New VXR Today

[Bernhard30]

No haven't bought one but parked next to a new Astra VXR today in that (pretty smart) metallic blue they do.

Gotta say was quite impressed, it looks mega purposeful and the massive Brembo stoppers and two piece discs were dwarfed by the 20" rims it had on.

The guy stood at the nearby cashpoint saw me looking at his brakes and laughed, so asked if it was his and he said "yeah I work for Vauxhall" and confirmed it was on "Twenties".

Next to my Mk5, apart from making the Detroits on mine look like skateboard wheels, the car as a whole is MASSIVE. So makes Mk5 look like a Mk3, at a guess.

I wonder how XL Golf VII will turn out to be in comparison.

[Kregiel]

that's why VXR is so damned heavy compared to mark 5 gti!

Paul

[Saintsteve]

So the extra power covers its weight gain from the old "sideways yo" model . Looks a good car but 26k started for a vx...... Sorry no Thankyou.. Couldn't  live with trade up being worth Thruppence in a couple years. 

[Hedge]

Apparently it weighs 1475kg against a MK6 GTI at 1318kg and a MK5 GTI at 1328kg. All from EVO's website.

Big chunk of a car but I bet it goes well out the box with 276bhp and of course stops well.

[DFish]

You not looked at the price of the of a new Golf GTI then? £26k itself, £27 for the ED35.

Fish

[MC71]

^^^^ given the choice between an ED35 or an Astra you would be as mad as a mad monkey who had lost his mad monkey nuts to go with the Vauxhall, IMO.

Not a big fan of this one (as you can tell) but as I'm never going to be buying a Vauxhall I shall not lose any sleep.
 
Reports are good though  (if this is you thing), big power, mech' LSD blah blah blah

Read this from top gear, they likey   (more mad monkeys)

http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/vauxhall-astra-vxr-first-drive-review-2012-6-11/

The Telegraph review has it as a Scirocco alternative 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/carreviews/9333870/Vauxhall-Astra-VXR-review.html

[sub39h]

why have car prices ballooned so much lately?

a few years ago you could get a brand new S3 for a shade under £27k

the same money today buys you an ASBO VXR 

[RobH]

Also the Euro has devalued quite abit recently and will at some point be worthless so you'd think cars would be cheaper for us to buy???

And 1500kg for an Astra......jesus whats it made out of lead? Isnt the new golf suppose to be lighter than the mk5/6?

[sub39h]

And 1500kg for an Astra......jesus whats it made out of lead? Isnt the new golf suppose to be lighter than the mk5/6?

the new A3 is 80kg lighter model for model than the 8P. this is down to the aluminium wings and bonnet

i think considering the A3 is the "premium" hatch they've justified the use of aluminium in the panels, but i don't think it's confirmed that the same will apply to the Mk7. at worst you'll know the Mk7 isn't going to be any heavier than the Mk5/6, tho it may not be any lighter

[tony_danza]

Nobody pays list for a vauxhall! You get 15% off just for walking in the showroom.

All said and done, it's a lot high spec fancy trinkets for a hot hatch. Brembos, diff, fancy FRS/Megane type suspension, leather Recaros, lots of kit!.... And it actually drives well!!

 The benchmark for what people expect out of a hot hatch has moved on a lot, and for them to bring it in for less than a GTI... The next VW offering is going to have something more than good residuals going for it.

[chungster]

Had a day out playing with them at Rockingham couple of weeks ago

Not bad but hate the over sensitive throttle. It did feel tad laggy compared to my own car!

[PDT]

Give it five years, bet the ED30 is still worth more than the Astra.

Im yet to see the engine spec of the new VXR, anyone got any info? Are they still using 20 year old engine technology?

[markymark]

I really cannot like these new VXR's Astra or the GTC for that matter they look all wrong. They look like an aliens head from the back to me!! The wheels just look to big for the rest of the car too. No doubt they are ticking a lot of boxes but for me I cannot get past its fuglyness!

[mad_pete]

If you believe the hamster the golf mk7 is suppose to have an aluminium roof as VW have patented a way to weld steel and ally together giving a 70 kg weight saving over the mk 6

[tony_danza]

All fair points, an it's never going to get a good reception on a rival marque's forum.

They're giving enthusiasts what they want though, and whilst nobody here will probably go for a swap - every penny of relatively dead money you plough into your cars trying to make them faster/handle/stop/put power down pretty much equates to the extra depreciation you'd suffer in the VXR.

Of course, I know which I'd rather own, it's just frustrating seeing the game move on and VAG still playing the "oh, we want to be the civilised hot hatch"