The Astra K came out about three years ago and with
life cycles getting shorter and shorter, it comes as no surprise Opel is
already working on a midlife refresh for its compact five-door hatchback. A
former Car of the Year winner, the VW Golf rival from Rüsselsheim has traveled
to Spain where a barely disguised prototype was caught on camera by Motor1 spies.
It only had camouflage on the front fascia where the
bumper’s design remained mostly hidden underneath a thick piece of plastic. We
can also observe another additional disguise item on the front grille, but even
so it’s easy to notice the pattern has changed as the Astra K facelift will
have a honeycomb layout. For some reason, Opel decided to mask the sharp
lightning badge at the back.
As for the return of the OPC nameplate, Opel has
said it has plans to bring it back sooner or later, but it’s too early to say
whether the Astra will be getting the performance-oriented treatment. At least
we can take comfort from knowing a GSi version is in the pipeline and this
prototype might have been it judging by the dual exhaust tips at the back.
Don’t expect more power from the highly anticipated
Astra GSi since the other two GSi-badged models we’ve mentioned don’t pack more
punch than the lesser versions. In other words, the hotter hatch will likely
feature 200 hp from a turbocharged 1.6-liter engine, along with some hardware
upgrades such as a stiffer suspension setup and a tweaked chassis.
