VXR8 - good idea or not? comments from '8 and Monaro owners

[rix]

Been considering one of these as a replacement for the Focus ST I currently have and just wondering, from a newb perspective, what sort of experiences I may have if i took the plunge!?!

I know the obvious mpg/tax/depreciation (at least in % terms) issues that there are (tho I'd be interested in hearing realworld MPG from you all) its the other stuff that I might not have thought of too much, that might be useful to know - like how do you get on for servicing/parts etc? and how difficult/expensive is insurance etc etc?

Also, it would be used fairly infrequently by my wife who's not 'into' cars or driving generally - would she find it a scary lairy monster or would/could she be happy to pootle around town in it etc?

looking forward to your comments!

[S600VXR]

Two VERY different cars. If you get one with a performance pipe I would imagine your wife would be less than impressed TBH, you need to be into cars to appreciate these things. As for MPG, running costs and performance Id say there is little in the first two with performance being very similiar until you get them up over 100 where the torque would start to show itself in the V8. Remember you will need to learn to drive again as its rear drive vs front.

[racebreed1]

real world MPG is from 19mpg with mixed stuff up to 26mpg or more on a run

my missus loves driving mine

[the muppet]

Round the doors 17mpg (driven like I stole it), long run 27mpg (driving like I care about mileage). More grins per mile than most stuff I've driven

[maverick964_uk]

I've owned a monaro VXR, now I have a VXR8 wortec SC.
The VXR8 is the total allrounder. More fun than a typical FWD car.

Better grin factor!........cant beat a V8

[essexhsv]

Thats easy. Then Monaro looks better.

[porrohman]

I recently had a road test in a brand new mountune spec focus st at my local ford dealer and I have to say it felt very slow compared to my monaro and it was meant to have 260bhp. As a practical car I thought it was great, easy to park good visibility and it also handled really well with scrabble from the wheels under hard acceleration not being as bad as I was expecting. On the other hand if you want something that really is in the supercar league and feels special every time you turn the key get yourself a Monaro or the vxr8 with the monaro being the best to look at IMO and the VXR8 being the more practical and easier to park due to better vision, I think monaros will hold their value better than vxr8's but only time will tell. YOU WILL want to wash your monaro by hand where as VXR8 owners just take them through the car was as they're so f****n ugly !!!!! . The downside for you being that they are both very big and at first intimidating cars to drive and finding a suitable parking space aint always easy. I get 19mpg round town and 28mpg on a run 25mpg if I dont want to hang around. I dont think fuel really matters with the st or the monaro lets be honest they all drink, but I dont mind paying a little bit more to go club class.

Edited by porrohman on Monday 29th December 00:27

[phillg]

I owned a 5.7 vxr Monaro for 3 years and replaced it with a vxr8.
If you are going to use the car for passengers,get a vxr8,yes they are big,but a great all round car.
My misses,prefers to drive vxr8,much more room inside,and bigger boot.
Either car is fun,and gathers attraction.
I had no problems with the Monaro in the 3 years and it was cheap to run.
Some have said the vxr8 is ugly,I don't agree.We all have different taste.

[essexhsv]

The Monaro is like a fit slim chick with nice curves but the VXR8 is like a over weight builder lol and not nice to look at.
The Ro better looking than most of its drivers lol

[J. J.]

I think Porrohman sums it up quite nicely! I too, prefer the Monaro, but perhaps I'm biased!

[ads_green]

For size an interesting comparison - a VXR8 is larger than a bentley (and they always looks massive to me).

It's difficult to compare a focus st to a vxr8 - one is a small family hatchback and the other is a large saloon car. It depends alot where the car is going to be used. For example, I live in car-hating cambridge and driving the 'r8 around most of the roads isn't that much fun as they have evil curbs and stupidly small car parks. For town driving I steal the missus' cooper S which although way down on power is simply much faster A-B in the tight streets and busy traffic with that extra "nippy" factor.

However out of the hell that is cambridge city centre it's a different matter. Nice open fast roads the 'r8 is great. It's not B road demon but anything with nice sweepng curves and a good road surface can be demolished easily. If you want something that works well on very tight, narrow uneven B roads then I don't think you're going to beat an impreze or evo.

Finally it's worth asking not only where but what you're going to use it for. I have two kids under 2 and in the 'r8 I know I drive well under the 400+bhp limit. To the point where I'd not notice the difference if I was driving a mondeo.

[_Voyager_]

ads_green said:

However out of the hell that is cambridge city centre it's a different matter. Nice open fast roads the 'r8 is great. It's not B road demon but anything with nice sweepng curves and a good road surface can be demolished easily. If you want something that works well on very tight, narrow uneven B roads then I don't think you're going to beat an impreze or evo.

A local 8 to me! Fancy a run sometime? I am in Elsworth.

[willisit]

Both cars are HUGE... the VXR8 feels smaller to drive than the Monaro despite it being larger (it's odd!). I preferred the '8 to drive but I'm a coupe man and own the Monaro (well, the 8 wasn't available either).

I dunno - I love mine but I find it hard to justify these days since I changed jobs and can't leave it anywhere. Thinking of downsizing to a 911 or AMV8 :P

Mileage-wise, round town it's a 16mpg car and on a run I've seen 30mpg. That's with Roger's tune though

Right now either car is a bargain to purchase - but don't buy if you're worried about depreciation!

[ads_green]

_Voyager_ said:

ads_green said:

However out of the hell that is cambridge city centre it's a different matter. Nice open fast roads the 'r8 is great. It's not B road demon but anything with nice sweepng curves and a good road surface can be demolished easily. If you want something that works well on very tight, narrow uneven B roads then I don't think you're going to beat an impreze or evo.

A local 8 to me! Fancy a run sometime? I am in Elsworth.

Is yours red perchance?

[stigmundfreud]

willisit said:

Both cars are HUGE... the VXR8 feels smaller to drive than the Monaro despite it being larger (it's odd!). I preferred the '8 to drive but I'm a coupe man and own the Monaro (well, the 8 wasn't available either).

I dunno - I love mine but I find it hard to justify these days since I changed jobs and can't leave it anywhere. Thinking of downsizing to a 911 or AMV8 :P

Mileage-wise, round town it's a 16mpg car and on a run I've seen 30mpg. That's with Roger's tune though

Right now either car is a bargain to purchase - but don't buy if you're worried about depreciation!

If I could change one thing about the Ro its the bloody awful front seat mechanism for lettign passengers in the rear. Once in the back tis very comfy but it takes about 20 minutes to get in there! Styling wise I think the Ro will win out in the long run as Coupés do but for practicality it has to be the 8.

Interestingly I too am looking at a Ro -> Amv8 but its not going to happen as fast as I had hoped

[_Voyager_]

ads_green said:

Is yours red perchance?

No, the fastest colour, black .

[anonymous-user]

rix said:

Also, it would be used fairly infrequently by my wife who's not 'into' cars or driving generally - would she find it a scary lairy monster or would/could she be happy to pootle around town in it etc?

As others have said, it is a very big car. My wife HATES it. With a vengeance. It is just way too big for her and as a consequence all four of my alloys are badly kerbed.....

[porrohman]

My wife loves the passenger seat, hates the driving seat which is great coz I don't want her driving it, every ones a winner petit déjeurner

[rix]

thanks for all the replies so far!

I didnt mean to confuse, I'm pretty much set it would(will?) be a VXR8 over a monaro, Agree the Monaro is better looking to most eyes but I defo like the brawniness of the 8 - maybe its the lotus carlton rear 3/4 angle, i dunno but i love it! Besides, the warranty and practicality advantages also make sense for me.

Encouraging to hear the not HUGELY frightening mpg numbers - sure I could cope anyhow Yeah it will cost more than the focus to run, which as you say is really just a quickish family hatchback,but not massively so i hope!

Personally I didnt think it was that huge a car is it? i thought it would be about the same as a 5 series? will have to do some comparisons for garage purposes lol. Anyway arent parking sensors standard? lol, It would actually be the first rwd car i'd own, so baptism of fire i know, but i am a 'advanced' driver (no not just IAM!) and have powerful-ish rwd car experience so its not all new - its more the wife factor i'm thinking about...

I managed to have a sneaky look at one (well two!) at City Vauxhall (London) yesterday.They have their black demo (manual) in and had 'borrowed' a red auto too. Both looked nice from what i saw, the interior far better too than what all the dashboard-flicking journos would make you believe! Will pop back during the day to have a better look and maybe take for a run tho central london doesnt really lend itself for such a test! - besides its very doubtful i'd buy from them (they want £30k for their 'demo' - righteo) so don't want to waste to much of their time!

Edited by rix on Tuesday 30th December 21:17