Our hot hatch returns to the test
track to see if it’s any quicker now.
Autocar’s road test performance figures are
not to be trifled with; we like to think they’re definitive. Every car is
tested on the same bit of track and given the same amount of time and number of
attempts to hit the manufacturers’ claims, and the results are final. That way,
they’re as fair a basis for comparison as we can make ’em.
Vauzhall
Astra VXP
Our test archive for the current Astra VXR,
done last summer, records a 0-60mph sprint of 6.4sec and CHOOmph in 16.5sec and
that’s how it’ll stay. I was the bloke who did the numbers, and I know the car
was given every opportunity that it was due to go as fast as it could on the
day.
The thing is, after running our VXR for the
past six months, I’ve been unable to shake the feeling that we didn’t quite do
the hot hatch justice that day - that it should have gone quicker. It was no
faster accelerating than the previous Astra VXR, after all, and it was
considerably slower than the Ford Focus RS and Renault Megane 250.
So to a different track, on a different
day, when the weather was warm enough to get the best out of the Toyo tires I
fitted over the winter. The 11,000 miles might have liberated a smidgen more
performance from the snorting turbocharged engine, too. Even - if they hadn’t
familiarity with the car’s slightly truculent driveline and gutsy power
delivery could surely only lead to a quicker time.
I’d forgotten how difficult this car is to
get off the line; even by big-hitting hot hatch standards, it’s a toughie. If
you want to get anywhere near Vauxhall’s official acceleration claim - 5.9sec
to 62mph - you’ll need ‘VXR’ mode engaged on the drive mode selector (so that
the engine response is as sharp as possible) and the traction control switched
off (so that the electronics don’t drain your momentum the moment the wheels
start to spin up). A bit of wheel spin is unavoidable in this scenario; a lot
of it is reason to abort and try again. And the difference between the two
feels like about a millimeter of accelerator travel. You need enough heat in
the tires, but not too much soaked into the transmission and that’s not an easy
balance to try to judge, either.
Vauzhall
Astra VXP - back
The quickest way forwards is to use about
70 per cent power in first gear, keep the turbo spinning during your first gear-change,
and allow the engine to rev all the way to 6000rpm in second and hit 60mph
before shifting again.
Ten standing starts later, I felt more
satisfied about finding everything this car has to give. Most of them still
produced 0-60mph in 6.4 to 6.6sec, disappointingly. On one run in each
direction, though, 60mph came up in 6.1sec and 100mph in 15.7sec.
Vauzhall
Astra VXP – control system
That may still be slower than most of the
car’s important rivals, but for Vauxhall, for my fellow Astra VXR faithful and
for my conscience, it feels like a step in the right direction.
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Vauxhall
Astra VXR
·
Price: $40,495
·
Price as tested: $45,490
·
Economy: 26.5mpg
·
Faults: Intermittent seatbelt buzzer
·
Expenses: 4x Toyo Proxes T1 Sport tires $1,206
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