SECTOR City Car  PRICE €11,500 – €14,500 (approx)  FUEL 5.0 – 5.5l/100km  CO2 118 – 129g/km

Is it Adam as in Adam Opel, or Adam as in the first from the company? As long as it gets people talking about the new baby, GM doesn’t mind. Opel’s marketers have been having a lot of fun with words surrounding the Adam launch. By the time you’ve got halfway through the brochure you should also be familiar with Slam, Glam and Jam – all members of the Adam’s family in the shape of the three different trim levels. There are new colours too. Choose from ‘Papa Don’t Peach’, ‘Buzz Lightgreen’, or 10 others. Opt for a roof in a different colour and choose from ‘I’ll be Black’, ‘White my Fire’ or ‘Men in Brown’. Inside, there are different headlining design options including choices featuring LEDs to simulate a starry sky. Young customers are high on the company’s target list.

The formula is similar to that of other city cars such as the Fiat 500, Ford Ka, Toyota Aygo, or VW up! – four seats in a compact car, with comfortable space for two people plus luggage and occasional space for one or two more.

The only engine available at the press launch was the 1.4-litre 87hp petrol variant. This is the mid-power rating, which is expected to be the best selling power choice. These start with a 1.2-litre 70hp petrol unit, while the top rating will come from a 100hp variant of the 1.4-litre engine. All drive through a five-speed manual gearbox. There will be no diesel option. In 2014, these engines will be joined by a new engine family designed jointly with Chinese manufacturer SAIC. Expect a direct injection, 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbocharged engine to rival Ford’s 1.0-litre EcoBoost. That should also help the Adam’s comparatively uncompetitive CO2 emissions figures.

Underpinning the car is a modified Corsa platform, with a shortened wheelbase and shorter overhangs. It carries the Corsa suspension over with it, but

re-tuned to suit the car. On the variety of Portuguese roads, where we were driving, it came out well. It was set up with a good ride and handling compromise that inevitably felt firm over poor surfaces. Compared with the Fiat 500 for instance, it felt more accomplished, lacking the softly sprung ride of the Fiat.

Performance from the 87hp engine was lively and generally refined, if lacking in pulling power when faced with a long motorway hill. But it felt equally at home in town or on the open road.

Options include the Intellilink connectivity system, including a seven-inch colour touch screen, which looks a good bet at €300. It combines Bluetooth connectivity, and smartphone integration, initially for iPhone and Android via a wired connection for iPhone and Bluetooth for Android.

The system will support a restricted range of Apps – for navigation and music to start with, but these will be expanded. In practice the BringGo nav system was not fully developed, running on an iPhone, but GM flagged this up on the launch and assured us that it will be properly sorted by the time Adam goes on sale. The problem appeared to be slow response, making navigation in city streets frustrating, while attempts to pronounce Portuguese street names were amusing to begin with, but irritating after a while. There is a good system here waiting to get out and it signals how smartphones will become more integrated in cars in the future. The screen is also set low on the dashboard, and would be better set higher up.

Verdict

Overall GM has got Adam right. It has plenty of character, drives well and the price is competitive. The list of options will help to extend its appeal.