The metamorphosis from racer to road car can be studied in detail on the restyled and more harmonious outer skin. In-stead of the DTM cars’ double-wing front spoiler, the X-Treme has an integrated single section version flush with the body. The tail, with its built-in diffusor, is smoother and has a restyled spoiler. Similar rounding-off work has been performed at the body panel joints, the outside mirrors and the side panels, while the two twin exhaust tailpipes add symmetry and visual balance.

In place of the 18-inch wheels called for by the DTM championship regulation, the X-Treme runs on 20-inch wheels of new OPC design; like their counterparts on the competition car, they have central fastenings. An equally dramatic visual aspect of this new high-performance car is its specially-created fiery red eight-coat paint finish.

In order to give the car an ideally positioned center of gravity, the four-liter V8 engine is located behind the front axle, as in the DTM racing version ;the engine, with four valves per cylinder, delivers its vast reserves of power to the rear wheels by way of a carbon-fiber reinforced clutch, a sequential-shift six-speed, transaxle gearbox and a mechanical-action limited-slip differential.

The X-Treme develops a maximum of 444 hp at 7350 rpm – more than enough to catapult this red-painted rocket’s to a place among the “extreme high performers”, as its name implies. Acceleration from a standstill to 100 km/h takes no more than 4 seconds, and the top speed is beyond the 300 km/h mark.

The high-tech sportscar’s overall concept is based on the DTM car: the safety body-shell has gull-wing doors, a spaceframe and various exceptionally rigid components reinforced with carbon fiber.

Trimmed to a higher standard with the aid of Alcantara and brushed aluminum, the car’s interior conveys a strong impression of high-grade technology, sports character and perfect workmanship. As with the DTM version that acted as a model for this car, the seat shells are reinforced with carbon fiber, but for the road user they are of course upholstered to a much higher level of comfort.

The driver and front passenger are pro-vided with five-point seat belt harnesses. The steering wheel is the same as used in the new Opel Speedster, and just as with the DTM racer, there is a central instrument display that keeps the driver informed of the car’s principal technical functions.

The visual appeal of many prominent control knobs and levers, the gear shift gate and other details relevant to operation of the car have been enhanced with much feeling for style by interior designer Dietmar Finger, who has transformed the interior’s spartan race going trim into a very distinguished techno style. This and other similar measures have increased the car’s weight by 50 kilograms, but this is no curse to the Astra Coupé OPC X-Treme, which still has a power-to-weight ratio of 2.59 kilograms per horsepower, putting it among the elite in this rarefied area of sportscar design.