“It can't be
that difficult ...”
We wanted to really put the GTC through its paces, so we took it for a spin on Opel’s test track in Dudenhofen, in the company of former Le Mans winner Joachim Winkelhock. First he drove it way faster than we ever could; then he shared a few handy hints for day-to-day driving.
Opel’s test centre at Dudenhofen Computers cannot simulate every aspect of reality, so every new Opel model undergoes extreme testing in real-life conditions. Opel opened its test site at Dudenhofen, in the state of Hessen, in 1966. Some 200 people work there, 24 hours a day.
HIGH-SPEED TRACK
The outer ring of the test track is a single banked curve where cars undergo intensive endurance trials.
It’s raining cats and dogs, the track surface is treacherous, and the edges are lined with puddles. The driver touches the brake and steers sharply through the bend, flinging me to one side, then stamps on the gas again. I feel slightly ill, but he looks so relaxed he could almost have just stepped off a massage table. “This is one hot car,” he says, as we head into the next bend.
Joachim Winkelhock is good at his job. He won the world’s most prestigious race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in 1999, and now works as a brand ambassador for Opel, where everyone calls him Jockel. We wanted to know what he thought of Opel’s new sports car, the Astra GTC, which makes its production debut at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt from 15 to 25 September.
So we got hold of a prototype, booked the Opel test track, and asked Jockel to give us a training session. He took to the new Astra coupé like a duck to water.
1. PARCOURS
We start with some traditional safety training. Jockel builds a slalom course of red and white cones, eighteen metres apart. It’s a slippery ride in the rain, but he makes it look like child’s play, skirting the obstacles fast and confidently and ending with a classic stunt on the way back to the start: he brakes sharply and spins the steering wheel to execute a neat 180-degree turn. This is not part of the training, he says.
Which is a shame, because I wouldn’t mind trying it myself – but instead, I have a go at the slalom course. I blunder my way between the cones, somehow managing not to knock any over. You couldn’t call it smooth, effortless driving, and I have to brake hard several times.
When I’ve finished, Jockel holds a postmortem. First of all, I am told to do something about my sitting position. “If I was leaning that far back, I wouldn’t be able to do slalom either,” he says. I’m surprised, since I actually adjusted the seat before I started, but he tells me to touch the top of the steering wheel. I do, and my elbow is almost fully extended. Jockel says this is typical: most people sit too far from the wheel. “If your arm is outstretched, you have no strength: it should be bent.”
My next mistake is that my hands are too high: they should be holding the wheel at three and nine o’clock. “With your hands in that position, you should be able to turn the wheel sharply without your arms crossing.” I take Jockel’s advice, and find that steering is definitely easier. After three attempts at the slalom, I’m much more confident.
2. HIGH-SPEED TRACK
Mission accomplished, we set off for the 4.8-kilometre high-speed track, which is circular and banked at up to 37 degrees. Here, Jockel can really put his foot down, and on the second lap a trackside display shows we’re doing 198 kilometres an hour. Jockel is driving in the highest lane, and I look down from the passenger window at the rain-soaked road below. The low-slung GTC sticks to the track, making light of the steep slope and wet conditions.
Jockel switches to sports mode, which stiffens the suspension and gives a faster response from the steering, gas pedal and gears. The other two options are standard and touring mode, the latter is best for relaxed long-distance driving. The FlexRide chassis setup automatically adapts to the road conditions and the driver’s style and cornering speeds.
