Too Much Potential
by David Finlay (11 Nov 05)

Vauxhall is the only manufacturer to have competed consistently in the British Touring Car Championship for the past ten years. Back in 1995, the works racing Cavaliers produced something in the order of 300bhp, which was twice the output of the company's most powerful Astra. Today, this 100% discrepancy has been reduced almost to zero, and while this is partly due to engine restrictions in the BTCC it is also a good demonstration of how far the hot hatch concept has come.

The beefiest Astra currently available is the VXR, whose two-litre turbocharged engine has a maximum power output of 237bhp. This is a startling figure, but if anything Vauxhall prefers to emphasise a different one, namely the list price of £18,995. Although it is the work of a moment to send the cost rocketing beyond £23,000 - the leather pack, electronic climate control, continuous damping control, adapative forward lighting, 19" wheels and the top-spec audio/satnav system will do the job easily, and there are more options beyond those - Vauxhall is nevertheless largely justified in claiming that the VXR represents a performance bargain.

In order to cope adequately with all the power, it would seem advisable for Vauxhall (and Lotus, which was involved in the development) to strip the Astra to its bare bones and start again. The relatively low price suggests that this has not happened, and there's reason to believe that the VXR is simply a further tweaked version of the already rapid 197bhp SRi.

There are pros and cons to this. The pros first: in slow driving - and really, what use is a fast road car if it can't also be driven slowly? - the VXR is a gentle beast. Its ride quality is impressively good considering the 40-series tyre fitted to the standard 18" wheels. As you inch forward in the queue for the traffic lights, furthermore, there is little to suggest that anything special lies under the bonnet. You probably wouldn't want to pretend to your passengers that your VXR was really just a standard 1.6 with a fancy bodykit, but the option is there.

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