The great thing about living in SA is that, technically speaking, we don't really have a winter. The temperature does tend to drop off a centigrade or so in the middle of the year but mostly that is confined to early morning and the evenings. Everything in between is essentially still summer.

In actual fact SA winters probably provide the best possible drop-top weather. It's not the kind of hot that will inflict second-degree burns on your skull, nor the kind of cold that numbs your senses. It's more a sort of ambient medium.

The Tigra TwinTop seats just two and sports an electro-hydraulic retractable steel roof akin to that of Mercedes SLs and the like. At the touch of a button the roof springs into action and tucks into the boot in a space-saving manner. With roof off expect 250 litres, close it up and you'll find 440 litres. In addition, the Opel Tigra has a 70-litre compartment behind the seats, increasing luggage capacity to more than 500 litres when the top is up ? the biggest load space in its class.

But driving sans roof is really what owning a cabrio is all about and the Opel provides an impressive resilience to wind and noise. So often it's impossible to have a civil conversation with the roof down and the wind blustering in your face. But the Tigra seals out the wind rather impressively and provides a comfortable drive whether the roof is on or off.

The Tigra goes on sale with a choice of a 1.4-litre 66kW or a 92kW 1.8-litre engine. Both four-cylinder engines are mated to a five-speed manual, front-wheel drive transmission.

Enjoy or Sport

The 1.4-litre model bares the 'Enjoy' nomenclature while the 1.8-litre is bestowed with the 'Sport' title. The smaller engined 1.4-litre may not offer the poke in terms of power but returns a fuel consumption figure of 6.1-litres per 100km. The 0-100 sprint is traversed in a leisurely 12.4 seconds while top-speed is clocked at 180km/h. The Enjoy may not be lightning quick but in this sort of vehicle that is not necessarily a problem. It's easy to drive, offers enough space and looks great ? performance is not likely to be a buying factor for the target market anyway.

The 1.8-litre has more power but again don't expect miracles. The weight of the electro-hydraulic roof acts a bit like a handbrake as far as performance is concerned, but having said that it is on par with other vehicles of this nature, all of which suffer from the same handicap. With a sprint time falling under 10 seconds it rivals its competitors for performance, many of which are larger engined 2.0-litre models.

Opel staff have alluded to the possibility of a performance model in the future, possibly in the form of OPC, but none would be drawn into confirming or denying the rumour. Guess we'll just have to wait and see...

Addressing safety concerns

Safety is very often of concern to Cabrio buyers. Manufacturers have come a long way as far as safety is concerned, in recent years. The Tigra is no exception ? Opel has taken all the required precautions should a rollover incident occur.

Spearheading its active safety features is the DSA-chassis (Dynamic Safety) coupled with ABS and EBD to prevent the occurrence of an accident, while on the passive safety front four-airbags, high-strength steel and seat-belt tensioners are a few of the features, which will protect occupants.

The Opel Tigra TwinTop goes on sale at a recommended price of R199 950 for the 1.4-litre Enjoy and R233 880 for the 1.8-litre Sport with the optional benefit of the Opel Complete Motoring Plan. This five year/100 000km plan covers all regular maintenance costs, including the cost of wear components such as clutch, shock absorbers etc. Tyres are excluded but customers have the option of purchasing an extension to include these in the plan.

In addition to the cover afforded by the Opel Complete Motoring Plan, a three-year/100 000km warranty is provided as standard. 24-hour Roadside Assistance is available during the warranty period as an element of the warranty cover. With what seems to be growing penchant in South Africa towards open-top motoring the Tigra is likely to be a popular sight on the roads. Opel are aiming for eight percent market share and it seems likely they will achieve their target in the future.

They have in the Tigra TwinTop a well put together vehicle that handles well and certainly looks the business. Overseas it has been received with much acclaim and many accolades, time will tell if the local market is similarly impressed.