Jimbob

iTrader: (13)

Should have had some work done to it, as my old Vectra used to hassle standard VXR`s, and beat fair few (was 251bhp and 250lbft). If they had work done they do fly but crap at handling. My mate has an older Astra with a new VXR lump and yeah it does go well, but isn`t great. The 1/4 mile is one thing, I`d rather be in a scoob on a twisty road than an Astra, as the astra understeers, lift off over steer, and is a nasty chassis.

Horses for courses really, big engine and torque for 1/4 mile, and responsive chassis and power plant for twisties.

Jimbob

iTrader: (13)

Damn double posts.

GREGGYG

iTrader: (2)

This whole thread is about ONE man getting beaten on ONE occasion by an Astra VXR.

I have just sold a Corsa VXR, with a Quaife LSD which I had fitted, and it was still absolutely rubbish on a wet road, and the traction control light would light up at full throttle in 2nd and 3rd gear on a DRY road. It bumped and crashed over small road bumps, it felt tinny, it squeaked and had a few rattles. The chaps on the VXR online forum told me to be gentle with the throttle.

I am now back, thank God, in a blobeye jdm sti, where I can floor the throttle in any gear on any road surface, dry or wet, perfectly. The Subaru will never torque steer, its a dynamic car, designed and made in a way that no Vauxhall could ever match. (in my humble opinion)

My Corsa VXR went to Vauxhall's 3 times in 1 year for warranty issues, a failed heater motor, an ABS problem, a failed window motor regulator.....what next? My previous 7 Imprezas never saw a garage other for servicing, and for 1 warranty issue, the knocking rear struts on an sti.

So, to conclude, just because ONE man got beaten on ONE occasion, its no big deal, and I keep my reaction proportionate!

Greg

PS: I've already sold the Corsa so you dont have to ask me why I'm slating it whilst its in the for sale section here on Scoobynet!

vava voom

iTrader: (6)

sorry about the delay chaps.....i have ONLY ever run my car on shell optimax or tesco 99 ron never uk fuel so i dont imagine i have lost that much power, no expense is spared come service time.....and as for the astra he definatley had a some bits and bobs done under her skirt...he pulled away to quickley and to be fair it had a very nice roar to it to with lots of poping and banging going on......but to tell you truth, i would like to see another one pull up beside me because iam getting a lot of mixed views from this thread (which is great by the way gives me something intresting to read at work lol) but iam about 90% sure he's done some work to it.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

My Astra 1.9 cdti 120 16v is quicker than an Astra 1.9 cdti 120 8v as the other guy found out (I was quite impressed how much quicker too, and he was trying ) so tuning it you could imagine how much quicker a 200bhp 16v astra diesel would be over a 120 8v diesel astra

My point being is that you have no idea what modifications the VXR had, so no idea how much power or had the guy spent 10k on handling/engine mods.

Tony

PS, my astra has only been back to the dealers once for a new boost solenoid valve, excellent other wise

nick172sport

iTrader: (6)

ive got a scoob as a daily driver most off the time i drive on motorways and towns no twistys i get all sorts have cars havin a doo at me mondeo tdci will keep up with a scoob 0.60 golf 170 bhp deisal will woop it and a vectra v6 will leave it from standing start the pick up is unbelievable on the vauxhall lower down had a mondeo st aswell and i think its quicker than a scoob

STI Mav

LOL - funny that because, I've had exactly the same experience in reverse. Spent most of my 6 months of scooby ownership in garages getting something tuned, fixed, repaired what ever the case. Driving it was not relaxing or enjoyable either - constantly turning the radio down wandering what that sound was or what might give in next and worrying because I knew if it did it was probably going to be a good couple of grand to repair.

In comparison the Vectra VXR I have now is an absolute dream to drive. Loaded with just about every single optional extra you can think of - you just get in, relax and drive it - much happier It has to be said. Not to mention the rocket ship type straight line performance that I honestly wasn't expecting from such a big car.

Horses for courses as they say

nick172sport

iTrader: (6)

im in two minds to buy a vectra or astra is yours the 3.2 turbo

Westwood2006

iTrader: (1)

Lol. We should invite the VXR boys for an open day doing 1/4 mile runs in the wet.... followed by a scooby-sprint style challenge.

Then we'd sort the wheat from the BS chaff!! Gotta love that VXR thread. 7 pages already!

I used to be a Vauxhall man back in the day. Then the Vectra ruined it. Haven't been back since.

(Don't tell anyone but I do like the look of the VXR though it has to be said. Nice looking motor and that engine would make a great donor for a kit car )

STI Mav

I have the VXR which is a 2.8ltr V6 Turbo - Anything Pre 07 came with 255bhp. Later ones are 276bhp and 260lbs/ft Torque.

Bluefin remap from Thonrey motorsport or direct from Superchips will see 300bhp and 350lbs/ft Torque without doing anything else on both versions.

Edit - Sorry I've been corrected. I'm being told that 95% of Bluefinned Vectra VXR's do 300/400. I'm even happier now

Megaman

iTrader: (4)

I had a Focus ST with a GGR ST300 conversion which gave it 325bhp / 500NM on the rolling road. The car was great in a straight line in the dry and would pull away from a lot of cars out there including various scoobies. On B roads and in wet conditions it would very easily light up the front wheels and become really hard to put the power down even with toyos.

The WR1 that i have now lacks the torque but makes up for it with the balance and the planted feel it has. It can put the power down in the wet or the dry, can go round corners a lot quicker and safer than the Focus ST ever did. It is also better built as after 15 mins on silverstone in the focus the brakes had boiled, clutch wasnt very well and the driveshafts werent very healthy. No probs with the scooby touch wood after several track events. The hot hatches are easier to live with day to day but the scoobys are still the drivers car who want to use their cars all year round to their max.

my 2 penneth

nick172sport

iTrader: (6)

ford was in my day first scooby frankley i think there ****e compared to my vectra and modeo st

dan69royal

I SOLD MY 300BHP ASTRA VXR THE OTHER DAY. GUTTED TO BE HONEST. THEY ARE BEASTS WITH THE RIGHT MODIFICATIONS. TORQUE STEER AND FRONT WHEEL DRIVE............BLA BLA BLA.......
WITH THE RIGHT MODS THEY WILL SMASH A WELL SET UP SCOOBY ON THE TRACK.
1/4 MILE TIMES 4WD WOULD WIN, NO QUESTION, EVEN WHEN UP AGAINST SOME OF THE 420BHP ASTRAS KNOCKING ABOUT. BUT FOR IN GEAR SPEEDS I THINK IT WILL MAKE ALOT OF PEOPLE THINK THEY HAVE WASTED ALOT OF THERE WELL EARNED MONEY. TWO DIFFERNET CLASSES THO. NOT SURE WHAT YOUR RUNNING MATE BUT U WILL NO DOUBT OF HAD SIMILAR POWER, BUT VXR'S TEND TO HAVE SMALLER TURBOS SO GET ON BOOST QUICKER AND TEND TO SMASH NEARLY EVERYTHING ON SHORT SPRINTS.

nick172sport

iTrader: (6)

exactley short sprints who can ever go over the speed limits these days i would rather have a car that will **** off anything up tu 70 mph anything above is a no no with all the traffic etc

badman1972

Both great cars and both well deserving of respect..............find some of the playground comments on both sides hilarious and embarrassing to be honest amongst some fair and sensible ones it has to be said...............

speights

iTrader: (2)

+1 Went to the P1 day at Prodive thats what subarus are all about for me ,great cars and brilliant atmosphere among fellow owners.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

There will be lots of differences between the 2 cars, well several actually but what is the gearing like on the VXR? I know my 1.9 CDTI could probably hit 150mph if tuned, so gearing on the vxr to about 165mph? and what sort of torque levels are you talking for a 300bhp vxr?
Plus the vxr is a good car, but there are a few subaru's out there that have also done the nurburgring in under 8 mins (ok just under but still under ) as out of the box cars, and tested by subaru to get those figures

Also, what sort of cost does it take to get a vxr to 400+bhp, its rather cheap to do that with the newer shape subaru Impreza STI's than the older classic shape (about 3k for 400+), so are we really wasting money?
Are the VXR's also twin scroll turbo's? if so which turbo's do you use and what is the standard unit on them?

Tony

mit

iTrader: (10)

You've not been in an RA then, short sprints is what they're about!

jono300

iTrader: (8)

Believe the Vectra vxr is very, very quick as standard !! some nice youtube " topgear " tests off this very car on there...worth watching !!!

JDM_Stig

iTrader: (3)

After all that can the OP actually drive ?
The way its driven makes a difference then if you expect the car TO just beat someone,
Ive been in enough tuned vxr cars not just Astras to know they are quick but if your being beaten in a similar powered scooby your not driving it correctly, I agree a 300BHP astra will beat a standard 225 scoob with weight/tranny drive etc ur way down on them.

rovermb6

Sounds like your driving is as bad as your punctuation, either that or your cars not running right.

GlesgaKiss

Was this in a straight line or down some country road? If so, there's no point comparing two cars anyway, as the other guy could have just been mental and you maybe not trying as hard. It's not everyone that pushes a car to the limit of grip on the road, anyone that does is going to be quicker than someone in a faster car who doesn't.

Not a surprise if it was in straight line though, the VXRs aren't slow cars!

vava voom

iTrader: (6)

it was in straight line mate...took a corner then we both floored it he left me i then reached my restrictor and eased of didnt want to put too much pressure on the car.

Westwood2006

iTrader: (1)

+1

Do not feed the troll!

paulbu

This whole episode can be likened to a young championship side beating a premiership team packed with thirty five year olds where time has taken its toll. It's time to make some new young signings, VVV.

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

Ignore the above VVV, you'd be going backwards in terms of the performance you are talking about in your OP.

My guess like others here is that the VXR you encountered was probably modified. A standard VXR is 185 hp/ton whereas your car if it is running right is about 223 hp/ton (probably more as I think it weighs less than the standard quoted weight). While that may seem a lot of difference in the real world it isnt that great as your car has more transmission losses than a VXR and of course there are things like gearing that come into play. If he seriously left you behind then it must be modded or your car must be seriously down on power, but so much so you would have to have noticed it.

If it really bothers you the first thing I would do would be to get your car to a rolling road and see what power it is making.

If you are up around 276 then your car is fine and then you can look at modding it. But really to get close to a seriously modded VXR you are going to have to spend some cash.

I wouldn't worry about it. Tune your car up nicely and enjoy it..... especially as it will see off anything Subaru offer right now at least in a straight line

mit

iTrader: (10)

The new Sti went round the top gears track 5 seconds faster than a Vectra VXR, and 3 seconds faster than the astra. Be interesting to see what the classic would do it in....

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

The classic may just be quicker than the vectra, near the astra but definately slower than the hatch STI, they have made lots of improvements on the handling and they do handle much better that people think

Tony

STEVECHAPS

Thank god, some sanity at last!

STEVECHAPS

Deluded M8, the '96 era scooby has around 320-340nm torque(?), the hatch STi PPP has 470.........is it 40% heavier? (Lighter than a blob or hawk from what I can tell).
What the hell did you test drive to get such a downer?
Cannot see how it was a STi, STi ppp or a 330S.
I wouldn't be fazed coming up against ANY of today's hot hatches in mine, both straight line or twisties.
Steve (Who sold 1 classic after being slaughtered by an Audi v8 barge & had a lift off oversteer 'problem' with t'other)