# Astra GTC VXR



## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

Isn't that the nicest hot hatch about?

Seen one earlier and thought it looked the part.

Watched this video 



 of it making mince meat of the Focus ST and thought it was looking good.

However, reading the actually tested times of the car on Autocar it isn't actually that fast at all.

0-60mph is 6.4secs, 0-100MPH is 16.5secs and a standing quarter is 15.1secs and 95.3MPH.

That is actually slower than the older Astra VXR and barely faster than the Astra GSi of 10 years ago with 197BHP.

How can a hot hatch have 276BHP and lack performance so much?

The look of the car is great and on paper it sounds great, but those figures aren't good enough.

I'd be even more concerned about the fact it still whips the ST.

Are the hot hatchbacks getting even more fat and killing performance?


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## insanejim69 (Nov 13, 2011)

Having owned an old Astra VXR, I can tell you the new ones killer is its big fat kerb weight !! Simple as. It weighs around 1600KG, well over 300KG heavier than the old Astra VXR. 

Don't get me wrong the new Astra VXR looks gorgeous with the full 20's and Aero pack. But speccing those brings it upto around £28K, for an Astra !!  

SOme hot hatches are still keeping the right mix, not much weight and loads of power, IMO, i.e. the Megane RS250 and RS265. Thats what a hot hatch should be, light weight, a few simple toys etc, and plenty of power. 

James


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

The list price is £28k but like all Vauxhalls you expect and are given huge discounts.






The Megane eats the VXR according to this video, but the Megane is pretty bland looking.


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## insanejim69 (Nov 13, 2011)

Yeah list price is £28K, .... Aston VX has loads at £23K right now. I agree like you said VX RRP means NOWT what so ever ...... I do however feel sorry for those who pre ordered and actually did pay full RRP :lol:

But TBH the VXR study was simple, be as powerful as a focus RS = NOPE ........ and handle as well as a Megane RS250 = NOPE. So IMO they failed on those accounts. Still a fair machine and I wouldn't say no at all .....

I just think hot hatches are starting to become warm hatches with far too much kit and toys. i.e heated leather seats, climate, bluetooth, media centre stereo's etc etc . 

I remember the test they done with the Megane RS250 and the New (at the time) focus RS, and they found them very similar performance wise, and liked them both as much. (EVO mag review, probably the only review that was genuinly non biased) 

James


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

Kerr said:


> The list price is £28k but like all Vauxhalls you expect and are given huge discounts.
> 
> Drag Race: Vauxhall Astra VXR v Renault Megane 265 Cup - YouTube
> 
> The Megane eats the VXR according to this video, but the Megane is pretty bland looking.


Wow, 1 drag race isn't the be all and end all for a test, I'd still have the Megane any day


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## bigmc (Mar 22, 2010)

In all fairness to the ST it's not competing against the VXR, pitch it against the RS Focus and see what happens, flagship vs flagship....


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## DJ X-Ray (Sep 2, 2012)

Me too i'd have the megane all day long.


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

bigmc said:


> In all fairness to the ST it's not competing against the VXR, pitch it against the RS Focus and see what happens, flagship vs flagship....


It is head to head though.

The ST costs about the same when you spec it up to the level of the VXR.

You no longer can buy an RS leaving the ST as the current flagship model.


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## MA3RC (Jun 19, 2012)

I'd much prefer a Focus ST


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## GJM (Jul 19, 2009)

For that money hope it comes with a better gearbox this time!


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## insanejim69 (Nov 13, 2011)

ermmm = nope! ........ the very first recal was to change the whole gearbox for a revamped one on verybearly made cars. lol. my mate bought one and had to wait another 3 weeksonce it arrived at the dealer as it had to get the new gearbox recall done. he did say the gearbox feels a bit notchy going into gearvwhen driving it, so its booked back into the amazingly bad vx dealer for work to be done 

James


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## wanner69 (Mar 14, 2010)

insanejim69 said:


> Having owned an old Astra VXR, I can tell you the new ones killer is its big fat kerb weight !! Simple as. It weighs around 1600KG, well over 300KG heavier than the old Astra VXR.
> 
> Don't get me wrong the new Astra VXR looks gorgeous with the full 20's and Aero pack. But speccing those brings it upto around £28K, for an Astra !!
> 
> ...


I agree we'll said :thumb:


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## GJM (Jul 19, 2009)

insanejim69 said:


> ermmm = nope! ........ the very first recal was to change the whole gearbox for a revamped one on verybearly made cars. lol. my mate bought one and had to wait another 3 weeksonce it arrived at the dealer as it had to get the new gearbox recall done. he did say the gearbox feels a bit notchy going into gearvwhen driving it, so its booked back into the amazingly bad vx dealer for work to be done
> 
> James


You would think they had learned from the last one being so bad


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## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

I have to say I like the look of the new VXR, in fact I actually thought the old VXR looked rather nice as well. Was that bit more lairy than the rivals. 

A friend of mine has a new Astra and in even in standard form it's a good looking car so by the look of the VXR it'll have plenty of road presence. 

That said, it wouldn't be enough to detract me from the Megane RS. The Megane is more subtle to look at but again has more road presence than any video or photo can give justice too. 

I'd personally take the Megane as my choice but the VXR would certainly be my next in line over the fugly ST and Golf GTI. 

Funny thing is our standards of hot hatches must be pretty high when you consider what you get in them now. Over 250bhp, toys to rival the top end cars and fantastic handling so they're all pretty impressive cars.

The only thing I see with these top end hot hatches is that they're now more luxury super hatches than old skool hot hatches. Part of the fun of an old hot hatch is lightness, flimsiness but feeling really connected to the car. Not sure modern hatches like these offer that.


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## gex23 (Mar 6, 2009)

Megane 265 > VXR any day of the week.

Still prefer my Meg R26 to both though


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## robertdon777 (Nov 3, 2005)

The old Astra GTE 16V used to do 15.1 qtr miles at Santa Pod all day long, un-modified

That's progress for you.


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## insanejim69 (Nov 13, 2011)

^^ Now thats a proper hot hatch. I remember an Astra GTE 16v being the first car to scare me to death when I was about 12 year old, in my brother in laws car. :lol: . Loved the digital dash display too. 

James


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

robertdon777 said:


> The old Astra GTE 16V used to do 15.1 qtr miles at Santa Pod all day long, un-modified
> 
> That's progress for you.


The GTE was 0-60mph in 7.4secs 0-100mph in 20.4secs. Officially.

According to stats I see [email protected] is standard car times.

The MK4 GSi Turbo(I had one of these) was [email protected] and the VXR almost identical.

The MK2 Focus RS I have seen have all been mid to high [email protected] usually. I've seen a few in the 15s but that is probably driver error.

But yeah the Astra is a bit too heavy blunting the performance.


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## B17BLG (Jun 26, 2012)

S1600Marc said:


> I'd much prefer a Focus ST


Seriously?

Uploaded via my test iSpamphone on Vodafone on Tapatalk2


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

B17BLG said:


> Seriously?
> 
> Uploaded via my test iSpamphone on Vodafone on Tapatalk2


Ford must have one of the most loyal customer bases of any manufacturer.

They are a passionate bunch and never will they concede to their arch enemy Vauxhall. That would be like a Liverpool fan cheering on Man Utd.


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## DJ X-Ray (Sep 2, 2012)

GTE...My brother had one,fast little motors.They were the days of IE turbos iirc,and 1.9 Peugeot 205 GTI slippery when wet though


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## bigmc (Mar 22, 2010)

Kerr said:


> Ford must have one of the most loyal customer bases of any manufacturer.
> 
> They are a passionate bunch and never will they concede to their arch enemy Vauxhall. That would be like a Liverpool fan cheering on Man Utd.


I don't think they're as bad a dubbers yet though, I'm a Ford nut but will judge on merit, there are times when your heart rules your head though.


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## MattJ10 (Oct 18, 2012)

After seeing the new A Class at my local Mercedes I'll have one of them over all of the above


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

bigmc said:


> I don't think they're as bad a dubbers yet though, I'm a Ford nut but will judge on merit, there are times when your heart rules your head though.


Very true too.

The 2nd hand value of any of the warmer VWs and Audis has got out of hand.

Looking at the price of R or GTi branded VWs, Audi S3 and the Audi TTS I just look and think that is prices of cars of a higher class.

When you can buy a used BMW M3 for the same as used TTS the world has gone mad.

A 335i for scirroco money.

VW do make good cars but I don't see what has changed in the last few years why desirability has shot through the roof so much.

I've not understood why premuiun car values have gone one way and VW has gone the other.


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## DarrylB (Feb 17, 2006)

Kerr said:


> How can a hot hatch have 276BHP and lack performance so much?


Quick Anwer: WEIGHT. After a quick search on t'interweb I found this:

MK4 GSI: 1250 KG

Mk5 VXR: 1318 KG (+68KG over the GSI)

GTC VXR: 1475 KG (+225KG over the GSI and +157KG over the Mk5)

all the gadgets, safety kit and electronics come at a weight cost.


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

DarrylB said:


> Quick Anwer: WEIGHT. After a quick search on t'interweb I found this:
> 
> MK4 GSI: 1250 KG
> 
> ...


That would give the GSi power to weight ratio of 157.6 BHP per ton, 179.8bhp per ton for the VXR and the MK2 187.2bhp.

Generally you find the faster you go the less the weight matters and the overall power and torque shines through.

Reading through the Autocar test they also weigh the car and it actually weighed well over vauxhall's claims at 1565kg.

However it posted the same lap time around their track as the Focus RS.

*Our maximum lateral grip figure on the test track of 0.99g mid-corner doesn't seem to quite do justice to how much mid-corner roadholding the Astra seems to find. There are very few cars, it feels to us, that would keep up with it down a given road. Certainly, it's fast on a test track; the 1min 16.7sec time we posted around our dry handling circuit was as fast as the last Ford Focus RS. *

It does seem to be the case it lacks straight line speed but makes up for it elsewhere.

I went into the Vauxhall dealer near me today to see one.

Sadly they don't have one and are struggling to get one. They have only had one so far and he says it sold on day one.

Speaking money he said it would be list price. No chance!

I pointed out the ones down south that are pre registered for £22k but he didn't want to budge.

Guess I will need to go to go to another dealer to see a demo.


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

http://www.evanshalshaw.com/vehicle...-car-sm12svl.html?registration_number=sm12svl

The backside isn't half falling out of these already. I see this one in a dealer for £19.5k at only 6 months old.

That car has lost a third of its value already.

That would be really hard to take if you bought it new. At that price it is making a bit more sense now though.


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## robertdon777 (Nov 3, 2005)

Kerr said:


> The GTE was 0-60mph in 7.4secs 0-100mph in 20.4secs. Officially.
> 
> According to stats I see [email protected] is standard car times.
> 
> ...


I've seen first hand one do lots of 15.1 qtr's at Santa Pod but then the grip is better at the pod than at say Bruntingthorpe where they may of tested them for Autocar.


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## robertdon777 (Nov 3, 2005)

Kerr said:


> http://www.evanshalshaw.com/vehicle...-car-sm12svl.html?registration_number=sm12svl
> 
> The backside isn't half falling out of these already. I see this one in a dealer for £19.5k at only 6 months old.
> 
> ...


I like the look of the Insignia VXR Tourer for a bargain.

You're correct about the VAG range, anything with an R, RS, S or GTi badge commands far too much for what it actually is. The price doesn't equal the sum of its parts.

Buy a Passat R36 and they are expensive still, but if you buy the Passat CC 3.6 (same car really in a better body) they are dirtcheap. 09 plates for 14K, thats a 300bhp 4WD discreet family saloon/coupe (very good looking too) for less than a second hand diesel 10plate Mondeo!


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## Grommit (May 3, 2011)

I've got a 4 day test drive in one next weekend. Fri-Mon and will let you know what its actually like. Pictures and how it goes. Should be interesting as I have also driven the previous VXR and liked it alot.


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## B17BLG (Jun 26, 2012)

Everyone who has purchased one seems to be very impressive with the Handling of this car!

But saying that most of them coming from the MK1, which is not hard to be impressed about any kind of handling :lol:


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

I was told by a salesman they have all been recalled to replaced the diff?


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## B17BLG (Jun 26, 2012)

Kerr said:


> I was told by a salesman they have all been recalled to replaced the diff?


Yeah a drexler fault


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