[LynnB]

The second-built Opel Lotus Omega - the four-door sedan that was...

It's little known on this side of the pond, but if you were paying close attention to the buff books some 30 years ago, you were made aware of a six-cylinder four-door family sedan that used the...

www.hemmings.com

Interesting read.

 

[opelbits]

yeah...and then we got the Catera......

 

[Commodåren]

What's so bad about the Catera in general(except the lousy Opel V6) ? You could buy one cheap today and swap in a +400hp street legal LS E-Rod crate engine including a suitable transmission and monster brakes for a fraction of the price of a Lotus Omega.

 

[opelbits]

Well, yeah, you could. But GM could have offered the Lotus Omega here in the first place. Or at least a Catera with a manual as an alternative to the fwd mid sized land dingys they did sell. The closest thing GM had was the immense Impala SS...interesting, but still a land barge.

 

[Commodåren]

The Lotus Omega was too complicated and fragile, what GM should have done, was making the 272hp DIN C40SE engined Irmscher Senator a standard model option and sold it in the US with both the 5-speed R28 and the AR35(3L30) Automatic transmissions. My 2€cent.

 

[G.v.Mainberg]

I like the Catera, I had one many years ago. Yes, the 3.0-V6 sucks, it was the reason to finally get rid (part out) the car.
BTW, Opel build a prototype (or a few - dunno) Omega B (Catera) with a V8 engine, they wanted to bring it for production. For whatever reason, they never got the cooling under control, although a lot of similar sized cars have a V8 without problems.

Dieter

 

[OpelGT-de]

Reasons were cracking manifolds due to heat and vibration. (Cyl 6&8) after top speed rides. Maybe OK for countries with speed limit.

 

[G.v.Mainberg]

Reasons were cracking manifolds due to heat and vibration. (Cyl 6&8) after top speed rides. Maybe OK for countries with speed limit.

Well, from one Automotive Engineer to another, this problem could have been solved by optimizing the design. I assume that somebody with a calculator was involved here!
Sorry for hijacking the thread.

Yes, a Lotus Omega sits on top of my automotive "dream-about" list. Then, after a serious gap, a Vectra A Turbo with an EDS Phase 4 engine (~ 400 HP). Then, everything I already have.

Dieter

 

[Commodåren]

Reasons were cracking manifolds due to heat and vibration. (Cyl 6&8) after top speed rides. Maybe OK for countries with speed limit.

Ok, but why didn't they in that case cancel the four and six cylinder engines too ? They also very often seem to have cracked exhaust manifolds. And we have a 120km/h speed limit.

 

[OpelGT-de]

The Lotus Omega Engine and the V6 engines were designed and built in the U K.
The UK Engineers had a Dream but simply zero know how.......... I have nothing further To add To it

 

[opelbits]

I like the Catera, I had one many years ago. Yes, the 3.0-V6 sucks, it was the reason to finally get rid (part out) the car.
BTW, Opel build a prototype (or a few - dunno) Omega B (Catera) with a V8 engine, they wanted to bring it for production. For whatever reason, they never got the cooling under control, although a lot of similar sized cars have a V8 without problems.

Dieter

I'm not really knocking the Catera. Just the idea of yet another v6 automatic 4 door sedan in the GM line up that was notable for really two things, being rwd and a Cadillac badge. Just think of the reaction if it had had more oomph, a manual trans option, some styling cues from the Irmscher and a badge that said Nova SS, GSX or Pontiac Lemans.