“Frontera” returns, the historic name of the automotive industry which was the successful protagonist of the market between 1991 and 2003. It’s a shame, however, that Opel has decided to distort its legacy, delegating the comeback of an acronym synonymous with off-road vehicles to a crossover that has nothing to do with what to share with the original version. The choice, perhaps the result of the desire to resort to emotional names from the past to relaunch sales or the result of Opel’s entry into a universe, Stellantis, which had already pursued this path with the Fiat brand, nevertheless goes in the direction that is now increasingly popular from the European market, aimed at giving impetus to that segment of compact SUVs and crossovers which guarantees the greatest commercial returns.
What is certain, however, is the fact that the model destined to debut in the autumn of this year will replace the Opel “Crossland” in the price list and will be created on the basis of the “Smart Car” platform, the same one that Stellantis created, among others , to the Citroen “C3”, Fiat “600” and Jeep “Avenger” versions. Like the latter, the Opel “Frontera” should therefore also be offered with a double powertrain configuration, in the mild hybrid and full electric versions, even if the Rüsselsheim brand has not yet released certain technical data at the moment. However, it is reasonable to hypothesize that the German cousin of the Stellantis crossovers shares not only the platform but also the engines, with the hybrid one centered on a one-litre, 200 cubic centimeter three-cylinder turbo-petrol engine calibrated to 101 horsepower, supported by a mild hybrid system operating on the base of 48 volt electrical system intended to power on-board services and energy regeneration during braking.
The full electric version should instead offer a powertrain structured on the basis of a permanent magnet synchronous electric motor positioned on the front axle, capable of ensuring up to 156 horsepower and 260 newton meters of torque, and powered by a 54 kilowatt-hour battery of capacity created through nickel manganese cobalt cells capable of supporting charging systems with 11 kilowatts of power in alternating current and up to 100 kilowatts in direct current.
Thanks to this, the Opel “Frontera” should be able to go from 20 to 80 percent of the charge in around 25 minutes, while in terms of autonomy there would be around 400 kilometers that can be covered in the WLTP cycle and 600 in the urban cycle. In practice, a car that philosophically and structurally differs greatly from the traditional “Frontera”, despite certain aesthetic references to off-road, such as the pronounced wheel arches and the plastic underbody protections, and a muscular and squared appearance that leads to the debut of the new Opel logo, renamed “Blitz”, set in the center of the “Vizor” grille proposed for the first time in mid-2023 through the “Experimental” concept. Finally, the square design of the bodywork is also recalled by the lines of the passenger compartment, dominated by a digital dashboard created by placing two ten-inch displays side by side, each intended to act as an instrument panel and an interface for controlling the infotainment system.
Title: Opel “Frontera” model year 2024
Translation with Google
