Nice New Vauxhalls

I’m sure most people who have even a vague interest in Cars must have heard of the Vauxhall VXR8 also known as the Monaro this is Vauxhalls insane muscle car that defiantly flys in the face of current motoring trends. Well I’ve discovered there is an entire VXR family a sort of family from hell if you like. Vauxhalls slightly understated corporate statement goes something like “VXR takes the experience, knowledge and passion gained from racing and crystallises it into a range of high performance road cars”

Well they’re not kidding! A few minutes spent online led me to a high octane fuelled world where I became entranced by a staggering array of performance figures that left me in awe and amazement, well almost.

You see Vauxhall did not stop at the VXR8 oh no they have created a range that means everyone can experience blistering performance right across the spectrum from the ubiquitous hot hatch to the family saloon and even the MPV all receive an injection of pure adrenaline.

Young men with the money to afford the insurance will be rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of the Corsa VXR which is the smallest model to get the VXR treatment.

It comes with a 1.6 litre 4 cylinder Turbo-charged engine that produces 192 PS and 230NM of torque which increases for five seconds to over 260NM when you apply the turbo over boost. This adds up to a 0-60mph time of 6.8 seconds and a top speed of 140mph. Unlike hot hatches of yesteryear advances in braking means that this will actually stop when you apply the brakes thanks to large diameter disc brakes front and rear you get nice blue calipers as well so no need to get your spray paint out lads.

The Corsa has lowered sports suspension and switchable Electronic Stability Programme (ESP) including Traction Control for those who like to show their road skills without assistance. 17″ Alloy wheels come as standard with ultra-low profile tyres and optional 18″ V spoke Alloys with even lower profile tyres can be had to increase your small but imposing presence round town or more likely in shopping mall car parks after hours.

Next on the list is the Astra which Vauxhall claim to be their hottest hatch ever and then some! The 2.0 litre 4 cylinder Ecotec comes with an updated Turbocharger producing 240 PS and 320NM of torque which propels you from 0-60 in 6.2 seconds and gives a top speed of 152mph. The Astra comes with a centrally mounted trapezoidal tuned sports exhaust, close ratio six-speed gearbox and large diameter disc brakes finished off with 18″ or 19″ Alloys.

The Vectra has always been a favourite with fleet buyers but not sure if they would let you loose in one of these. The VXR gets a 2.8 litre 24valve V6 engine with a twin scroll Turbocharger no less. Those in the know will tell you that this is normally reserved for rally cars and such like, what it means is 280PS and 355MN of torque. 0-60 comes in 6.1 seconds and top speed is restricted to 155mph.

You would think Vauxhall would leave it here but even the Meriva and Zafira have received the VXR treatment. These are the popular MPV models which have been given the potential to make you the fastest Mum or Dad on the school run, not sure if the kids will appreciate Recaro sports seats no doubt they will be busy getting food all over them. It is always handy to know that by the time you have loaded up all their clobber and then gone back home to get the conveniently forgotten sports kit you will still arrive at the school gates before you left!

Well I could not finish without giving the VXR8 a mention, Vauxhall have made some recent “tweaks” to the performance and although they have published an eye watering 0-60 time of 4.9 seconds they have kept the top speed a bit quiet needless to say it is very fast. They have been up front about the CO2 emissions though, something like 365 g/km oops! Never mind.

Jon Barlow

A cult following has grown up for the Vauxhall Astra car – which started off as an innocent enough family hatch back, has become one of the most sorted, tweaked, tuned and enjoyed of the modern breed of vehicles. Both the petrol and diesel derivatives have their followers, with typical sports improvements including tuning systems, special cams, bodywork, spoilers, wheels, tires, breaks – in fact all the usual sports improvements you would expect to make to a car.

But what of the car itself, and how does it cope with the extra tuning that its owners like to throw at it. In this article we’ll take a brief look at some of the most common problems with the car (not that it is unreliable at all as a rule), and give you a chance to pick them up before you actually experience problems with your Vauxhall Astra.

So typical problems flagged up by owners include:

Rear suspension springs tend to break. Well the solution here is to either fit after market shocks – much better road holding anyway. If you have lowered your Astra then you will have done this anyway, but it won’t happen until you have some significant mileage on the car. Further to the suspension issues, one owner mentions that if you start hearing creaks from the suspension it means that the bushes are drying out, and could be replaced or re-greased as required to get everything flowing smoothly again.

Rear disc brakes on Astra Sri models have been known to seize up – for brakes with Bosch calipers. The solution here is pretty simple, either keep your brakes well maintained, or replace them with Lucas calipers. This problem can also occur on some of the 1.8 and 2.0 Astra TDis – you have been warned.

Petrol Astras:

Engines with a cam-belt should have the water pump replaced at the same service intervals as the cam belt.

Diesel Astras:

The Astra 1.7 DTi has been known to have issues with the turbo and also the head gasket at around 80,000 – 100,000 miles. There are also occasional problems with the ECU burning out on this model, and glow plugs can fail leading to inevitable starting problems. This is easy enough to replace of course. Occasional problems with the alternator and the oil cooler have been experienced – but of course these can be experienced with any car.

On the 2.0 Dti Astra models, the turbos have also been known to cause problems at over 80,000 miles. Fuel injection pumps can also fail at a similar mileage particularly if poorer quality diesel has been used in the engine. Some Vauxhall Astra owners point to supermarket diesel being the main culprit here.

Problems will eventually be experienced with fuel injector seals and spill pipes, which will both lead to starting problems until rectified, also there can be EGR problems caused by clogging with soot.

However owners should not be put off by this page – it has to be said that overall the Vauxhall build quality is very good, and reliability from the astra models is fantastic. Systems for Vauxhall Diesel Tuning are readily available making it really easy to get the best out of the car.

There is an enthusiastic network of owners ready and willing to offer help and advice, plus Vauxhall enthusiasts such as ourselves like nothing more that to take half an hour off to discuss our Astras.

So enjoy your Vauxhall Astra car, be it petrol or diesel, and we’ll see you on the track!

Anna Barrington