Used Car - Vectra VXR, Flame coat ready.

Back in the day when my brother and I worked at Mcdonald Douglas and used to get company cars, we used to get cars like Vectra GSi (both 2.5 and 2.6) and we thought they were fantastic. Admittedly we were 18 but we used to absolutely ring their necks.

Brand new high powered car (at least at the time) and a fuel card, we thought they were great.
 
Vita said:
In all honesty as much as I like my MK2 Leon. I could go to the cupra model. The reason I am not is because I simply want something different and with a little more creature comforts. The Leon MK2 interior is basic at best though I didn't buy it for its interior.

I tried and tested golf mk5 r32 and I said I didn't find them worth their price. Though I keep looking at them again and again. I keep remembering how they sounded and even though some of them were a little rough they still went well and the grip was impressive. I could see myself with one of those but, the price of car puts me off. Still I felt my self smiling when I drove those against the vectra where I thought why am I doing this? This isn't the meaning of life.

I'm actually very gutted as I expected it to amaze me and it hasn't. I kept telling myself that it may deliver a surprise and I'd think otherwise but no.

This is what acme must feel like.
Click to expand...

The more I see you posting bits like this the more I think the Octavia VRS might be the car for you. If you find the right model it's interior should be a tad more refined than your Leon (no not quite on par wirh a golf) you wont suffer from fact of it's price being considerably higher than the worth of the car as they are essentially the cheapest of the 2.0TFSI engined cars going, but you will get a boot that's actually bigger than the one in the vectra.

They aren't going to the offer the grip of the R32, but you are essentially getting the running gear of the Mk6 Golf GTI for the money of a mid range Mk5. (As long as you go for a 2010 or newer Octavia).
 
I personally wouldn't go Vectra VXR. I've always liked the idea of owning one, but never took the plunge because there is better out there.

I too would be gearing towards a MK2 (or maybe even MK2.5?) Octavia VRS.

Having said that, if performance is your thing, I know you currently have one but I'd be looking at Leon Cupra 240. The reason I say this is because the Octavia, although probably a nicer place to be has the smaller turbo. With the LC having the K04, north of 300bhp is easily achievable for not much cash, especially in the hands of Niki at R-Tech.
 
Think 7k will be a struggle to get a decent reasonable mileage mk2.5 2010 VRS judging by current prices. Don’t know what the hell is going on with used car prices lately but anything remotely performance oriented seem to have risen in price.
I’ve seen articles saying most used petrol car prices have risen 10% since the diesel scaremongering but it doesn’t mean people are going to go out and buy 25mpg hot hatches but all the traders have hiked the prices up.
Take a 2006 Focus ST225 for example. I paid 5k for mine just over 2 years ago and then sold it a year ago for 4.2k private. That car is now 12 years old yet over the last few months the average dealer price for these has been between 5k-5.5k :eek: that is just laughable.
 
I am sure it has already been mentioned but the Saab 9-3 has the 2.8 Holden engine in it as well. A lot cheaper to buy than the Vectra VXR and a lot better car as well. It is only 250bhp but easily tuned to 300bhp which is enough for FWD. They also did a turbo X which is 4wd with 280bhp.
 
HoneyBadger said:
Passat R36?
Click to expand...

The problem with the R36 is that finding one is like finding gold dust. There so increadbly rare that your setting yourself a massive challenge finding one. You're also never going to get one for £7000. The cheapest on auto trader is £7750 but the others are asking closer to if not over £10,000.

Dav4 said:
Think 7k will be a struggle to get a decent reasonable mileage mk2.5 2010 VRS
Click to expand...

It should be doable. I picked mine up from a trader about 8 months ago for £8000. It's a 2010 manual with only 50k on the clock and some nice options like Xenons and heated seats so it wasn't the base poverty spec either. This would seem to be a nice example and would only need £200 of haggling to come in at budget. https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201712272288574
 
Dav4 said:
Think 7k will be a struggle to get a decent reasonable mileage mk2.5 2010 VRS judging by current prices. Don’t know what the hell is going on with used car prices lately but anything remotely performance oriented seem to have risen in price.
I’ve seen articles saying most used petrol car prices have risen 10% since the diesel scaremongering but it doesn’t mean people are going to go out and buy 25mpg hot hatches but all the traders have hiked the prices up.
Take a 2006 Focus ST225 for example. I paid 5k for mine just over 2 years ago and then sold it a year ago for 4.2k private. That car is now 12 years old yet over the last few months the average dealer price for these has been between 5k-5.5k :eek: that is just laughable.
Click to expand...

Yea they seem to be slowly going up now. People want that 5 cylinder engine.

I had an 07 for 4 years, put 40k miles on it and only lost 3k on it when I sold it.
 
Last edited:
If you test an Octavia VRS and find it a bit wallowy, a rear anti roll bar upgrade makes a massive difference.

I fitted a whiteline and turn in and understeer were massively improved.
 
Nasher said:
Every Vauxhall I've driven had terrible handling. Sticking a powerful engine in one just made it worse.
Click to expand...

I think there are some honourable exceptions which have worn the Vauxhall badge, main thing though is that a company other than Vauxhall developed them.

cQBYR9t.jpg


WDbUQl3.jpg


jPkbqdh.jpg
 
Yea they weren't really Vauxhalls. Lotus definitely made the VX220.

Only problem was Vauxhall put their own engines in it, while the Elise was using a far better Toyota engine by that point :p
 
The VX220 came out before the S2 Elise did (it was the money from Vauxhall that allowed the S2 to be developed), and sales finished in '05. Throughout that time the Elise was available with a K series.
 
So just to update;

I test drove an Octavia VRS with the 2tfsi. I'm not sure it's something I want as it felt too big to what I'm used to. It also felt lacking in pace with that particular engine. I think a remap would change it. The seats weren't that great, I'd actually say the recaros in the vectra are much better. Car handles well for the size but there was just something missing from it. I like the front but not the back (ooerrr), though I feel it's not for me as I can't see myself with it.

Also went to view 2 Subaru Impreza wagons one with the prodrive package and one without. I left empty handed as I wasn't impressed by the turbo models.

As I said before I was keen by the R32/Edition 30 models as I had tried them before and decided they weren't for me. That still remains the case now.

This now leaves me with the Focus ST Mk2 ST3. A car which I dismissed earlier on though reading up on them, watching market prices they seem the best bang for buck all round. Bar fuel mpg, as it's relatively worse then the GTI mk5. More then likely I'll end up with a pre-facelift though a facelift also falls into budget.

Otherwise I'll have to up my budget to get a better variety of cars.

One thing I have noticed and having spoken to dealers, the Audi S3 8p sportback holds its price very well.
 
You'll get facelift ST for your budget if you look properly. Good cars. Think i would prefer the Mazda 3 MPS though, look less dated and shift better. You ever look at the one you linked up?
 
Rybo89 said:
You'll get facelift ST for your budget if you look properly. Good cars. Think i would prefer the Mazda 3 MPS though, look less dated and shift better. You ever look at the one you linked up?
Click to expand...

The one I linked up was being sold by someone of my decent. Due to bad experiences in the past I can only assume it wouldn't be right for me lol. A friend had a mazda 3 mps, said it was quick with good tech as standard but he says get the focus as it's a bit more family friendly. I never ever got to go in it as I was working away from home at the time.
 
7k will easily get a good low mileage 2008 Facelift Focus ST and you will probably have a few hundred left over to get a proper remap on it by Collins performance or Revo etc. Even better if you can find one that’s already had the proper Mountune performance upgrade. It’s supposed to transform the car with the massive amount of Torque it would be as quick as the VXR but more reliable.
The mk2 Mazda MPS’s available for 7k won’t be good examples at that price as it’s a newer car and they aren’t as reliable as the Focus.
 
Nasher said:
Every Vauxhall I've driven had terrible handling. Sticking a powerful engine in one just made it worse.
Click to expand...

I have been pretty impressed with my GTC considering it’s size and weight it handles really well.

I have driven and worked on a few Vectra VXR’s and even I would not recommend one. The Vectra was not Vauxhall’s greatest chassis it was ok as a motorway muncher but as a performance car it is not great. Not as bad as Clarkson makes out but much better available for similar money.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom