Opel Corsa OPC Nurburgring Edition. DRIVEN. Jebel Hafeet

Jebel Hafeet eases the driver in gently, with a long section of straights split by a couple of gentle chicanes, so it’s full acceleration to start the experience. The little 1.6 turbo pulls well, and although lag is minimal it pays to keep the revs high. There’s not much of an exhaust noise worth mentioning – a slight bassy resonance gives a pit of added drama to the experience, but the hard of hearing need not worry that they’re missing much.

By the end of the straight I’m up to a decent lick of speed, so it’s hard on the brakes, which are excellent. Brembo supplies the callipers, and they squeeze down on huge discs – a massive 305mm at the front. Stopping is not a problem. And neither is turn in. A swing of the leather-lined wheel to the left brings an instant, solid response from the nose, and barely any roll from the body. But most impressively, it grips and goes around the bend, without a trace of understeer. Emboldened, I push harder on the front end as I climb past expanding landscape behind me and cliffs up ahead. By mid-way I’m hurling the little Corsa into all sizes of corner, and it gobbles it up. Understeer is virtually banished, even when the tyres start squealing – there’s a lot of noise, but it still complies with all I ask of it, diving for the apex. Most impressively, it does all this without bringing along a lairy rear end. With the front end suckered down onto the tarmac, the rears meekly follow rather than waving crudely around, which inspires a lot of confidence in what the Opel can do without fear of plummeting off the mountain. With the nose safely directed, it’s hard on the gas and thanks to the mechanical diff, there’s next to no torque steer – maybe a fraction if you’re not winding off the steering lock, but if you use as much road as possible and open it up, you’re laughing. As am I.

The only fly in this delicious ointment is the manual gearbox, which compared to the slick mechanics of the rest of the car feels sloppy. It’s far from terrible, but the throw feels rubbery and numb, and I often find myself having issues getting from second into third, the stick resolutely refusing to snick into the gate when rushed. Take a fraction longer on the throw and it complies, but dammit, I want to go racing through the gears and continue the fun.

Underneath the ageing interior and slightly boy-racerish exterior is a seriously good little car. What’s so great about driving the Corsa here, on this epic stretch of mountain road, is how much you can get away with. Head towards the limit and you have a big window of tyre squeal before you actually lose grip, and even then you’re either faced with a bit of understeer or easily catchable oversteer. And frankly, if you’ve got that far out of the Corsa’s well-communicated comfort zone then you’re deliberately asking for trouble. This is a car designed to be flung about, flik-flakking from bend to bend without dicing with death each time you add some vigour to the steering wheel. It would be an excellent machine for a young driver wanting to teach him or herself the basics of spirited driving, as it offers a chance to push without wrapping oneself around the scenery. And for the older peddler, it’s a worry-free way to enjoy the best roads you can find.

All that said, the price of the Nurburgring Edition, combined with its age and the other cars you can get for the money makes it difficult to really recommend it to potential buyers. Unless you really, really want that exclusivity or have a real thing for the ‘Ring, it’s a lot of money for what is essentially an eight-year old car. I’ve yet to try the standard Corsa OPC, but on this evidence it might well be worth a look. The lack of a diff would be a shame, and I’d miss the Brembos, but for some $8000 less I could probably learn to deal with it. And I suspect it’ll still be a giggle.

Of more interest is where Opel go from here. An all-new Corsa is expected this year, so this brief glimpse is likely to be the current generation model’s final farewell. But if the new car is fettled by OPC, and can make it to the notoriously fickle Middle East market, it has the potential to give hot hatch fans something new and exciting to smile about

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