Vauxhall Astra VXR: PH Carpool
Spiritual successor to last week's GTE Hero and a cracker as far as this PHer is concerned
Car: 2014 Vauxhall Astra GTC VXR
Owned since: November 2013
Previously owned: "2013 GTC VXR! After I managed to buy a previously crashed car from a Network Q dealership (a story for another time) and a 1.2 Corsa."
Why I bought it:
"My first car was the elusive limited edition Corsa. It was brilliant. But slow. I learned how to drive with it and fell in love it; to this day it makes me smile. But damn it was slow. The figures for the GTC VXR were ridiculous on paper, it had the aesthetic balance between pretty good looks and aggression and a test drive ticked the box for thrills."
Lloyd with the Astra at a petrol station. Again
"Just how harsh the ride would be. Hitting an unexpected pothole leaves you grimacing for the next mile, convinced something has broken. It really isn't smooth. At higher speeds the clever suspension does a good job at neutralising our unique UK road surfaces (something I'm grateful for), but a comfort setting would be lovely."
Things I love:
"The sound - it's not the meatiest or the loudest, but it's definitely unique. It screams when giving it the beans and for brief moments on cold mornings it is a rather special event starting it up.
"Unlike Vauxhalls of old, the cabin is a pleasant environment with fewer cheap plastics used and an array of buttons to make you feel grown up. Ironically the VXR button is the most childish, unnecessary and brilliant feature - it's never been left on for more than a few minutes and this is largely the reason I still have a driving licence! For me the squat but sleek design holds the right balance of sporty and pretty and whilst it's not as aggressive as the model it replaces, it feels just as special to drive. It turns heads, gets comments and winds up elderly neighbours. It's my Ferrari. Except it's not and I was rather brutally reminded of this by a lady friend whom called it 'cute' on a date. Whilst more uncompromising than a Focus ST for everyday use, and not as nimble as a Megane, I'm happy to negotiate potholes for the looks and silly pace."
Things I hate:
"The price of fuel. I have genuinely considered stocking up on fuel whilst prices are low. The car has a terrible appetite for unleaded and when you consider other manufacturers' engine performance/frugality it's not even close. Luckily my work fuel allowance can cover weekend blasts, because I may as well be running a C63. Economy (lack of) was considered when buying the car and it's definitely worth every unnecessary downshift. At least that's what I'm telling myself and others. I don't hate anything else, there are niggles now and again, the odd rattle or creak. It's a Vauxhall. I'm over it."
Hard ride one of few drawbacks
"Insurance was interesting, having managed to get quoted £550 fully comp when I paid £500 for a 1.2 Corsa. Prices for non-warrantied parts and repairs are slightly silly, and if (when) presented with such bills I may consider aftermarket goodies. No other costs to mention yet, with a recall for tyre pressure sensors being covered under warranty. Oh, and did I mention it's expensive to fuel..."
What's next:
"I have bolted in a massive Regal air intake for no reason other than the noise and a Superchips remap has raised power to around 300hp, added some torque and made the car drive much smoother. Ironically, I like the idea of a Vauxhall warranty so any further fiddling will be carefully thought out. Nothing will be done that cannot be changed back when selling on."
Want to share your car with PHers on Carpool? Email us at carpool@pistonheads.com!
With that much power though, it's got to be fun? Even if progress is not as quick as you'd like.
Not all enjoyable cars are great drivers, if you know what I mean??
A client has one of these. Wanted an M3, BMW couldn't be bothered to serve him, so he went to his mate's Vauxhall dealership, test-drove one of these and now has one in that rather nice blue they do. Pretty left-field choice if the original option was an M3 IMO!
With that much power though, it's got to be fun? Even if progress is not as quick as you'd like.
Not all enjoyable cars are great drivers, if you know what I mean??
+ These have a proper mechanical diff I think, which is more than can be said for most of the opposition
+ These have a proper mechanical diff I think, which is more than can be said for most of the opposition
I kind of find it hilarious that we're still dripping on about torque steer, reading some accounts is the old car would make you think is going to throw you in a ditch at the first sniff of the throttle. Put simply its not true.
Anyway, the J...
I should like this car but it doesn't work for me.
Vauxhall have done the same trick with this one as the last model, price it lower by putting naff wheels on it, so everyone pays for the upgrade (I think there is a sniff of this with the golf R too.)
So the wheels you see here are 20" with 245/35 tyres. That poor ride mentioned? No surprise really. It should have 18s on it. To me this looks "right", Not unlike the M135i
Width. As you can see it's a wide, squat car. Some 3.5" wider than the old one. The old one can be a pain in car parks due to the long doors, this one is going to be a whole lot worse.
Those nice brembros are a liability too, front discs and pads at a dealers are into 4 figures (the pads are £385 alone). You can get pads for £50 from ECP etc but I don't believe discs are available.
A cursory check online and a few other sources finds that gearbox issues are common. Quite why, when this box was in the vectra vxr with no issue I don't know.
All that said it's pretty easy to find a new car with the 20" wheel upgrade in the low 20s, which I guess makes it pretty good value for money? No lifetime warranty any more mind.
Not enough for me to get rid of my H though.
They're so vast and so stiffly-sprung you can't take them on many fast UK roads, making them ideal for wider more civilised A-roads and motorways. Then you might as well be in a diesel (shudder).
It looks fantastic and I love how they have retained a lot of the concept car features, it certainly looks futuristic. I just don't think this has that 'poised' look to it that a 'hot hatch' should have, something which can be threaded down a tight section of twisting road. You'd be so concerned about the tyres / wheels / general girth of the thing that you would probably be faster in something with a smaller footprint.
Massive things. Brilliant, but only if the entire road network was widened to suit!
They are heavy cars and because of it the warm versions are not particularity fast. Again my Countryman cooper S is quicker than the 1.6 T Astra and it really shouldn't be.
I think the Astra came out at the wrong time, with the ST completely undercutting it by a huge margin on cost(I realise the VXR on spec should be really be compared against the RS) The Golf R and M135 only costing a little bit more.
The ageing Megane and the Civic arguably is its only true rival and that's not even out yet and the Megane for all its brilliance is not a massive seller.
They are a rare sight. I've seen a lot more Clio RS 200T's about and that's saying something.
That being said they are so much much much better than the previous VXR.
The acceleration was awesome, the handling felt balanced and the cabin was a pretty decent place to be. Powering up the road to La Plagne (21 hairpins) was epic. The ride was very very hard though and it was a huge relief that the petrol used was going on expenses.
Very impressed by how the power was delivered to the front wheels. My usual car is an ageing 9-5 Aero and I was expecting 280bhp in a relatively light car to lead to a few sketchy moments, not the case at all ... maybe I wasn't trying hard enough!
Great fun to use for four days but I’m not sure I could live with one.
Surely an induction kit and remap is already placing that under threat?
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