Filed under: Geneva Motor Show
The Ford Focus ST's nemesis has arrived a little early to the party bearing more power than anyone else, a big set of rims and some trick suspension. The Astra VXR is here. Almost. It'll be here in the summer at least.
Vauxhall's finally nailed down a price for the VXR-est VXR of them all, it'll set you back at least £26,995 - that's before toys, different paint jobs and leather seats.
To make sure the likes of Ford, Volkswagen and SEAT know that the Astra VXR isn't something to be messed with it comes with 280bhp (a good chunk more than the Scirocco R and Leon Cupra R) and 295lb ft. Its 2.0-litre turbocharged engine will get it from 0-62mph in just 5.9 seconds and on to 155mph.
To eliminate the merest hint of torque steer (which was a bit of an issue in the old car) the VXR comes with a proper, mechanical limited slip differential and the Astra GTC's HiPerStrut trick suspension.
FlexRide features here, too: you can drive in Normal (you know what that means), Sport (harder suspension, sharper throttle, heavier steering) or VXR (someone opened the gates of hell and now everything's chasing you).
Vauxhall says it was signed off on the Nurburgring, which means James May won't like it at all, but it'll go down a storm in certain parts of Essex.
Order books are open now and first deliveries will commence in July.
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