Opel Adam Glam 1.0T ecoFLEX - Video Review

 

The Opel Adam was launched to a whole lot of song and dance and rightly so. Where we had become accustomed to the Corsa as being Opel’s smallest, most youthful offering, here stood a new kid with a lot of funk and flair. This city car was heard to have all the latest and greatest all crammed into one small, easy to use package. It was targeted straight at the supeminis like the Mini Cooper and the Fiat 500. It was the car that Opel hoped would make people stand up and notice the brand again.

It’s certainly done that. Sale figures have been overwhelming and many buyers, both male and female alike have taken to Opel’s fresh new take on motoring. With a myriad of customising options and a high spec level, the Opel Adam soon appealed to those looking for something different, something they could call their own.

As a small city car, you can’t expect record setting power and the Adam is offered with a choice of two motors. The first is their trusted 1.4-litre ecoTEC offering but the one we had on test was the Adam Glam, fitted with their 1.0-litre, 3-cylinder ecoFLEX turbo motor which produces 85kW and 170Nm torque, which is more than enough to give the Adam the get-up-and-go that anyone could want from a city car.

The frugal little motor comes alive over 2500rpm and will rev cleanly all the way to the redline. Changing gears is via a manual 6-speed gearbox and is slick and effortless. Racy it is not, but quick it certainly is.

The Adam is not about performance and power though and a quick walk around will quickly reveal why this car is climbing the ranks. It’s marketed as a customisable car with a plethora of option available to the consumer. Buyers can select their colour package and combination with their choice of mirror covers and grill bars. Customers can spec their interior packages and wheel options so that at the end of the day, their Adam is unique and reflects their personality.

The Adam is well equipped too, with all models fitted with ABS, EBD, ESP, airbags both up front and sides and curtains as well as City-mode equipped power steering. These are the standard features, the Adam also includes a few party pieces that just sweeten the deal, like their autonomous parking, APA@ (Advanced Park Assist 2) and Side Blind Zone Assist – usually features found on much larger vehicles.

A 7-inch touchscreen is mounted into the dashboard and allows a variety of connected apps to be used in conjunction with the driver’s smart phone, delivering streaming music, navigation and much more. The 6-speaker sound system plumbs through the audio from a Bluetooth connection, USB or Auxiliary input.

Rear space is somewhat limited and the boot space wouldn’t be regarded as generous, but the Adam was never designed to cart luggage around, it was created to turn heads while diving in and out of tight spots and nipping off to your afterhours soccer game or meet up with the girls.