Vauxhall Astra VXR

[malagus]

SO. I've been looking at it, and it looks really goo in the ads, in red with the optional 19" wheels. Shame there is NO leather seats, but 240BHP, 0-60 in 6.2, and a great BTCC style look all for £19k cant be bad. so, would you??

[Durrsaku]

You have been reading the Torigraph too much.

[NewNiceMrMe]

There's no doubting the VX220 VXR is a proper car.

They should have stopped there though instead of the marketing bullsh1t trying to carry the VXR label right the way through the range.

There'll be a Zafira VXR next! The Corsa VXR will be a Chav's wet dream and the Omega VXR will be grandad's vision of a virgin in suspenders.

[Calm Chris]

Please see a few more comments and considerations here->

An R32 or a Astra VXR ??

It's a good car, it will sell in buckets, but........... See the alternative post

[R32North]

240bhp.... through the front wheels of a VX chassis! A mate used to build thosen 2L Turbo NOvas back in the day and they went like the clappers... 0-60 in 5.4secs!!!!!!!

But the forces ripped the car apart, cracks would appear in the seams, chassis etc.

I;m not saying thats likely to happen with the Astra VXR but VX chassis and overall construction are not class leading and I don't think there designed for 240bhp!

Overall, it looks quite nice and will probably be a hit, but I think there are better options..... 2 year old STi for example

[chrisan]

I would never - in a million years, pay 19K for a Vauxhall.

Forgetting for a moment, the badge issue and 19K, ask yourself, what will depreciation be like?

Chris

[Calm Chris]

Once the fuss has gone, the policies gone up, a 1 year 12k miles will be £12-13k.

A bargain, but too close to Chav Max power man for me. That said bargain bucks for 240 bhp and Bazza likes the engine!

[shao_khan]

[ QUOTE ]

There'll be a Zafira VXR next! The Corsa VXR will be a Chav's wet dream and the Omega VXR will be grandad's vision of a virgin in suspenders.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think actually Meriva VXR is before the Zafira if I understood my presspack.. Omega VXR is in the Guise of the Monaro.

To be honest I would expect the apparent quality of the cars to be below the 'german' competitors, but I bet they are built just as well and probably more reliable - You dont get consistent critisism in surveys like JD power like VWgroup do with nothing behind it and the new Golf hardly smacks of quality so I guess Vx are gradually catching up.

[shao_khan]

[ QUOTE ]

But the forces ripped the car apart, cracks would appear in the seams, chassis etc.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you have to make comparisons in a like for like basis - I imagine your average Ford Ka would disintegrate with 250BHP 2l turbo power unit in it. The lower end cars were never built for this and the nova is a pretty old example. Again I cant imagine the first generation Audi 80s coping with the RS6 engine particually well.

I dont think Vx are any worse than anyone else these days.

[NeilB]

http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,12929-1695441,00.html

[RossG]

I like the look of it a lot - have my name on a list at a dealer and will be driving one over the next couple of weeks.

I will report back accordingly

Still - I wan to wait and see what Skoda pull out of the bag for the Octavia vRS and the 5cyl engine in the Focus ST is also apealling.

And if Seat really do put the 3.2 V6 into the next Leon Cupra R then

Plus I still love the Megane 225.

Thats the trouble - its a really crowded marketplace, but hey, choice has never been a bad thing has it

[malagus]

I love the little touches like the cen tre exit exhaust, and think that it's a car that not everyone will have, and its going to put a smile on your face. My dad has the old astra, and its not all that badly put together, and not all that far off the polo courtesy car we had in terms of build quality, and as Germany is starting to drop a little in quality, it looks like a good car, whatever you snobs think of the badge. HOwever, by the time the extras are on it will come in over 20k, even after haggling a little on price, so its not that great of a bargain, but it looks flaming great in red, with the 19" alloys, and more individual than a Golf GTI IMO.

[simonb]

[ QUOTE ]

I like the look of it a lot - have my name on a list at a dealer and will be driving one over the next couple of weeks.

I will report back accordingly

Still - I wan to wait and see what Skoda pull out of the bag for the Octavia vRS and the 5cyl engine in the Focus ST is also apealling.

And if Seat really do put the 3.2 V6 into the next Leon Cupra R then

Plus I still love the Megane 225.

Thats the trouble - its a really crowded marketplace, but hey, choice has never been a bad thing has it

[/ QUOTE ]

In terms of the SEAT - the prices are out and so are the models. New car launched on 17th September and new Sport model to be called Leon Sport TFSI 2.0 - build commences week 40 (Now in week 28 or 29).

This going to have a 185 PS engine so that's promising as the Cupra and FR will follow - FR is apparently going to be a lot hotter looking and 200 PS, and Cupra is to be 240 PS to keep up with the Astra and any future Golfs etc.

[danksy]

There's a really dark blue version of one of these near me, and I think it looks the part.

In recent reviews it was said to be better than the Golf Gti. I know reviewers are quite often biased, but vauxhalls driving dynamics owe a lot to work done by Lotus engineers to sort the chassis out.

Take one for a spin, if you like it, use an online price comparator to save yourself loads on the list price.

10% minimum should be acheivable!

[MattR32]

LOL at badge snobbery!

I'm not the slightest bit interested in most other Vauxhalls but the Astra is very well put together.

My R32 had more squeaks and rattles than my Astra (now with 3k miles).

The chassis is very good indeed - I'd say Golf, Focus and Astra are all on a par for handling.

I'm going to try one and see - Can't see 240bhp through the front wheels being sensible but you never know.

As for price, Vauxhall dealers are actually very good and realistic and will look into most sensible offers unlike "head up own ar*e" VW and Audi dealers.

We got a £19k+ car for under £16k.

We could of course have got a much slower, worse handling duller looking (but nice interiored) A4 Avant/Passat for well over £20k of course but that would just have been daft.

[NewNiceMrMe]

It's all fine and well labelling people as badge snobs, but such prejudice has to come from somewhere.

For a good few of us I'd suggest it comes from being bitten in the past by the likes of Ford and Vauxhall.

Vauxhall's of the 80's and 90's were nothing short of truly appalling.

You can't forget that in an instance if you put your hard earned cash into it.

Then, they became Chav fodder in the early parts of this decade (VX220 exception bazza_g).

Vauxhall are trying to re-invent themselves and I'm not a badge snob (we've owned a Skoda Octavia previously so I can say that with full conviction) - but I don't forget the past so easily.

The VXR range seems to be the big push for Vauxhall right now and perhaps it's paying off (although I feel for the Monaro owners who are crying into empty bank accounts because of the depreciation on their cars).

However - it's early days.

The test of a car is at least 2 years after it was released. How many initial buyers still have them, how reliable have they been, what are residuals like?

To cast judgement on the Astra VXR right now is to do so with very little basis.

Me, well I'm just not convinced of the marketing excercise that the VXR label plainly is.

Cars are being adapted to have the VXR label put on them - unlike the VX220 which started off being developed as a sports car in the first place.

Pretty much what Clarkson said last night actually - if it's not how it was intended to be, you're buying a compromise.

Anyway, as I said, 2 years from now, let's see how the Astra VXR is doing then.

[shao_khan]

Monaro is the same as any big engined car right now - look at the big 7 series BMWs - great second hand buys, but I wouldnt want to haev paid new for it.

I had a lot of vauxhalls when younger, Novas, Astras, Cavaliers and to be honest not one ever let me down in an way, one Cavalier had a new steering rack at 140k miles and I kind of forgave it for that. I also had one of teh Old Audi 100 Avants, and to be honest none of the new German cars are built liek that was - it was solid from day one, 175k on the clock and it didnt have rattles that my new A4 suffers occasionally - I think that in the modern market place the 'premium' brands are selling out to lower costs (look at recent Merc build quality issues) and the lower brands are upping the stakes to a point where soon buying a normal 3series or C class will just be an excersise in wasting money when Vx, Ford, Skoda, Seat, Mazda will offer better for less.

[bazza_g]

[ QUOTE ]

Then, they became Chav fodder in the early parts of this decade (VX220 exception bazza_g).

[/ QUOTE ]

cheers

I'm lookig forward to checking out the VXR Astra - I reckon it'll be good fun. I do agree with the point that Vauxhall putting VXR badges on Meriva's and Zafira's is plain daft and will do nothing but damage the VXR/VX220 reputation - likewise the Monaro VXR deserves its badge - 6.0 V8 - thats a beast !!

The VXR Astra will depreciate like a stone, like all things Vauxhall - as I'm discovering at the moment to my cost

[MattR32]

As mentioned on numerous occasions, I'm not a Vauxhall fan at all but I tried everything else and the Astra was not only better but a lot cheaper and although they used to be badly made, they are now as solid as anything VW/Audi/BMW.

It's hard to shake perceptions that are ingrained but it's nice when dropping them results in a bit of a steal.

If it breaks down (which it won't), it's covered by a 3 year warranty anyway. Is a Merc/VW/Audi/BMW warranty any better? Nope and it looks like Mercs are actually very low on quality these days anyway.

I'd call it keeping my eyes open and keeping abreast of the car industry rather than throwing pointless £1000s just to have a nice dashboard with blue lights.

Agree with SK too - Nicely put!

[A3Floyd]

I was very seriously considering buying an Astra SRI a few months back. I test drove one for a few days and was so impressed. The build quality/materials is on par with my old S3, i'm not kidding. They've really stepped up their game with the new astra. The only thing that put me off was 1. the dealer not getting back to me and 2. fear of scary depreciation. They'd make a fantastic second-hand buy though. As for the VXR, I love it!

[MattR32]

S3 - What engine did you try?

SRi seems to come with all sorts!

I looked at the SRi with 170PS turbo petrol but preferred the mid range grunt of the diesel.

[autobahn]

I just see depreciation being an issue. Where is the market for the VXR second hand in two years time? Can't see the crop of Corsa drivers being able to insure the thing until they hit mid-late 20's. And by that time most would rather have a second hand Golf GTI (whether its badge snobbery or not).

240bhp through FWD seems interesting(!), especially in the wet, but could you cope with the Saxo drivers wanting to race you away from the lights every single time? Tedious after a while.

Just think Vauxhall have an image problem with their hot hatches stretching back to the Astra GTE v Golf GTI mk2 days. The Astra was quicker but which is held in higher esteem? And which is still common place on the roads?

[MattR32]

But we ALL know the mk2 GTi was a comprehensively better car and none of us are arguing that Vauxhalls of old were much good.

What's happened is that mainstream cars have got a lot better whilst the "prestige" brands have been slow to stay ahead.

In some cases they've been left napping and still fetch big money for cars that are dynamically inferior (in some cases) and no better built.

[malagus]

I wasn't accusing anyone in particular of snobbery, as most people here are v. open minded, and don't mind a car's badge as long as it's good. All I was saying is that people's conceptions of German cars are often wrong, and now the quality of them is dropping, and other cars quality is increasing. IMO Racing cars should have racing badges - VX220 VXR is a racing sports car, Astra VXR is a BTCC racer, and Monaro VXR is an aussie V8 supercar, but the Zafira is not - whats next - the Corsa VXR, or perhaps Corsa Hardcore 'Andling Varient???

[MattR32]

As for depreciation, this car is a workhorse that we'll keep for a few years.

Depreciation just isn't an issue and with £3k off list, it'll be less painful anyway.