Astra GTC 2.0 VXR not loved much, why?

Everyone I talk to seems to love a hot hatch. Rightly so. Be it a Focus st, type R or or similar. But there seems to be no love, or very little for a Vauxhall Astra gtc vxr. Why? All the ingredients are there for a hot hatch bingo card. 3 door, turbo engine, 280bhp, good-looking. Yet I've never heard anyone talk with the same enthusiasm for one like the ST, type R etc. Most negative talk seems to be around their handling, but it surely can't be that bad..

Best looking car in its class, to me anyway.

I imagine it would be a lot of fun to drive too.

For reasons I don’t fully understand (but I suspect Clarksons infamous Vectra test has a lot to do with it) Vauxhall is looked down on.

The good news is they are great value for money.

I accidentally ridiculed one in front of the owner once, not through any fault of the car - I actually quite like them as a car, but at the time I seem to remember the list price being absurdly expensive compared to the alternatives (Most of which were objectively better on paper)

It's hard to compare now though, as all the list prices I see look absurdly cheap by 2024 Standards

Do they suffer from similar engine, gearbox and rotting subframe issues as the Corsa VXR?

I have to agree - the late 90s Vectra GSi was far from awful compared to its competitors at the time - that was according to press reviews I read. I missed out on a nice one after my Primera GT was written off. Drove it and it handled really well in my opinion, sounded great, excellent seats. In the time it took to get the cash together from my insurance payout it was sold

It's probably because GM/Opel of that era were a classic 80% engineering company; they didn't move anything forward. The vxr cars all share anodyne handling, except for the lotus based car, the vx220. It is no surprise that the company was acquired and is essentially defunct.


Put another way, it's what happens when a white goods company makes a product cynically to fit in the enthusiast sector; the product is still a white goods lump of car. It's as hard to get enthused by that as it is to be enthusiastic about a hotrodded washing machine.

There are people who absolutely love Vauxhalls, just as there are people who absolutely love Miele. Odd people.

Did vauxhall race or rally the astra of this era? I think for that you'd have to go back further to a cavalier or maybe Vectra with John Cleland. For rally word have to be back to the MK2 in the late 90s.

Soulless cars, bought by the kg by fleet managers and people absolutely disinterested by cars cannot be redeemed with a faster version of the same thing.

The vxr suffers from a lack of character.

It's hard to say why that is , there's not much wrong with it, it just leaves you feeling a bit meh.

They are good looking cars though.

Monkey seemed to like it.



I think the reason it never got much love is that at the time it was in a very competitive sector with the Megane being king of the hill for a driver's car and the VAG offerings gaining popularity with the masses.

Badge snobs is the main reason.

They're good value now and alot of car for the money. Exterior wise, I think they look spot-on, especially in that blue colour. Interior is where I struggle, other than the seats, which look incredible.

Not sure about the engine but I'm sure they still have gearbox issues. The competition is strong. You can get Megane 250's for a similar price, which would be hard to look past for me. Focus ST is probably more along the same lines, but would probably still get my vote. I haven't actually driven one though. As said above, Harris really liked it and so did Clarkson.