Opel Astra GTC 3-door On Sale In Europe

German carmaker Opel has released (almost) the full monty for its new 2012 Astra GTC three-door hot hatch, ahead of its European sales debut this month.

Based on last year's GTC Paris concept, the Astra GTC enters as a competitor for the likes of Volkswagen's Scirocco and Renault's Megane Coupe.

The Astra GTC not only looks sleeker than its five-door sibling, but it's 15mm lower. It is also riding on a wheelbase that is 10mm longer with a 40mm wider front track and a 30mm wider rear track.

For those who like the look of properly stretched rubber, the Astra GTC can be optioned with 20-inch alloy wheels. Other options include Opel's FlexRide adaptive damping, which offers selectable Standard, Tour and Sport suspension modes.

In Europe, four engines will be offered: three petrol and one diesel. The line-up kicks off with a 88kW 1.4 litre turbo petrol, along with a 103kW version of the same engine. This latter engine spec is also offered with Australia's Holden Cruze SRi.

A 133kW 1.6 litre turbo rounds out the petrol engines, while a 121kW 2.0 litre turbodiesel holds up the diesel engine.

Opel has yet to release performance figures for the three petrol engines, but promises a 0-100km/h time of 8.9 seconds for the diesel model.

The diesel also offers fuel consumption figures of 4.9 l/100km, making for a theoretical 1100km range from the 56 litre tank.

An Opel Performance Centre flagship has yet to be announced, but the GTC Paris concept came with a 213kW 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine .

With OPC variants available for both the larger Insignia and the smaller Corsa, the Astra is unlikely to miss out.

Australia

Whether Australian buyers will miss out however, remains to be seen. The Opel brand is confirmed for a local launch in 2012, but plans for the model line-up are sketchy at best.

With the Scirocco on its way to Australia and the Megane Coupe already here, the Astra GTC could be an important model for Opel when it arrives.