RE: Insignia VXR Supersport: 170mph for sub £30K

[Rosscow]

Come on, lets face it.

They are cheap because they're Vauxhall ste.

It looks horrible.

The comparison above between Adidas and Gola is very apt. I'd go for the 24k mile M5 every day of the week!

Not for me.

[Bluebottle911]

GTEYE said:

Sadly, i would wager a bet that it still won't do much to improve sales....as unfiortunately bar a very small market, this isn't what the general car buying public wants...

Wrong badge
Wrong fuel

Sadly, true. But cracking buy used.

I don't know about the fuel, but definitley wrong badge. Once upon a time Vauxhall had a reputation for building high quality, sporting machinery (Prince Henry, 30/98 etc.) to rival the best, but decades of building cheap and nasty rubbish under GM ownership have so tarnished its reputation that it will probably never be able to sell anything other than cheap repmobiles to the bri-nylon shirt brigade.

[A Scotsman]

Antj said:

Astons vauxhall have been knocking out pre-reg'd Estate VXR's for £25k for a while now.

http://www.astonvauxhall.co.uk/used-cars/2157/Vaux...

Takes me back... I had a Subaru Legacy GTB Estate... Always thought Subaru were idiotic not producing a modern version.

[CraigyMc]

I've driven most of the VXR range courtesy of VXR trackdays, at Thruxon and Rockingham.

Thruxton:
The Insignia VXR was no fun at all - no real impression of speed, limited feel through the steering, no real handling finesse.
The VXR Corsa and VXR Astra were genuinely good fun, the VXR Meriva was a hoot (but that's mostly because of overtaking VXR8s on the Brooklands straight after taking Church flat out at about 90mph - even the instructor was laughing at the preposterous nature of the manouver).

Don't get me wrong - that's a lot of performance from the Insignia VXR, and for the money it's a bargain if you like statistics. I'm sure the police will love them for motorway persuit things.

As a drivers car? It shows why speed and being a great experience aren't anywhere in the same ballpark.

All my opinion - YMMV.

C

[FlavaDave]

Pixelpeep said:

tommy vercetti said:

FlavaDave said:

Ollieb7 said:

I'll take the M135i for the same price instead thanks.

Roger that, son.

+1

Pixelpeep said:

Comparing it to a 135 is a little pointless - they are totally different cars. The insignia is 5 series size so for a fair comparison....

5 Series base model is the same price as this. Similar performing model is the 535i M Sport, currently at £42,255 and i'm sure it won't be as well spec'd in standard form (4WD anyone?)

Who's comparing? That's where our money would go should spending £30K on a new car be an option. Far from an actual comparison.

[tercelgold]

The article says Hyper Strut but it's HiPer Strut the same idea as the Ford Focus RS RevoKnuckle to reduce torque steer and camber.

Edited by tercelgold on Wednesday 7th November 15:11

[mikey k]

H100S said:

Having had the pleasure of driving several of these they are a cracking car and underated but truly shocking mpg.

That was the conclusion I came to a couple of months back when I test drove a couple whilst looking to change car.

4x4 and great Recaros as standard
Tweakable as well

Just too expensive to run on fuel

[Rosscow]

FlavaDave said:

Who's comparing? That's where our money would go should spending £30K on a new car be an option. Far from an actual comparison.

Not if you need a car that is the size of a Insignia, 5 series, A6, etc.

[Grovsie26]

Rosscow said:

Come on, lets face it.

They are cheap because they're Vauxhall ste.

It looks horrible.

The comparison above between Adidas and Gola is very apt. I'd go for the 24k mile M5 every day of the week!

Not for me.

Why am i not surprised from this post, that i clicked on your garage and it says you own an Audi A6. About the most boring fking car you could ever hope to own.

[Rosscow]

Grovsie26 said:

Why am i not surprised from this post, that i clicked on your garage and it says you own an Audi A6. About the most boring fking car you could ever hope to own.

Maybe so, but I own the A6 for practical reasons.

And did I say the Vauxhall was boring?

Large family estates - what other options do I have? BMW 5, Mondeo, Volvo or a Merc E Class. None of which are particuarly exciting (unfortunately I can't afford an RS6 or M5 touring).

But regardless of what I drive, the Vauxhall is a poor car - as can be seen from the comments from those that have driven it.

[Pixelpeep]

FlavaDave said:

Who's comparing? That's where our money would go should spending £30K on a new car be an option. Far from an actual comparison.

By saying 'i would rather buy xxx' you are making a comparison. You are saying, all things considered i would buy xxx instead because i believe it's more of what i am looking for.

If your looking at a small, rear wheel drive car then yes, the 135i is a good buy. However if you are looking for a medium/large 4 wheel drive saloon then the 135 is probably not a wise choice hence my confusion.

If you make a choice on a new car based solely on performance then i understand your comparison, other than that, you've lost me.

[BeirutTaxi]

BorkFactor said:

That is some seriously impressive performance for not much money at all, I like it!

Seen quite a few Insignia VXRs about too recently and I do like the look of them.

Depends on how you define 'performance'

For me it's a whole lot more than some numbers/power delivery.

[renrut]

Not read the thread but it kind of makes the other VXRs and bloated hot hatches look WAY over priced as I doubt insurance would be much more if at all but you're getting a LOT more car. Tax is probably the killer on these. Had it been diesel and therefore able to eek out 40mpg on the wildly optimistic tests and get into the sub £200pa tax band they would fly out of the show rooms but the way it is its not sensible for a lot of people.

[300bhp/ton]

Rosscow said:

Grovsie26 said:

Why am i not surprised from this post, that i clicked on your garage and it says you own an Audi A6. About the most boring fking car you could ever hope to own.

Maybe so, but I own the A6 for practical reasons.

And did I say the Vauxhall was boring?

Large family estates - what other options do I have? BMW 5, Mondeo, Volvo or a Merc E Class. None of which are particuarly exciting (unfortunately I can't afford an RS6 or M5 touring).

But regardless of what I drive, the Vauxhall is a poor car - as can be seen from the comments from those that have driven it.

???

[rtz62]

I drive a 7 mth old Insignifica SRi CDTi 160.
Do I aspire to this VXR?
Er..... No.
Says it all really.

[Pixelpeep]

rtz62 said:

I drive a 7 mth old Insignifica SRi CDTi 160.
Do I aspire to this VXR?
Er..... No.
Says it all really.

is your car privately owned?

[Rosscow]

300bhp/ton said:

???

Post above from CraigyMc who's driven the VXR range.

And the latest post from rtz62 above.

In a nutshell it seems to be a car that can go quite fast in a straight line. But it seems to be boring, not particularly enjoyable and looks horrible.

Edited by Rosscow on Wednesday 7th November 15:36

[cra1gy1989]

tomoleeds said:

other options, M5 2007, £17k for a car that was £45-£50k new with heads up, etc. or a 2008 Audi S4 £23-£25k?

Rather stick another 8k to the 29k and buy a Nissan gtr, that's bargain performance!

[Skodaku]

Pixelpeep said:

New Vs old.

limited warranty (if any)
MOT's
Maintenance costs.
someone has already owned it.
Its 5 years old and almost the same price as this new!

..........and quite a lot to go, (expensively), wrong ? Ooops, sorry, forgot that BMWs never break down.

[300bhp/ton]

Rosscow said:

In a nutshell it seems to be a car that can go quite fast in a straight line. But it seems to be boring, not particularly enjoyable and looks horrible.

Edited by Rosscow on Wednesday 7th November 15:36

Can't see how looks have any bearing on how it drives. And to fair it looks a lot less dull than almost any Audi/BMW/Merc/VAG, which can only be seen as a plus point.

Oh and reading through the thread I noticed these:

Twincam16 said:

I've driven a standard VXR and was surprised and impressed. Felt very high-quality and the urge was unbeatable for the money.

H100S said:

Having had the pleasure of driving several of these they are a cracking car and underated

Pumajay said:

we had one in at my work and i was very suprised with how much i liked it, seats are incredibly comfy and it does go really well