Opel ecomods the slippery Insignia: Cd now 0.26 + other mods = 45.2 sub/urban MPG US
 

Source: The New Opel Insignia ecoFLEX: Sleek Economy without Concessions

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblogg...coflex-450.jpg

Opel/Vauxhaul has already won Britain's car of the year award for the regular model.

Now the company is preparing an "ecoFLEX" 2.0L diesel version of the car that is rated for under 140 g/km of CO2, or 5.2 L/100 km (45.2 mpg US) on the NEDC (urban/sub-urban European drive cycle - see Wikipedia for details).

Mods include:

• adding panelling under the fuel tank

• lowering the body 10 mm

• adding a flexible front spoiler lip

• reducing upper cooling openings

• these aeromods result bring the CD value down to 0.26, making it one of the most aerodynamic sedans in the world

• optimized gearing and final drive ratio on this six-gear manual transmission

• specially-designed Michelin Primacy HP tires

• shift recommendation dashboard display

And it's not exactly a slouch of a car, either: "The Insignia ecoFLEX sprints from zero to 100 km/h in 9.5 seconds and reaches a top speed of up to 221 km/h."

And it shore is purty, if you ask me!

From: The New Opel Insignia ecoFLEX: Sleek Economy without Concessions

And there's no US version... why again?

because this is the US and any time you use the word "Diesel"... somehow they require an extra 5 years of R&D (why when the car is ready NOW?) because the EPA makes some new ridiculous standard the car can't meet
[/rant]

-or-

by the time the boat freight costs and US importation taxes/tariffs/etc are tacked onto the original price tag... the car now costs so much who would buy it for the fuel economy?

It is an expensive car: 30,105 euros = 38,955 USD = 48,258 CAD at today's exchange rates.

Too steep to be a real econo car is why its not here.

You need a lot of tanks of gas running a 2 dr civic 09 into the ground before the FE pays for it.

Other than that I like, although its a diesel so it oughtta get way better mileage. I know its a sedan not a coupe. . .

Shave some fancy components off and put a standard gasoline engine it and you might get the same FE?

MetroMPG -

Great stuff. I want to see a close-up detail on the flexible spoiler lip. Does flexible mean it "gives" if it hits speed bumps?

CarloSW2

slippery
 

Even though she's a Diesel,should the Cd0.26 be mentioned along with the MPG,perhaps it will help to allow a greater segment of the public to make the connection.Can't hurt,and there is nothing spooky about the "styling".

Good point aero, I had not even considered the fact that most people usually didn't connect the dots as concretely as we do here.

I checked out a new Ford Taurus at SAE congress the other day, it too has a flexible front lip. Maybe about 2" tall. It seemed way too soft to stay functional at highway speeds though...

Great looking car, with great specs. But cost is why we won't get it. Cost to ship it here and base price would make it an expensive car stuck in the class of MB and BMW and Audi, which I doubt Opel is really aiming for. Or are they? If I had the choice of any of those four, with same class sedans, which would I choose? Which would you choose?