THERE is nothing understated about the Vauxhall VXR8 so if you want to stand out from the crowd, in a muscle car that would give most heavyweight Yanks a hard time, this is it.
It comes in a couple of very loud colours including banana yellow and eye-searing red, and you can see it coming from about four miles.
You can also hear it if the driver plants his right foot, thanks to twin exhausts the size of sewer pipes coming out of the back.
However, planting said foot too hard is not for the faint hearted because this machine will quite easily catapult you into the middle of next week, given half a chance.
And as you can see from the prices below, it is a huge bargain second-hand.
The only real problem is the economy, which makes my camper van seem positively frugal.
The handling and road holding are amazing, the brakes stupendous and it even rides comfortably.
Interior
It comes with sat nav, recaro leather seats, cruise, parking sensors, adjustable suspension, massive if rather ugly alloys, carbon fibre trim and everything else you can think of.
There’s a wonderful burble from that massive exhaust that is truly addictive, but I found it could cause resonance at cruising speeds in top.
FAST FACTS
Vauxhall, VXR8
Price: Pay just £12,200 for an ’07 07-reg model, or £21,400 for a ’10 10-reg
Mechanical: 411bhp, 5,967cc, 8 cyl petrol engine driving rear wheels via 6-speed manual or automatic gearbox
Max speed: 155mph (limited)
0-62mph: 5.1 seconds
Combined mpg: 18
Insurance group: 45
CO2 emissions: 365g/km
Main rival: Mercedes E63 AMG
Motors.co.uk value verdict:
