Thursday 28th March 2013

Vauxhall VXR8 Tourer announced

Like your muscle with a little more load space? Then boy, has Vauxhall got a treat for you...

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Those among you who need to move extremely large loads very quickly can rejoice, because Vauxhall has just revealed that it’ll be adding an estate to the VXR8 range.

Huge estate, huge power. Huge all round, then.

The new VXR8 Tourer, sold in Australia as the HSV Clubsport R8 Tourer and now officially imported to the UK, will become the third model to join the current crop of HSV models officially imported by Vauxhall. It’ll sit alongside the saloon version of the VXR8, as well as the Maloo pickup in the range, bringing the V8-powered tyre-shredding insanity of the VXR8 to an estate bodyshell in the UK for the first time. The Tourer will be Vauxhall’s fastest-ever estate car, and it’ll also have the distinction of being the largest estate in terms of the loadspace it offers currently on sale in Britain.

We’ve already discussed the burgeoning craze for barmy estates on these pages, and frankly they don’t come much barmier than this. Power will come from the same 431hp 6.2-litre LS3 V8, working through the same six-speed manual (or, optionally, automatic) gearbox and limited-slip differential, as the other two models in the VXR8 range. That’ll mean not only the same mellifluous soundtrack, but a 0-62mph time of 4.9 seconds and a top speed limited to 155mph. Launch control, which Vauxhall says “helps drivers make best use of the Tourer’s huge torque during brisk acceleration”, is also retained. What’s more, we’ve been sent some gratuitous, patently unrendered publicity shots (kudos to Vauxhall, here) that prove that the Tourer is perfectly content to spend as much of its time going sideways as the saloon. Splendid.

Yup, that'll do the trick

The good news doesn’t stop there, though: Vauxhall has confirmed that, as with the other HSV-derived cars in its range, the Tourer will benefit from the company’s 100,000-mile or lifetime warranty. And of course, you’ll also get leather this, Bluetooth that, and climate-controlled the other, too. Vauxhall’s Enhanced Driver Interface, which enables streaming of real-time telemetry to the in-car monitor, also comes as standard.

And the price of this finery? £49,500. Which stacks up extremely favourably against the £75,510 Mercedes E63 AMG, and even the smaller, £58,130 C63 AMG. Admittedly, both the Mercs are a touch quicker and will likely be better-built, but it's good to see that even in estate form the VXR8’s still a considerable performance bargain. Jolly good show, Vauxhall. Carry on.

[redroadster]

worth threpence in a years time might as well sit at home and burn money will they find enough numptys to buy it ?

[405dogvan]

Yeah, I hope loads of people buy black ones so I can pick-one-up at 20% of the price in 2-3 years

BLACK tho - all that front-end gubbins is hideous and needs hiding...

[Tuvra]

Colour code the bonnet and I'd be happy with that, very happy in fact!!

[vrooom]

but it's a Vauxhall. *badge snob*

[st4]

I want that.

I reckon a V6 diesel or V8 diesel would also sit well below the VXR version.

GM should bring holden here as an upmarket Vauxhall marque and slot decent 6 and 8 cylinder engines in these

[gsd2000]

redroadster said:

worth threpence in a years time might as well sit at home and burn money will they find enough numptys to buy it ?

No worth 50k more like 25-6k.

6 year old VXR8's are still selling for around 16kish

[fjord]

How can anyone consistently make a car more hideous with each change?

The original vxr8 was nice enough, front was a little ugly but overall it was fine.

The current one looks like st, and now they produce this pile of turd in our faces?

fk that.

Good thing is, the original is going down in price nice and quickly now

[Wacky Racer]

Very nice. A great used buy in three years for £18k.

[Cotty]

Love it. That boot looks huge even before you put the back seats down

[R5YUP]

You'll need balls of steel to stick £50k into a Vauxhall, even if it is a super-rare VXR estate version.

Doesn't quite have the cache or class of an RS4 or C63 - and isn't hugely cheaper either.

Also, not completely sold on the looks, especially from the rear (ooop!).

[300bhp/ton]

Piston Heads said:

Admittedly, both the Mercs are a touch quicker and will also be far better-built

eh?

[vanschpunk]

Class!! Its hard to knock a super estate!!

IMO its far better value for money than any of the german stuff. I couldnt care less on its depreciation in years to come or its "vs german quality"!! The deal is, its a V8 estate for pennies in comparison to the stuff on the german market!!

Great alternative!! Now Ford...rebirth the Granada as a re-badged Taurus and give us a coyote V8 rwd or awd super saloon and/or tourer variant!

[Davep24]

redroadster said:

worth threpence in a years time might as well sit at home and burn money will they find enough numptys to buy it ?

Maybe a few people will buy them, practical, fantastic performance, relatively good on fuel compared to the competion, and there are numpties who are prepared to sit a home burning money so who knows!

[moskvich427]

The British police force MUST be persuaded to have these at patrol cars

[Blue62]

Looks pretty dreadful but at least it's manual.

[Scrof]

300bhp/ton said:

eh?

Point taken - that was probably a touch too strong. Now edited.

[LordFlathead]

Love it! It may be about £10k cheaper than the Merc but with the difference spent at Monkfish it would destroy either of them. I will make it my goal to own one in the next three years.

[mat777]

Great car .... But why do thu consistently keep making the vxr8 more and more ugly with the front ends, and pikified with the wheels and the vents.
When they first launched it over here as the Monaro it was a handsome brute but ever since then it's gone downhill with each facelift

[Deranged Granny]

Why did they make the front look like a dog's snout?

[Ali_T]

£50k?

Really?

How can Chevrolet sell the Camaro SS with the same drivetrain on the same floorpan for only £35k?