Vauxhall Astra VXR

[smiffy555]

Saw my first one of these today and I must say it looked rather smart! In a mid metallic Blue.

Better looking than an ST by miles IMO

What are they like? Anyone got one that can enlighten me? Just genuinely interested.

Smiffy.

Edited by smiffy555 on Tuesday 15th October 22:47

[rst1234]

I was gonna get one but was over my budget at the time so got the Insignia.
Looks great don't know if it drives as well though

[s m]

If it's the recent model, I've driven one at Oulton and thought it was pretty good with the Drexler diff . The N'Ring Corsa VXR was more fun for me but the Astra would be fine if you need the extra room

[smiffy555]

I know the old shape was a bit of a straight liner but I thought the new one was meant to be better?? I'm talking 2013 shape.

[Crafty_]

Edit: You mean the GTC shape ?

Toned down from the Mk5, which is both good and bad, quite a bit heavier. Well specced, good brakes.
Quite easy to drive on track.

[Wacky Racer]

Mrs WR has one.....(Arctic limited edition bought new three years ago)

Very nice car, fast (240bhp) and returns around 38mpg.....

Front tyres are around 70% worn....just coming up to 11k miles......

Been 100% faultless so far....sailed through the first MOT last week.

[smiffy555]

This shape - 280Hp

[Rawwr]

megalol at those tyres.

[Crafty_]

Yeah thats a GTC VXR. GTC is the name of the body shape of those cars (you can get "normal" models in the same shape).

Theres an ex demo at a dorset dealer for £17.8k at the moment, no aero pack though.

[smiffy555]

Rawwr said:

megalol at those tyres.

Rubber band tyres or what?? What section are they?? 30?

[smiffy555]

Crafty_ said:

Yeah thats a GTC VXR. GTC is the name of the body shape of those cars (you can get "normal" models in the same shape).

Theres an ex demo at a dorset dealer for £17.8k at the moment, no aero pack though.

What's the 'aero' pack consist of? Double roof spoiler?

I personally think its a great looking car.........

[Northernchimp]

Dunlop Sportmaxx - £337! fk off!

[s m]

smiffy555 said:

This shape - 280Hp

Just to confirm, that's the shape I drove at Oulton - I thought the handling was pretty good personally and the diff worked well on the tight bends

[Crafty_]

245/35/20 I believe.

Imho they need to put an 18" on it, this is an OPC cup car, I think it has 18s on it and looks better.


If you don't have the aeropack you get a 19" wheel which has more sidewall, only problem is the wheel is horrid.

[Crafty_]

smiffy555 said:

What's the 'aero' pack consist of? Double roof spoiler?

I personally think its a great looking car.........

Aero pack = 20" wheel that you see there, side skirts and the spoiler, £1k option.
IMHO its a con, because they know everyone will buy it because the 19" wheel is horrid and without the skirts/spoiler the car looks totally different. Easy way to lower the list price by £1k.
Should be noted those 20" wheels are forged and are actually lighter than the 19s (same as the Insignia VXR).

They did something similar with the early car and the 19" wheel upgrade...

Here is the dorset car http://www.edenvauxhall.co.uk/used-vauxhall-cars/u...

If you want to spend the cash its a good buy, everything else is up around £20k or more. Lifetime warranty with that too as you'd be the first retail owner..

[LiamM45]

They're a good looking hot hatch compared to the competition and seem really good value for money.

At the moment it's looking like one of these might replace my Astra 'H' VXR when this latest model drops in value a little more.

Does anyone have a pic of one of these on the 19's they come with?

[smiffy555]

LiamM45 said:

They're a good looking hot hatch compared to the competition and seem really good value for money.

At the moment it's looking like one of these might replace my Astra 'H' VXR when this latest model drops in value a little more.

Does anyone have a pic of one of these on the 19's they come with?

The link in the above reply has a picture of a white one with 19,s on it

[smiffy555]

Crafty_ said:

Aero pack = 20" wheel that you see there, side skirts and the spoiler, £1k option.
IMHO its a con, because they know everyone will buy it because the 19" wheel is horrid and without the skirts/spoiler the car looks totally different. Easy way to lower the list price by £1k.
Should be noted those 20" wheels are forged and are actually lighter than the 19s (same as the Insignia VXR).

They did something similar with the early car and the 19" wheel upgrade...

Here is the dorset car http://www.edenvauxhall.co.uk/used-vauxhall-cars/u...

If you want to spend the cash its a good buy, everything else is up around £20k or more. Lifetime warranty with that too as you'd be the first retail owner..

Nice one, thanks for the reply!

The blue one that I showed is up for sale at 19.3k and has 1k miles on it......

It makes a GTi Golf look so overpriced!

[LiamM45]

smiffy555 said:

The link in the above reply has a picture of a white one with 19,s on it

wow, the 19's are awful!!!

I didn't think they would be that bad, now it explains why I haven't seen any until now!

[ahenners]

s m said:

If it's the recent model, I've driven one at Oulton and thought it was pretty good with the Drexler diff . The N'Ring Corsa VXR was more fun for me but the Astra would be fine if you need the extra room

I did the same and Oulton and very much enjoyed the Astra VXR. After driving the previous one and being more of a "Ford man" I was pleasantly surprised by how much of a leap forward it is. Corsa VXR nurb is more fun, but the Astra VXR would be a nicer car to live with day to day. The very-present turbo sucking sound was quite nice too.

I'd still rather have the latest Focus ST as my daily though in ST3 form.