2012 Vauxhall VXR.
Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 10:45 am
Looks quite nice actually.
Not quite as powerful as the rumours suggested but it will no doubt go like stink. 20" wheels and Brembos plus LSD as well. :salut:
Vauxhall will launch a scorching 277bhp Vauxhall Astra VXR next year with the promise of best-in-class performance to ecplise its well-established front-drive rivals. Powered by a turbocharged, direct-injection two-litre ‘Family II’ engine boasting 295lb ft of torque, the latest hot VXR is the most powerful production Astra ever.
Distinguished by a sporty lower air intake with dominant outer brake ducts and 20inch multi-spoke alloys that push right to the edge of the arches, the VXR sits aggressively on the road.
Inside is a sporty cabin with high-back seats, trimmed in leather with contrast stitching and a sporty VXR-badged steering wheel.
Like the rest of the GTC range, the VXR gets GM/Saab’s HiPer strut at the front to retain steering finesse while the front wheels cope with transmitting a large-degree of torque.
An adaptation of a conventional front-strut, the VXR’s design features a separate knuckle joint that stops the ‘steering fight’ or torque steer that high power front-drive cars usually suffer from. Ford and Renault use similar designs in their rival hot hatches.
The VXR will also employ a mechanical limited slip differential, which will cut wheelspin and improve traction from a standing start and out of corners.
Although it remains to be seen whether this diff will introduce its own steering effects,
Both generations of Ford Focus RS have suffered this problem, although the more recent car was less susceptible.
Like the last-generation hot Astra, the cockpit will feature a VXR switch to adjust the FlexRide adaptive dampers to an uncompromised, track setting. A less hardcore Sport setting will also be available.
Also improved on the new GTC VXR are the brakes, where the standard stoppers are replaced with competition-derived models from Brembo.
The chassis has been tuned at the Nurburgring, although Vauxhall isn’t yet divulging a time and some of the development work was done by racer Jo Winkelhock.
Winkelhock won the 1999 Le Mans 24 at the wheel of a BMW sports prototype and he drove for Vauxhal’s sister-company Opel in the DTM.
‘We have devised a great package that will convince even the most enthusiastic drivers,’ says Winkelhock, ‘and not just on the Nurburgring.’
Not quite as powerful as the rumours suggested but it will no doubt go like stink. 20" wheels and Brembos plus LSD as well. :salut:
Vauxhall will launch a scorching 277bhp Vauxhall Astra VXR next year with the promise of best-in-class performance to ecplise its well-established front-drive rivals. Powered by a turbocharged, direct-injection two-litre ‘Family II’ engine boasting 295lb ft of torque, the latest hot VXR is the most powerful production Astra ever.
Distinguished by a sporty lower air intake with dominant outer brake ducts and 20inch multi-spoke alloys that push right to the edge of the arches, the VXR sits aggressively on the road.
Inside is a sporty cabin with high-back seats, trimmed in leather with contrast stitching and a sporty VXR-badged steering wheel.
Like the rest of the GTC range, the VXR gets GM/Saab’s HiPer strut at the front to retain steering finesse while the front wheels cope with transmitting a large-degree of torque.
An adaptation of a conventional front-strut, the VXR’s design features a separate knuckle joint that stops the ‘steering fight’ or torque steer that high power front-drive cars usually suffer from. Ford and Renault use similar designs in their rival hot hatches.
The VXR will also employ a mechanical limited slip differential, which will cut wheelspin and improve traction from a standing start and out of corners.
Although it remains to be seen whether this diff will introduce its own steering effects,
Both generations of Ford Focus RS have suffered this problem, although the more recent car was less susceptible.
Like the last-generation hot Astra, the cockpit will feature a VXR switch to adjust the FlexRide adaptive dampers to an uncompromised, track setting. A less hardcore Sport setting will also be available.
Also improved on the new GTC VXR are the brakes, where the standard stoppers are replaced with competition-derived models from Brembo.
The chassis has been tuned at the Nurburgring, although Vauxhall isn’t yet divulging a time and some of the development work was done by racer Jo Winkelhock.
Winkelhock won the 1999 Le Mans 24 at the wheel of a BMW sports prototype and he drove for Vauxhal’s sister-company Opel in the DTM.
‘We have devised a great package that will convince even the most enthusiastic drivers,’ says Winkelhock, ‘and not just on the Nurburgring.’
