Vauxhall VXR8

Muscle car is short on hi-tech kit, yet knows how to entertain

Auto Express Car Reviews

April 2008

As we recently proved in Issue 1,008, if you want a powerful four-door super-saloon, there has never been so much choice. The blistering four-door BMW M3, mighty Mercedes C63 AMG and impressive Lexus IS F have all landed in showrooms recently.

But there is a more affordable alternative – and although the VXR8 wears a relatively humble Vauxhall badge and can’t match the technical wizardry and faultless engineering of the new trio, it still has much to offer.

Four-door V8s are still something of a novelty for us Europeans, yet they have long been a hit Down Under. And it’s this Australian love affair with US-sourced eight-cylinder engines that we have to thank for the big Vauxhall.

The car is manufactured and sold in Australia as the Holden HSV GTS, and over here it fits in perfectly as the pinnacle of Vauxhall’s VXR performance brand. There is none of the German efficiency apparent in either the BMW or Mercedes, while the technical attention to detail and impeccable interior quality of the Lexus is nowhere in sight, either. Rather, what the VXR8 delivers is a back-to-basics charm – and that makes it difficult to ignore.

In fact, we liked it so much that last year we voted it 13th out of the UK’s best 20 drivers’ cars in our annual Greatest Drives Special. The Vauxhall has plenty of pace – it recorded the ninth fastest lap at the Anglesey track in north Wales during our shoot-out. But as its 6.0-litre engine offers 550Nm of torque, it’s equally happy burbling along in high gears at low revs.

The soft suspension set-up delivers a reasonable degree of comfort, although the heavy body rolls through corners and the steering lacks the accuracy of the M3’s. The chassis doesn’t have the sharp turn-in and mid-corner traction of its rivals, either.

Yet that’s the point of the VXR8 – it’s an old-school muscle car that impresses you in so many other ways. Whether you’re watching the bodywork shake as you blip the throttle when stationary, savouring the bellowing V8 engine note or enjoying a tyre-smoking getaway on a track, the Vauxhall never fails to raise a smile.

And on the road, its blend of grunt, aggressive looks and performance aren’t matched by many other models at the £35,105 price. The VXR8 is laid back and lacking in pretensions – and it’s a welcome contender in this class of the market.