Vauxhall VXR8

Road Test

Your Say

Test date 06 June 2007 Price as tested £35,105

For Meaty V8, surprising chassis balance, low price, grip, space

AgainstStill a little rough around the edges, suspension judder under heavy braking

The VXR8 is familiar in parts, and all-new in others. Costing £35,105, it is still about performance for peanuts, but this time there’s the added practicality of four doors compared to the old Monaro. Does this diminish the ultimate Vauxhall’s appeal? Not one bit: fast saloons have always been cooler than their two-door counterparts, and with genuine room for four the VXR8 has all the makings of a cut-price M5 or RS4 alternative.

Based on Holden’s latest VE series Commodore, the VXR8 benefits from improved weight distribution (51/49 per cent front/rear), a five-link rear suspension, a stiffer bodyshell and quicker-witted steering.

Turning the workaday Holden saloon – where even the entry model gets a 3.6 V6 – into a super-saloon falls to Holden Special Vehicles, which upgrades the brakes, engine and suspension and fits the aggressive bumpers and indiscreet boot spoiler.

Vauxhall claims the first UK buyers are coming from Imprezas and Evos – entirely understandable when you see the VXR8 in profile. There’s no question that it comes from the ‘if you’ve got it, flaunt it’ school of styling. Large 19-inch alloys are standard, with 20-inch rims a £2500 option. The standard exhaust finishes with four tailpipes, replaced on our test car with the £1100 sports exhaust.

The significant carryover from the Monaro is the powertrain: the same 6.0-litre LS2 V8 that powers the current Corvette, but with electrical tweakery nudging power up to 411bhp, mated to the same six-speed manual ’box as before (with a shorter final drive ratio) or, for the first time in a VXR product, an optional automatic, also with six speeds.

Yet for all the talk of new-generation Commodores and multi-link suspension, the VXR8 remains a steel-bodied car powered by an engine producing just 69bhp per litre. Effective and characterful, perhaps, but hardly cutting-edge.