Meet Vauxhall's Sporty Adam S: The City Car You're Embarrassed To Admit You Want

The Vauxhall Adam isn't the kind of thing we'd normally get excited about. Its funky design and endless personalisation options are aimed purely at the hipster brigade, who care more about how a car looks than how it drives.

But this new version, adventurously named 'S', is a little more CT-worthy. It gets a 148bhp 1.4 Ecotec engine, which is a turbocharged, uprated version of the standard car's four-pot. You get 50 per cent more horsepower and 70 per cent more torque, in a car that weighs less than a laptop. And despite its already-skinny frame, Adam has been on a diet - the engine is a cast iron block with a hollow frame structure, as well as hollow-cast camshafts. The top speed has been confirmed at 137mph, and we're expecting a 0-62mph time of just under eight seconds.

Its performance credentials are further assured by the fitment of a sports-tuned suspension, and VXR Racing brakes to stop the 18-inch tyres in their tracks.

As you'd expect in a car that was originally built for the image conscious, the S version gets some sporty little aesthetic extras. There's a front lip spoiler, high-mounted rear spoiler and carbon-look accents on the door mirrors and grille.

Inside, your backside will be comfortably slotted into Recaro seats, which are covered in leather, much like most of the interior.

The Vauxhall Adam S will break cover at the Geneva Motor Show this week.