Aesthetically enhanced Corsa and Mokka leverage off of Opel’s long association with Irmscher, a nameplate last officially seen three decades ago on the Kadett and Rekord.
Stellantis South Africa provided a few surprises of its own at the Kyalami Festival of Motoring by showcasing not only the facelift Jeep Wranger, but also a pair of so-called project “performance” versions of the Opel Corsa and Mokka.
Jeep Wrangler
Unveiled just over 12 months ago, the updated Wrangler, shown in four-door Unlimited Rubicon-spec, sports the same blackened seven-slot grille as in North America, along with the aerial now being integrated windscreen.
As before, the roof and doors can be removed completely and the windscreen folded onto the bonnet.
ALSO READ: Black-nose updated Jeep Wrangler shows itself in New York
While final specification wasn’t disclosed, the displayed model did feature the redesigned dashboard housing the new 12.3-inch Uconnect infotainment system, but not the 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster.
Up front resides the biggest change as the stalwart normally aspirated 3.6-litre V6 Pentastar petrol engine makes way for the turbocharged 2.0-litre Hurricane, albeit without any form of hybrid assistance as in North America.
The result in an unchanged output of 200kW/400Nm, 13 kW less but 47 Nm more than the V6, directed to all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic gearbox.
For the moment, no further are known, however, expect some if not all to emerge before the end of the year.
Opel Corsa and Mokka Irmscher
Debuting as the biggest unexpected surprises, the mentioned performance Corsa and Mokka models leverage off of the Blitz’s long association with German tuner Irmscher to create, for now, aesthetically revised versions of the flagship GS Line.
In the case of the Corsa, Irmscher 18-inch alloy wheels feature along with a 30 mm ride height drop, gloss black door sills and a sports exhaust system.
Based on the recently facelift Corsa means the Irmscher also gets the latest Opel Vizor and Compass front facia, although uprated by a gloss black lip spoiler below the front bumper.
As for the Mokka, the extended door sills have been colour-coded and the lower section of the bumper below the air intake coloured as opposed to the standard gloss black.
The touches to the latter also apply to the rear bumper, with the final additions being a new bootlid spoiler, Irmscher alloy wheels and an unspecified drop in overall ride height.
As it stands, both exhibited models prevail with the three-cylinder 1.2-litre turbocharged PureTech petrol engine, however, no power figures were provided with speculation claiming a possible uptake from the current 96kW/230Nm might have taken place.
More soon
For the moment though, nothing has been confirmed with the same applying to a local launch date either this year or in 2025. As such, expect more details to possibly emerge soon.
NOW READ: Sexy new Opel Mokka helps brand revive the fun factor
