RE: Vauxhall Astra VXR: Spotted

[IanJ9375]

Killboy said:

So, can anyone recommend a tuner?

Join vxro and have a read - plenty of examples and opinions

[Mike1990]

Killboy said:

So, can anyone recommend a tuner?

WG Motorworks is very highly recommended amongst the Vauxhall and VXR gang.

[hondansx]

Handsome cars I think! Don't see many.

[AmosMoses]

I think these are a great car and you don't really see many of them around.

[nicfaz]

Drove on of these when it came out, liked the engine and the grip, but the steering told you nothing about what the tyres were doing so I passed on it. Did go well though.

[JimmyConwayNW]

They are actually really good - The seats are superb very supportive and comfortable.

We sell a lot of them in our used car business and they are quick. Basic remap boosts things nicely but if you go with a decent exhaust, intercooler and a good map they are bonkers.

Proving to be much more reliable than the previous generation.

[Jon_S_Rally]

matchmaker said:

My son had the earlier model. My abiding recollection is horrendous torque steer!

I think a lot of people dismiss this one based on this train of thought. I drove one last year, not expecting much to be honest, but was really pleasantly surprised by it. I ended up with a Golf, but the Astra was a really good car I thought. The dash lets it down a bit, but the rest of it was pretty nice I thought.

I have heard that they suffer from gearbox problems though. A few friends have had the older VXR and they seem to break 'boxes when the engine has been fettled a bit. I'm told that this still has essentially the same gearbox in it.

[IanJ9375]

Jon_S_Rally said:

I think a lot of people dismiss this one based on this train of thought. I drove one last year, not expecting much to be honest, but was really pleasantly surprised by it. I ended up with a Golf, but the Astra was a really good car I thought. The dash lets it down a bit, but the rest of it was pretty nice I thought.

I have heard that they suffer from gearbox problems though. A few friends have had the older VXR and they seem to break 'boxes when the engine has been fettled a bit. I'm told that this still has essentially the same gearbox in it.

This is the F40 box not the M32 which is the one you refer to - although my old M32 still going strong with the new owner and it's 10yrs old in march!

Same as the Insignia VXR - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_F40_transmission

[HJMS123]

IanJ9375 said:

This is the F40 box not the M32 which is the one you refer to - although my old M32 still going strong with the new owner and it's 10yrs old in march!

Same as the Insignia VXR - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_F40_transmission

'The F40 is cast in aluminum, and weighs 124 pounds (56.2 kg). It has been certified for up to 295 ft-lb ( 400 Nm) of engine torque.'

Not ideal that the Astra is pushing the gearbox to it's limit even when they're standard

[LotusOmega375D]

There's an identical one to the OP car that lives near me. I must confess that I really like the look of it. And that's from someone who doesn't usually like over-sized wheels on cars.

[JMF894]

I just hope Vauxhall build quality has improved in the 5/6 years or so since they trashed Saab otherwise not for me thanks.

[VR6 Eug]

Im not a fan of Vauxhalls but what I found disappointing with that astra is that it looked great, especially compared with all previous models and endowed with the good looks and tech came great weight and that blunted the extra powers performance benfit to the point where Autocar tested that model with the model it replaced and against the clock they posted identical 0 to 100 mph times, so sort of progress and not....

[AyBee]

I'm sure it's a great car, but I'm not sure I could get over the image if spending that sort of money and would end up with a Scirocco R instead for similar money.

[speedtwelve]

Like QuattroDave I had fun hoofing one of these around Thruxton on a VXR day last year. I'm not really a hot-hatch person, but the overall grip, turn-in and traction with LSD was stonkingly good even though it was chucking it down. It felt like it had loads of go as well, even though I had a Monaro VXR at the time. As mentioned above though, it had absolutely no steering feel. It was all grip and go, not much feedback to it. Very easy to drive fast on a wet track though.

I agree it's a looker as well. Seems the VXR trackdays are defunct now. £30 for an hour in a Corsa, Astra or Insignia VXR was a steal (no VXR8 though).

[djgritt]

QuattroDave said:

Though I remember the headlight cover being plastic not glass as it was bendy. Helpful in a 1mph ding but hardly screaming quality!

Plastic headlight fascias like 99% of current cars?
Hardly a marker of Quality when everyone else does the same.....

[djgritt]

HJMS123 said:

'The F40 is cast in aluminum, and weighs 124 pounds (56.2 kg). It has been certified for up to 295 ft-lb ( 400 Nm) of engine torque.'

Not ideal that the Astra is pushing the gearbox to it's limit even when they're standard

In terms of the F40 Gearbox, the Vectra VXR which also uses it is most comparable to the Astra GTC VXR as unlike the Insignia (with 4WD) it is also FWD.

The F40 box is well regarded as a very strong item - Vectra VXRs with remaps easily run up to 400lb.ft on Stage 1, and the Gearboxes are not known to be a problem - it's very very rare that a fault occurs with them. The F40 is also used on a number of the Vectra based CDTi models which also produce healthy torque figures when fettled, again with little issue.

[QuattroDave]

djgritt said:

QuattroDave said:

Though I remember the headlight cover being plastic not glass as it was bendy. Helpful in a 1mph ding but hardly screaming quality!

Plastic headlight fascias like 99% of current cars?
Hardly a marker of Quality when everyone else does the same.....

They're not plastic on my BMW and being a mass producer that immediately debunks your 99%.

Even if many do these in particular flexed like your average takeaway tub - so yes, a marker of quality.

[Maccar]

Great looking car, particularly in this colour. Makes the Golf look like a bread van in comparison! Would probably struggle to get my teenage urchins comfortable in the back for too long though...

[ahenners]

You don't' see many about and was behind one the other day. Was thinking these are somewhat underrated.

Also did the VXR experience a few times at Oulton Park, Silverstone and Darlington and really enjoyed the Astra VXR.

Looks good with the aero pack, sounds awesome for a 4 cylinder hatch - the whooshing sound when you floor it is addictive, and goes very well for a FWD hatch. Puts the power down very well with that diff and the suspension setup. Thumbs up from me overall and they are coming down to very sensible money now.

[exgtt]

Neigh on 300bhp & 34 mpg, things have moved on significantly in the last 15 years that's for sure!