RE: Geneva 2012: Vauxhall Astra VXR

[Kong]

Sounds like a really good hot hatch, far better than the old one. Shame it looks like a blob, particularly compared to the old shape FRS (which was also cheaper)..

[BUG4LIFE]

Man, some of you guys are harsh! A lot of people said the Mk2 RS was OTT but this Astra is too boring...can't win! I do agree about the wheels though, 20s seem a bit big. A hot hatch is meant to blend in a bit, I think it looks ace.

[WCZ]

looks terribly dull.

[Regiment]

WIth the deals Renault are doing at the minute, you can get a Renault Sport Megane 265 with quite a few extras for under £26000 which is below the list price of the 265. Still waiting to see if the new Astra VXR will even come close to the Meganes 8minute 7second Nurburgring time as well, which a lot of the VXR fans are praying for.

[Riknos]

JDMDrifter said:

Similar price bracket to the GT86 , I know what I'd have ...

Unfortunately, the sheer power of the VXR over the GT86 will overshadow it, and it will no doubt outsell the GT86.

Both cars overpriced in my opinion!

[Fire99]

jamei303 said:

20" wheels, this is getting silly.

It appears we're going back to where it all begun!

[EviLScooB]

Even though it sounds great, it does'nt excite me not like the days when we had the SR and GTE of the MK1

[fathomfive]

Fire99 said:

jamei303 said:

20" wheels, this is getting silly.

It appears we're going back to where it all begun!

I was passed by a GTC yesterday evening, with what I assumed to be 20" wheels. It looked like a hunchback sitting on a go-kart.

[mwstewart]

Wow, the humble Astra has certainly come a long way. The exterior has a few elegant lines to it and overall it's a nice and neat design. Hardly mundane.

The interior looks to have a quality finish to it but I don't like the 'droopy' looking steering wheel and large flat slab in the centre/face of the dash.

Let's hope this one doesn't have a penchant for understeer.

[Itsallicanafford]

....Geneva 2022..latest Astra VXR has 425Bhp engine and weighs 2.5 tons...please stop putting more power in to combat weight, put these damn things on a diet through some engineering know how and keep the power sensible...

[davidcharles]

...vauxhall blah blah, price blah blah, blah blah, bland blah blah...thats all i hear....we moan when manafacturers like toyota etc don't bring out sporty models then moan when others do!!..we should be glad vauxhall, ford, renault are still making cars like these. I think we all think its the 80's and new cars cost 10grand, its 2012 and a decent family car with a few bells and whistles costs £20k+ ..this seems fairly well priced as far as i can see.

[Chicane-UK]

Yes, it's a heck of a lot of money and yes it's a Vauxhall... but I think it looks really rather awesome

[MarkRSi]

MrGRT said:

To PH:
Will you update these articles with more stats? Weight for example.

You're new here? Look up the weight of the old one and add 10%.

Simples!

[TaylotS2K]

I saw a new run of the mill basic Astra the other day. Looks so dated already. Could have been on sale 10 years ago. I'm sure the VXR will look a bit more up to date in the flesh though.

The new Citroen DS4 is much nicer and modern looking than this.

[Garlick]

I'm pleased to see a fairly restrained VXR. Always liked the power of the fast VAuxhalls, but could never live with the looks. This looks much better to me.

[andyman_2006]

Hi,

this looks good, but not as good as the old one.

So far, its looking like another Megane RS clone..

Much better than the RS3 and the new ST though...least its not got 15 doors!!! and SMG/DSG only!

As for price, a bit much!!

[theJT]

I don't understand all the complaints about the looks. This is a Vauxhall... a VAUXHALL. I mean look at it! 15 years ago the only things that had styling like that were supercars. It's all muscular lines and creases. Compared to the Astra's of old it looks fantastic. If there's a problem of differentiation at the moment surely that's just becuase in general car design is getting really pretty good these days. It might not be very distnctive but it sure as hell isn't ugly.

[RenesisEvo]

How long before they announce a Nurburgring special edition? Never mind the 20" rims, the obsession with 'Ring 'stamp of approval' is getting out of hand. Honestly, who actually cares if this is 1 or 2 seconds quicker/slower than something else around the 'Ring? At best it's dull pub trivia to defend splurging a lot of money on a Vauxhall. The GT86 is just too promising IMO at that price tag, even if it won't be half as good at being a practical hatch.

Edited by RenesisEvo on Tuesday 6th March 13:23

[TobesH]

I like it!

[SAndals]

Is it true the chav-tastic styling pack deletes the sunroof to allow additional head height for oversized baseball cap and comes with optional burberry check interior?
Comment circa 1995.