Miguel Sánchez
Germany is one of the countries where the phenomenon of modifications and even tunning it took root more strongly. But don't worry, today we are not going to talk about phosphor-colored bodies, exhaust pipes the size of a cylinder attached to an engine that is not so bad, subwoofers capable of making your chest tremble or the latest record of urban culture. Not at all, today we are going to focus on mechanics.
But yes, in a mechanics that does have a lot to do with the world of German modifications and acceleration races that, since Rebel Without a Cause but also 2 2 Fast Furious, They have been feeding the feverish imagination of young people addicted to preparing their cars. Cars that, although on the outside they seem 'docile' eighties passenger cars ... They can hide very big surprises. As big as 1.257 CV of the Opel Kadett GSi that we have today as the protagonist.
And yes, you read that right: Opel Kadett. The truth is that its GSI 16V version enjoyed great fame at the end of the 80s, just at that time when the GTIs were living their best moment but ... Even with those it has a few times less power than this authentic "sleeper”From manual. So the question is obvious: but what the hell have they got under the hood of this poor Kadett?
WKT TUNING: A COMPANY DEDICATED TO AN OPEL KADETT
WKT is one of the many small companies dedicated to the modification and customization of passenger cars in Germany. And from what it seems they have decided to gamble on a single card: their Opel Kadett WKT. In fact - and as you will surely guess if you are fond of acceleration races - they have been evolving it for a few years now. After all, our protagonist is an old acquaintance who rose to fame a few years ago when he was seen putting a whole Ferrari 458 Italia in trouble.
That video raised great expectations, and is that ... A kadett? Overtaking a Ferrari? Umh… Yes but no. And it is that although the bodywork continues to be that of a nice compact thinking to go shopping, on weekends to the town and the occasional summer to the beach ... The truth is that there is a hidden complex mechanics modified from the engine block of a Calibra Turbo, from which it also takes the all-wheel drive system necessary to ensure that such acceleration does not end in a complete disaster.
At that time, WKT declared about 700CV for what had once been a standard GSI, but now… They declare 1257CV! A figure that, of course, is not achieved with changes like the ones we have described. There's so much more, like handcrafted refurbished intake and exhaust systems along with a complete overhaul of the traction system by the British company Quaife. But the most striking thing ... is its gigantic turbo.
OPEL KADETT 'SLEEPER': THE DEVIL'S TURBO
The key to the matter -especially in this car designed for vertigo accelerations- is in a turbocharger capable of blowing with unprecedented aggressiveness. The pity is that WKT is very careful about the details of its mechanical evolution, although we can imagine the tremendous compression rates, the sealing of all the parts or the pressure with which the discharge valve has to work.
Details all these necessary to ensure that the engine does not end up exploding like a bomb when it develops a power greater than that of the Bugatti Veyron, being able to do 0 to 100 in 2 seconds, 100 to 200 in 3 and get to 7 km / h in just 315 meters ...
Also, adding more crumb to the matter, these figures have been punctuated with a turbo that wasn't blowing to its full potential. In short, if you are interested in acceleration races ... I would not lose track of this Kadett "sleeper" what would delight all those "Rebels without a cause" who were already going crazy in the 50's, cheating their Buick and Chevys before the suicide race every Saturday ...
