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Opel have unveiled their hot-tomale version of the Insignia – the OPC – and it’s going to make you either hopping mad or quite hopeful for the future. If you look at it from the back it could also make you feel a little sick. You have been warned.
Pics and quotes from Carscoop, via VW Vortex

So why would it make you hopping mad?
Basically, this reads like the Turbo X drivetrain but with the sort of output we all wished we’d seen on the Turbo X

The top-grade Insignia comes with a specially modified version of GM’s 2.8-liter twin-turbocharged V6 engine that produces a satisfying 325HP that is channeled to all four wheels.
The first ever four-wheel drive Opel OPC model also benefits from a new electronically controlled, rear limited slip differential (eLSD) which can transfer up to 40% of torque to whichever (rear) wheel has more grip. This is the same system that is used on the Saab 9-3 Turbo X.
Four-wheel drive system and eLSD aside, Opel’s engineers have also fiddled around with the Insignia’s suspension system as well as with the brakes. Stopping power is now provided by a set of Brembo vented and cross drilled discs.

Twin-turbo or twin-scroll turbo? More information was required, so I clicked through to the GM Media site, where there’s no mention of a twin turbo on the brief press release. That makes me think Carscoop might have messed up just a little in the semantics.

So why might it make you hopeful for the future?
The Insignia is, of course, on the Epsilon II architecture. The Turbo X is on plain old Epsilon, which may go some way to explaining why it was limited to 280hp. It might have represented a sort of ceiling that GM/Saab were willing to dish up on Epsilon straight from the factory.
The good news here is that the 2010 Saab 9-5 will be on Epsilon II, and therefore much more capable than even the Turbo X.
If you feel yourself throw up a little inside your own mouth right now, that’s because your eyes have subconsciously registered the rear-end view, below…..

That is truly shocking. The side and front views are much more friendly to the eye.
I’m not a fan of the interior, either…..

The Insignia OPC puts out 325hp and 400Nm of torque, it’ll get to 100km/h in six seconds and the addition of XWD (though they don’t call it that) ensures that it should be difficult to get askew.
It’s interesting that Carscoop instantly pitch it against Audi’s S-Line and others. That should be Saab territory, but considering the looming separation I guess there’s no point in pretending that everyone’s still friends.
Being the kind of person I am, I’ll be hopping mad for a little while but really, when all that’s said and done, the specs on this car are what I’m really interested in. Their meaning for the Saab 9-5 will be known later this year.
I can’t wait!
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Thanks to Taylor from LotusEnthusiast