Premiere at the Frankfurt Motor Show (IAA) Opel Signum2

Premiere at the Frankfurt Motor Show (IAA) Opel Signum2: All-in-One Wagon and Coupé Concept

Debut of prototype V8 direct-injection gasoline engine from GM Powertrain

Exciting interior and design ideas
Successful synthesis of versatility, comfort, good looks and ease of use
Characteristic traits of future Opel models
Exclusive on-board espresso bar, mobile office and cinema

Rüsselsheim - "It is in the interior that the major innovations of the future are taking place," says Walter Treser, Director of Advanced Engineering at Opel. "People will want to enjoy the same comforts and amenities in their cars as they have at home." This applies not just to the armchair comforts, but also to modern office communications and even an espresso machine. With its Signum2 concept car, to be presented for the first time to the general public at the Frankfurt International Motor Show (IAA) from September 13 - 23, 2001, Opel will demonstrate that all these features can be incorporated into a mobile environment. The name Signum2 underlines its connections with the premium-segment prototype called Signum that was last seen at the 1997 Frankfurt Motor Show. The Signum2 features several details of this road-going development vehicle and, at the same time, hints at the ideas and solutions that will shape the face of future Opel models.

Elegance and Dynamism - a Design Full of Expression
"The term 'wagon-coupé' describes our body concept best of all," explains Hans Seer, Opel's Director of Design. "We have combined the elegant lines of a coupé with the utility value of a station wagon." Indeed, from the side, particularly when the four frameless side windows are fully retracted, the five-door Signum2 looks very much like a coupé. There is intentionally no visible B-pillar, while the prominent C-pillar picks up again on the sporty, elegant sweep of the window line. The large window tailgate is not vertical as it is with a normal station wagon, but, like a fastback, extends upwards in a dome shape. A glass panorama roof generates a spacious, airy feeling inside.

With its total length of 4640 millimeters, the prototype slots in between the present Vectra and the Omega station wagons. Thanks to its long wheelbase (2830 millimeters) and the short rear-overhang, the Signum2 (width: 1790 / height: 1460 millimeters) looks exciting even while standing still. This impression is enhanced by the muscular wheel arches filled by large 245/35 tires on 8.5 J x 19 inch wheels. Other typical Opel design features include the wide continuous shoulders and the large rear lights, which are not integrated into the tailgate and express the same, broad-shouldered, powerful form. The three-dimensional, vertically positioned headlamps are not just a technical necessity. They frame the trapezoidal grille in the new Opel look and give the car a particularly expressive appearance. Like the new Corsa and Speedster, the Signum2 features a crease in the center of the engine hood. The drag coefficient of cw = 0.29 is a compliment to the efficient work of the designers and aerodynamic specialists.

Versatility was given priority over sheer luggage space when it came to the design of the trunk. At the press of a button, the rear seat cushion and backrests fold automatically upwards to the height of the belt-line to create a level surface. From the outside, the Signum2 then looks like a two-seater, while luggage can be stowed out of sight under the seats where it cannot endanger the occupants under heavy braking. If required the seat backs can also be folded forward for a larger cargo area.

Swivel Seats and Retractable Steering Wheel: The Easy Access Concept
You do not have to be a contortionist to get into the car, because the engineers from the International Technical Development Center (ITDC) in Rüsselsheim have gone out of their way to make access to the Signum2 comfortable. The door openings are large, the door sills are low and the hinges mounted well to the front. In fact, the driver and front seat passenger are automatically guided to their seats. On pulling the door handle, the front seats swivel automatically towards the doorways. After you take your seat, they turn back to face the front and you are ready to go. The designers have integrated the three-point belts into the seat backrests so that they are always at hand and do not interfere with the swivel mechanism.

Drivers with long legs but a short body are often confronted with the problem that they have to wiggle their way in behind the steering wheel. Here, too, the Opel experts have come up with the perfect solution. At rest, the steering wheel is retracted into the instrument panel so that it does not interfere either with getting in or out and is not in the way if a business meeting is held in the car. When it is needed the steering wheel moves forward to take up the position previously programmed by the driver. The conditions for this are that all the doors are closed, the driver's seat is in the drive position, the automatic transmission is in "P" and the engine has been started.

The form of the steering wheel is certainly futuristic. It is not round but looks like the wheel in a Formula 1 car or an airplane. It is the progressively designed hydraulic steering system in the Signum2 that makes this unconventional design possible. "Whereas the steering system in the central position responds perfectly normally," says Walter Treser, "under extreme changes of direction, a higher transmission ratio is selected via a universal joint. When parking or negotiating a sharp bend, the driver does not have to keep changing over hands to turn the wheel round, he can keep both hands on the steering wheel because less turn is needed."

Ergonomics and Info Zones: The Intelligent Control Concept
At some time in the future, car historians will have difficulty suppressing a smile when they look back at the control concepts of today's passenger cars. Following the technocratic phase with its innumerable knobs, switches and levers like in an aircraft cockpit, there was the phase of the computer-like interface, particularly with the concept cars. One button sufficed, with many functions reachable via sub-menus. With the Signum (Geneva 1997) and G 90 (IAA 1999) studies, the Opel development team has already demonstrated its idea of an intelligent control concept. The three main criteria are: separate information zones for the individual passengers, a minimal number of functions, and practical logical controls. The Signum2 concept takes this ergonomics philosophy to its natural conclusion.

Animated Sequence and Digital Displays: The Customized Driver Display
There is a total of three monitors in the front of the car. Monitor number one for the driver is placed, quite conventionally, behind the steering wheel. As the steering wheel glides into drive position, a brief animated sequence runs on the screen (8.9", 2:1 format). This fades to reveal two large circular gauges plus digital displays for the engine speed and driving speed. The driver can also see here whether he has enough fuel in the tank or whether, for example, the engine has reached its operating temperature after a cold start. If the navigation system indicates a change of direction, a clear arrow-shaped pictogram informs the driver in good time.

Individual wishes can also be taken into account: "This instrumentation can be defined by the driver," says Walter Treser, introducing the cockpit of the future. "If, for example, the owner wants a different colored background or prefers a different type of picture, he can easily have it re-programmed by his service partner."

Screen number two is set into the center console and covered by a flap. Once the engine is running, the flap moves upwards to reveal the 7" color display (16:9 format) which can also be viewed by the rear passengers. This central monitor displays the four main menus: air-conditioning, audio, communication and navigation, and can be used to show, for example, map details, the settings of the high and audio unit or the telephone directory. The menus are selected via a twist-and-push knob in the center. Important functions like the volume or cooling fan speed can be easily adjusted via the two rotary switches on the side.

Fold-Away Monitor and Internet Connection: The Mobile Office
While the person behind the steering wheel drives the car, the front-seat passenger can surf the digital highways on the Internet. The Signum2 team has provided the front passenger with a full-blooded computer for sending and receiving e-mails, visiting Internet sites or adding last-minute touches to a presentation before an impending business appointment. The clever thing about this mobile office is that the color monitor of the PC folds flat when not in use and disappears in the instrument panel above the glove box. A touch of the finger is all that is takes for the display to emerge from its hide-away. The computer is operated by an infrared-controlled keyboard, which is accommodated one storey lower in the glove box.

The two passengers in the back of the Signum2 can immerse themselves in a world of entertainment and relaxation. The center armrest can be flipped open to reveal two DVD players (Digital Versatile Disc) with headphones to listen to audio CDs or, after putting on the special video glasses (also accommodated in the armrest), to watch films in cinema quality during the journey.

The cozy atmosphere inside the car provides a pleasant contrast to these innovative technical solutions. This is due essentially to the natural materials and friendly colors. The mood is dominated by light 'cashmere brown', while the upper part of the instrument panel and the cushions of the elegant and stylish seats have been designed in a darker hazelnut brown. The footmats are yet another sophisticated detail in this concept car. They have the appearance of a fine woven rattan and, even though they are woven from paper, are resistant to water.

No Grilles and Nozzles: The Indirect Ventilation
New ideas often mean saying goodbye to familiar solutions. Unlike a conventional car, the Signum2 does not have any ventilation grilles or nozzles. Instead, the fresh air and warm air flow in through hidden slits in the instrument panel support and footwell. This gave the designers more freedom in the design of the interior, but above all reduces unpleasant drafts.

Sliding Storage Boxes on Rails
Not only have the Signum2 engineers dispensed with the ventilation grilles, they have also done away with the conventional center tunnel with the gearshift and handbrake lever. Instead, the gears (R, P, N and D) of the five-speed automatic transmission with its 'shift-by-wire' technology are selected via a rotary switch in the center console. In park position 'P', this control also activitates the electric parking brake.

This unusual design leaves space for a new system of variable storage boxes between the seats. Several small containers can be moved on a rail in the floor and fixed in any position between the center console and the rear seats. Children's toys, a coolbox with cup holders, or the equipment for a mobile office can be positioned within reach of any occupant. In the floor of the luggage compartment, there are holders on the left and right for securing two boxes. A further box fits into a covered recess in the floor, since the engineers decided to dispense with a spare wheel for reasons of weight and space. Instead, there is a puncture sealing kit for an emergency.

The Signum2 development team, together with the Swiss specialists from the Nestlé subsidiary Nespresso, have come up with yet another clever idea: a mobile espresso machine for one of the variable boxes, so that anyone in the car can brew up a cup of fresh espresso quickly and easily inside the car. Thanks to Nespresso's innovative capsule technology, there is no need to worry about beans or powder. All you have to do is place one capsule per cup into the machine and push a lever. Within a few seconds, a top-class espresso with a characteristic creamy head flows into the beaker. The system, which works with a pressure of up to 19 bar, takes its electricity from the rail in the floor of the car. The water, which flows past a heating element, can be filled easily from a bottle of mineral water. The development team has also provided a container for storing the capsules (available in nine different flavors) in the box. There is, of course, also a container for the trash.

Power and Refinement: GM V8 Concept Engine with Direct Gasoline Injection
Beneath the hood of the Signum2 concept car is the prototype of an all-new, lightweight V8 engine with gasoline direct injection, developed in the USA by General Motors Powertrain. Thanks to two camshafts integrated centrally into the engine block and a cylinder-bank angle of only 75 degrees, the so-called 'Global XV8' is so compact it can be installed transversely, as in the Signum2, or longitudinally, making it ideally suited for a future career as a global GM engine. With three valves per cylinder and 4.3-liters displacement, the refined, all-aluminum power unit generates 220 kW/300 hp and accelerates the front-wheel drive concept car to up to 250 km/h (electronically limited). Despite this high power output, it needs only 9.8 liters of super-grade fuel per 100 kilometers (MVEG). This is thanks to the air-assisted injection of fuel directly into the combustion chamber and deactivation of up to four cylinders under partly open throttle. The engine also features variable camshaft timing. The length of the variable intake manifold varies according to engine speed, so that as much as possible of the 400 Nm maximum torque is available at low as well as high rpm. A balance shaft beneath the crankshaft gives the Global XV8 the typical smooth-running cultivation of a 90-degree V8 engine.

The brake system of the Signum2 has naturally been designed to cope with the high power potential. On the rear axle, the concept car has conventional steel disc brakes, while the front ones are made of a ceramic material. In addition to its better, fading-free deceleration, the advantage of this material is its greater durability - ceramic discs never have to be changed throughout the entire life of the car - and its lower weight. If they were made of steel, the front disc brakes would weigh more than 11 kilograms. Thanks to the special ceramic material, they weigh just 5.5 kg.

The Opel Signum2 at a Glance:

Body
Wagon-coupé concept car, five doors, large glass tailgate, panorama glass roof, frameless side windows, no B-pillars

Length / width / height:	4640 / 1790 / 1460 millimeters
Wheelbase:	2830 millimeters
Drag coefficient:	cW = 0.29
Tires/wheels:	245/35 tires on 8.5 Jx 19 wheels
Disc brakes front/rear:	ceramic / steel
Steering:	progressive, steering angle /- 90°

Interior concept
Front: Swivel front seats and retractable steering wheel for comfortable entry
Rear: Flexible system, in which the rear seat back and cushion rise up to the height of the belt line automatically at the press of a button (cover for baggage space)
Storage box system: variable boxes on a rail between the seats, up to five boxes (two can be fixed in the passenger area, three in the load area), high-grade espresso machine integrated into one of the storage boxes

Infotainment (all systems invisible when not in use)
Driver side: Customizable monitor (color, 8.9", 2:1 format)
Center console: Central color monitor (7", 16:9 format) for controlling the four main menus: climate control, audio, communication and navigation
Passenger side: Computer with Internet access, control via infrared keyboard, color monitor (8.9", 2:1 format)
Rear: Two DVD players with headphones and video glasses integrated in the center armrest

Prototype engine 'Global XV8' (GM Powertrain)
All-aluminum, direct injection gasoline, cylinder deactivation, variable camshaft position, balance shaft beneath camshaft

4.3-liter capacity, eight cylinders in V-arrangement, 24 valves
Performance / torque: approx. 220 kW/300 hp / approx. 400 Nm
Consumption (MVEG): approx. 9.8 liters of supergrade fuel per 100 km,
Maximum speed: approx. 250 km/h (electronically limited)

Transmission: Five-speed automatic ('Shift-by-wire') transmission