Eco Speedster

July 27, 2003: a day that will be recorded as a very special one in the company’s history. After 24 hours at full acceleration, interrupted only by brief routine stops to refuel, the 82 kW (112 hp) Opel ECO-Speedster set a total of 17 new international records for special automobiles with turbocharged diesel engines in the 1100 to 1499 cm³ displacement class.

The efficiency and strength of the new 1.3 CDTI engine, were dramatically demonstrated by the round-the-clock average speed. At 225,079 km/h, the previous record was broken by a margin of 98,295 km/h. The fastest round was clocked at an imposing 256.269 km/h.

An identical ECO-Speedster model tested on public roads by a group of international trade press journalists proved to be exceptionally economical at 2.54 liters per 100 kilometers.

• Click to view the list of records

The outstandingly efficient Eco-Speedster prototype with its spectacular long-tail body demonstrates impressively the performance potential of the future
1.3 CDTI ECOTEC engine: During initial testing, the 112hp concept car reached a maximum speed of over 250 km/h, while fuel consumption according to the MVEG cycle was a miserly 2.5 l/100 km.
The all-new ECOTEC-CDTI diesel, with the latest multi-jet common rail fuel injection, four valves per cylinder and variable-geometry turbocharger, has a displacement of only 1.3 liters.

This innovative engine is notable for its compact dimensions (length/width/height: 460/500/650 millimeters). In terms of fuel consumption, emissions and refinement it proves to be one of the best diesels of all. Compared with other current engines of similar output, fuel consumption will be down by approx. 10% and emissions will be cut by 30 to 40%.

This ECOTEC unit is the world’s smallest four-cylinder diesel, but with regard to output and torque it can compete with substantially larger engines.