New Astra VXR gets 0-62mph time

Gaygle said:
Lucky you didn't go for it then, considering a Golf GTI with DSG, leather and Nav is only £29k brand new.

Considering the Golf GTI starts at £25.6k for the 6sp Manual, paying £27k for an Vauxhall Astra would make me vomit.

The Golf GTI ED35 is £27.9k starting price, which is only some 40bhp down on the Astra, is likely to be better to drive.



They did, with the Honda Civics', Astra VXR, Focus ST etc being the £17-21k ones, the Golf GTI being the £23-25k and the Audi S3, BMW 130i being the £28k+ ones.

A Vauxhall Astra for £27k with no options is insane, unless they've radically improved the interior/exterior quality and drive. Even then... :/
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27k = list
No-one pays list.

The outgoing model had a list price of £19k or so, but that was 7 years ago.

New ST will be somewhere around £24k, the RS was what ? 29 ? 30 ? Cars are expensive nowadays.

People really need to get over the badge hate, The outgoing model is a decent car and up to decent build standards and a *far* more entertaining drive than a golf.

New car looks cracking, keep in mind that its all new - no crossover parts from the outgoing car. Watts linkage on the rear, the hiper strut front end, LSD, nice set of brembros on the front. This thing has been designed around good performance in all areas not just "mega power and everything else".

I probably wont be getting one though, getting too old for that sort of thing and getting tight in my old age :)

Oh and whoever said current VXRs have "comedy understeer", really ? I can assure you mine has far less than my old Leon Cupra R and from what I've seen of current golfs its certainly no worse than them, probably better.

Bo's car has moved on somewhat, but in some of the older videos he was on replacement springs and stock dampers. Take a look as the Spa/Ring videos. http://www.youtube.com/user/TheVxRacer
 
It's a common thing in here recently to complain or be shocked by new car prices.
Get over it - car prices have gone up since the previous models were launched 7 years ago.
 
SDK^ said:
Get over it - car prices have gone up since the previous models were launched 7 years ago.
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Some car prices have gone up.

For example, in 1996 a 528i with leather was £33,000.

Today a 528i with leather is £33,615.

In 2004, a 120d SE was £21k.

Today, a 120d SE is £23.4k.

Whichever way you look at it, £27k for an Astra is expensive.
 
[TW]Fox;21895134 said:
Some car prices have gone up.

For example, in 1996 a 528i with leather was £33,000.

Today a 528i with leather is £33,615.

In 2004, a 120d SE was £21k.

Today, a 120d SE is £23.4k.

Whichever way you look at it, £27k for an Astra is expensive.
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I agree, car prices have gone up. I'm not sure if I'm correct on this, but wasn't a Honda Civic Type-R EP3 when new was £16-£18k?

And I don't care what anyone says, it did 0-62 in 6.7 seconds? Ok maybe the VXR has creature comforts now, but doesn't the new FN2 Civic? £27k to spend on an Astra is too much. Couldn't agree more.
 
[TW]Fox;21889039 said:
Are we to assume then that Vauxhall gave up making it drive as nicely as a Golf or handle like a Focus and decided to just go POWA!!!"!"!""$$$ instead?
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This is what I think.
The problem with the last gen VXR is that the only thing it had over the GTI and ST was a few more horsepower. Somehow I think they did the same again.
 
They have that trick front and rear suspension setup, an LSD and Brembo brakes, it's obvious to me they are certainly pushing the handling more than power otherwise they'd of gone for 300bhp.
 
SDK^ said:
That depends, can you buy a new car with more power for less ££££ ?
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There's more to a car purchase then that, that's very simplistic. Build quality, driving dynamics, dealer network, resale value all play a massive part in a purchase is it not?
 
Princey said:
No, but you can buy a better car new for less.
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Quite. There is more to a hot hatch than just making sure you give it more power than everyone else so you can charge a load more.

It's more expensive even than something like a 125i M Sport. Power alone doesn't justify that.
 
Princey said:
They have that trick front and rear suspension setup, an LSD and Brembo brakes, it's obvious to me they are certainly pushing the handling more than power otherwise they'd of gone for 300bhp.
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You can easily get 300hp from a 2 litre engine, but doesn't mean it would be refined or decent.
It would drink fuel, have high CO2 and have a huge turbo with a lot of lag though which wouldn't make it much use in day-to-day driving.
I understand that a new model of a hot hatch should have more power than the last one, but weight and handling are possibly even more important :).
 
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