If there is one fact you should take away with you having read this article it is this: the supercharged Vauxhall VXR8 Bathurst S is a whole Ford Mondeo 2.0TDCi more powerful than the naturally aspirated VXR8.
For those who prefer their power in more conventional units of measurement, this means the Bathurst S has 139bhp more than the standard model, giving it 564bhp in total. That's 32bhp more than the old 6.0-litre supercharged VXR8 and makes the Bathurst S the most powerful road car ever to wear a Vauxhall badge.
The new 6.2-litre LS3 V8 (the previous supercharged car used the old 6.0-litre LS2) is slightly down on torque, however, at 'just' 547lb ft. That's 21lb ft less than before, presumably in the interests of gearbox preservation, but it doesn't exactly make the Bathurst S a puny weakling.
A 'puny weakling' is in fact the least appropriate way to describe the VXR8 Bathurst S. The pumped-up bodywork is carried over from the standard car, but you could hardly call it understated, while the optional 20-inch alloys are chunktastic. The whole look of the car is hardly subtle or understated, but it certainly has bags of presence.
Even if passers-by somehow manage to miss the bewinged behemoth that is the VXR8 Bathurst S when stationary, they won't miss it if it's on the move. The bassy V8 woofles, pops and bangs on the overrun, and generally makes the kinds of sounds you'd imagine a distant street-to-street infantry battle would make. Overlaying that is a shrieking supercharger howl every time you prod the throttle - air-strike missiles called into the V8's street fight.
Start to explore the far end of the throttle-pedal's travel and you'll immediately discover that the Bathurst's old-fashioned muscle-saloon character is more than skin-deep.
The sprint to 60mph is covered in 4.6secs, and the relentless urge from the supercharged V8 allows the VXR8 to surge pretty effortlessly to licence-destroying speeds on the way to a limited 155mph maximum (although you do have to get the revs beyond 4000rpm before things start to feel truly ballistic).
The VXR8 can play the classic muscle car cruiser, too. The big, comfy, supportive chairs are complimented by a surprisingly compliant ride, and longish gearing allows for a decent motorway cruising pace at barely more than tickover.
The VXR8 Bathurst's honest, old-school approach does prove a weakness at times, however. The six-speed gearbox is a brutish, truck-like affair, the steering won't exactly win prizes for delicacy of response, and the sheer size of the thing makes threading it along British B-roads a tricky exercise.
The chassis puts up a brave fight, though. The standard VXR8 is essentially a solid-handling, well-balanced car, and the Bathurst S gets bespoke individually adjustable coil-over dampers, height-adjustable springs, six-pot callipers at the front and four-pot callipers at the rear. It's enough to make the Bathurst S a game old thing, but it has little finesse compared with more hi-tech super-saloons (think XFR).
The same could be said of the Bathurst's interior - the cabin is standard apart from a stuck-on badge on the centre console and, at £45k, the low-rent quality of the materials and design is not really good enough
In the end your opinion of this car will come down to where your priorities lie. If you want a fast, modern super-saloon that can keep up with sports cars along a twisty road, then you might be disappointed. If you want a big-hearted, unpretentious V8 saloon, you'll be pretty satisfied (although a standard VXR8 might be a better bet). But as by far the cheapest way to get 550bhp-plus in a brand-new car, there is nothing to touch the VXR8 Bathurst S.
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