel OnStar – features normally only found in higher classes.