RE: Vauxhall Astra VXR: PH Used Buying Guide
Discussion
howardhughes said:
RyanTank said:
Has not aged well IMHO and is uglier now than when it was new, especially the interior, although not as ugly as the current crop of VXR's.
Hard to tell lately which is a genuine VXR and which is a diesel rep. could be a thing just round my way but I seem to encounter more of these things chucking great big clouds out of the ridiculously loud exhaust, I hope its only diesel reps doing that!
"Has not aged well" I beg to differ with you there. I think it's one of the nicest shapes Vauxhall have launched in many years, along with the GTE 16V and GSi 16VHard to tell lately which is a genuine VXR and which is a diesel rep. could be a thing just round my way but I seem to encounter more of these things chucking great big clouds out of the ridiculously loud exhaust, I hope its only diesel reps doing that!
Let's not even start with the current VXR which looks bulbous and just wrong in every way you look at it - Hideous.
feel i need to reply to this as i have owned mine for the last nearly 4 years alongside various other vehicles currently a cayenne S and M140i.
I can totally understand the council estate stigma and as mines is heavily modified i guess i do invite it.
The car i dont think has aged well compared to modern standards and expectations however in 10years theres been a huge leap in the motor industry
the engine out performs the chasis and i truely believe you have to be a somewhat competent driver to fully enjoy the VXR as it constantly asks for your input under any sort of, shall we say, sporty driving
The feedback from the wheels and snappy throttle response is something i miss in the m140 and feel the m140 is rather subdued and effortless (jb4 and exhaust) compared to the visceral vxr
The front end will tuck under more often than not if you ask too much and ive had mine spinning in 3rd under acceleration.
It takes a time to know when to have lead in ur right foot and when you wish your dad paid for ballerina class as a kid to stop the heavy tramping or wheel spin and the esp is surely only there in spirit as it does F all lol
anyway the point i am getting to eventually as i recently came to sell mine due to lack of any worthwhile use other than to scare the GF.
I was shocked and affronted at the numerous offers of
"2.5K cash and they would take it away today"
as if they were doing me a favour.
I had an aribtrary figure of 3.5k in my head without much thought but would have been comfortable taking 3k
Alas the offers and tbh insults only served to make me decide to keep it.
i love the raw aspect of it and the fact in my ownership it has only asked the usual consumable parts (mostly a shed load of front tyres and oil) i feel we will look on these (and also possibly the STs which my mates have had and i do rate) the way the generation before looked on the 106gti etc and the novas and 205s before them?
all only imo tho of course
I can totally understand the council estate stigma and as mines is heavily modified i guess i do invite it.
The car i dont think has aged well compared to modern standards and expectations however in 10years theres been a huge leap in the motor industry
the engine out performs the chasis and i truely believe you have to be a somewhat competent driver to fully enjoy the VXR as it constantly asks for your input under any sort of, shall we say, sporty driving
The feedback from the wheels and snappy throttle response is something i miss in the m140 and feel the m140 is rather subdued and effortless (jb4 and exhaust) compared to the visceral vxr
The front end will tuck under more often than not if you ask too much and ive had mine spinning in 3rd under acceleration.
It takes a time to know when to have lead in ur right foot and when you wish your dad paid for ballerina class as a kid to stop the heavy tramping or wheel spin and the esp is surely only there in spirit as it does F all lol
anyway the point i am getting to eventually as i recently came to sell mine due to lack of any worthwhile use other than to scare the GF.
I was shocked and affronted at the numerous offers of
"2.5K cash and they would take it away today"
as if they were doing me a favour.
I had an aribtrary figure of 3.5k in my head without much thought but would have been comfortable taking 3k
Alas the offers and tbh insults only served to make me decide to keep it.
i love the raw aspect of it and the fact in my ownership it has only asked the usual consumable parts (mostly a shed load of front tyres and oil) i feel we will look on these (and also possibly the STs which my mates have had and i do rate) the way the generation before looked on the 106gti etc and the novas and 205s before them?
all only imo tho of course
Not for me. Certainly a cult classic for all the anti-social reasons you can think of. Which kind of makes it an iconic car in some part.
Back in 2010 I was looking at getting a hot hatch with a reasonable amount of power as a weekend toy. I fortunately had the opportunity to test drive the Astra VXR and a few other cars of interest and was hugely disappointed at the cost, tacky interior and the unnecessary torque steer with very little use of the gas pedal.
Having driven this car colourfully (thanks to a rather relaxed salesman) for roughly about 7 miles, the torque steer become irritating very quickly. I was left frustrated that couldn't use all the horse power and by comparison to other cars i had driven it wasn't really a lot! The wheels kept spinning up and sounded like i was not only wrecking tyres but ripping the differential to pieces. when i did further intrusive research i wasn't exactly far from the truth as it would appear the gearbox wasn't completely reliable and certainly problematic after a tune up.
I quickly came to the decision it wasn't for me. Vauxhall chased power figures and forgot about the handling. I always said in discussions that this car handled like a wardrobe off a cliff when driving on our lovely uneven pot hole ridden British traditional roads.
It didn't get much better with the GTC. I guess that killed the VXR branded hatches as if you look at the sales.... They didn't sell particularly very well outside of business/personal leasing deals
Bonkers car for bonkers people.
Back in 2010 I was looking at getting a hot hatch with a reasonable amount of power as a weekend toy. I fortunately had the opportunity to test drive the Astra VXR and a few other cars of interest and was hugely disappointed at the cost, tacky interior and the unnecessary torque steer with very little use of the gas pedal.
Having driven this car colourfully (thanks to a rather relaxed salesman) for roughly about 7 miles, the torque steer become irritating very quickly. I was left frustrated that couldn't use all the horse power and by comparison to other cars i had driven it wasn't really a lot! The wheels kept spinning up and sounded like i was not only wrecking tyres but ripping the differential to pieces. when i did further intrusive research i wasn't exactly far from the truth as it would appear the gearbox wasn't completely reliable and certainly problematic after a tune up.
I quickly came to the decision it wasn't for me. Vauxhall chased power figures and forgot about the handling. I always said in discussions that this car handled like a wardrobe off a cliff when driving on our lovely uneven pot hole ridden British traditional roads.
It didn't get much better with the GTC. I guess that killed the VXR branded hatches as if you look at the sales.... They didn't sell particularly very well outside of business/personal leasing deals
Bonkers car for bonkers people.
Mrcarsportscarcam said:
Not for me. Certainly a cult classic for all the anti-social reasons you can think of. Which kind of makes it an iconic car in some part.
Back in 2010 I was looking at getting a hot hatch with a reasonable amount of power as a weekend toy. I fortunately had the opportunity to test drive the Astra VXR and a few other cars of interest and was hugely disappointed at the cost, tacky interior and the unnecessary torque steer with very little use of the gas pedal.
Having driven this car colourfully (thanks to a rather relaxed salesman) for roughly about 7 miles, the torque steer become irritating very quickly. I was left frustrated that couldn't use all the horse power and by comparison to other cars i had driven it wasn't really a lot! The wheels kept spinning up and sounded like i was not only wrecking tyres but ripping the differential to pieces. when i did further intrusive research i wasn't exactly far from the truth as it would appear the gearbox wasn't completely reliable and certainly problematic after a tune up.
I quickly came to the decision it wasn't for me. Vauxhall chased power figures and forgot about the handling. I always said in discussions that this car handled like a wardrobe off a cliff when driving on our lovely uneven pot hole ridden British traditional roads.
It didn't get much better with the GTC. I guess that killed the VXR branded hatches as if you look at the sales.... They didn't sell particularly very well outside of business/personal leasing deals
Bonkers car for bonkers people.
Car seemed to handle well enough that it could set the benchmark hot hatch time around the ring back in the day, passive suspension set up done by a nice chap from Lotus called Gavan KershawBack in 2010 I was looking at getting a hot hatch with a reasonable amount of power as a weekend toy. I fortunately had the opportunity to test drive the Astra VXR and a few other cars of interest and was hugely disappointed at the cost, tacky interior and the unnecessary torque steer with very little use of the gas pedal.
Having driven this car colourfully (thanks to a rather relaxed salesman) for roughly about 7 miles, the torque steer become irritating very quickly. I was left frustrated that couldn't use all the horse power and by comparison to other cars i had driven it wasn't really a lot! The wheels kept spinning up and sounded like i was not only wrecking tyres but ripping the differential to pieces. when i did further intrusive research i wasn't exactly far from the truth as it would appear the gearbox wasn't completely reliable and certainly problematic after a tune up.
I quickly came to the decision it wasn't for me. Vauxhall chased power figures and forgot about the handling. I always said in discussions that this car handled like a wardrobe off a cliff when driving on our lovely uneven pot hole ridden British traditional roads.
It didn't get much better with the GTC. I guess that killed the VXR branded hatches as if you look at the sales.... They didn't sell particularly very well outside of business/personal leasing deals
Bonkers car for bonkers people.
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/gavan-kershaw-78914912b
I found it was a reasonable drive, especially running Pilot Supersports and yes I did have a diff fitted at a later point (had the car for 7yrs), front end grip was off the scale of what I expected.
Dardani said:
Hi there I have my VXR love the power but what can I buy to upgrade the handling cause it isnt great and I dont wanna go into a tree.
Some advanced driving training will be the most effective upgrade you can get and you can transfer it to every car you own too, what a bonus.Mastodon2 said:
Dardani said:
Hi there I have my VXR love the power but what can I buy to upgrade the handling cause it isnt great and I dont wanna go into a tree.
Some advanced driving training will be the most effective upgrade you can get and you can transfer it to every car you own too, what a bonus.Dardani said:
very educated response for a car that has a history for terrible understeer.
Absorbed a lot of Top Gear I see...Evo long term review - https://www.evo.co.uk/vauxhall/astra-vxr/8496/vaux...
Car review of the Nurburging - https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-reviews/vauxhall...
Quote "How much difference can wheels and tyres alone make to the handling?
Quite a bit; nothing else has changed but the Nurburgring edition manages the provide a more fluid ride with sensational grip and traction levels and even more precise, immediate steering than the standard car. It’s partly the reduced unsprung weight, partly the increased sidewall compliance and grip from the new boots. It doesn’t transform the old car – which doesn’t need transforming anyway – but there’s a tangible difference."
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