Table of contents for June - July 2019 in Performance Vauxhall

When I picked up the very first issue of this awesome mag - way back in 2001 - I never thought I'd be sitting in the big chair eighteen years, one name change, and two hundred issues later! But who the hell am I? Well, my name's Midge (or Jamie to my Mum), and I've been in the car magazine business long enough to know what slide film and Letraset is. Chances are, if you've picked a copy of Fast Car in the last couple of decades you would have read a few of my ramblings. Some of it was probably legible too. But, I guess that's my point. I've never been a normal 'career' jorno, the truth is, I'm just a car nut like you… and I bet your…

Direnza Corsa VXR Exhaust £240 Maybe, just maybe the best thing about this new Corsa D cat-back isn’t so much that it’ll bag you a load more horses and improve throttle response – it’s that the soundtrack alone will instantly put a big, fat smile on your face. Then again, that goes double for the price too! Expertly formed from T304, mandrel bent stainless steel, if there’s just one performance bargain you pick for your little VXR it should be this one. Although, that said, they also have a whole load of other top stuff in development for the baby hatch… or so the boss tells us. www.direnza.co.uk Road Angel Pure £249 Unlike many of the smartphone apps that are designed to do a similar job, this brand-new unit from…

OLD SKOOL COOL special There’s an old saying, propagated by a campaign of tyre adverts in the 1990s, that ‘power is nothing without control’. It’s a logical sentiment, and usually we’d fully agree with it: if you’ve turbo’d your Nova or thrown a V8 in your Calibra, it makes perfect sense to upgrade your suspension and your brakes, and have a good hard think about your tyre choice, in order to fully exploit the power at hand when you’re out and about on those late-night B-road blasts. Drag-racing, however, doesn’t have much of a grounding in logic. When the aim is as straightforward as getting from point A to the hazy point B a quarter-mile or eighth-mile away, and do so quicker than the guy in the other car, brute…

There are a few top staff projects coming (or returning) to these pages over the next few issues. But, as space is proving to be tight in this rather jam-packed publication, I thought it’s only prudent to start with mine - say hello to my little friend, my Corsa D VXR. Now, being smaller than your average bear, I’ve always been a hot hatch guy, and all the more if it’s one sporting a relatively small, lightweight lump and a turbo. The truth is though, I’ve had my fair share of the retro stuff, and lobbed more than a few redtops and such into Corsas and Novas over the years. I’d like to do a few more in fact, but I’m getting on a bit now, and being a fan…

ADAM WALTON’S NOVA MERIT PV SAYS Nice Nova GSi, right? Well, in actual fact, Adam’s pride and joy here started off life as a Nova Merit, which is currently in the process of receiving the full GSi overhaul from top to bottom. “Once I decided to go for a GSi replica look, things spiralled out of control,” he grins. “I wanted to do everything properly, so the car now boasts parts like genuine badges, side skirts, a full interior and even electric window and central locking conversions!” Proper job, eh? Still currently rocking the Merit’s 1.2-litre engine, Adam reveals that the only parts left to replace to make this a fully-fledged GSi will be the beefier car’s 1.6-litre motor and a couple more bits of black interior trim – all…

The Car At a similar price-point to the Corsa D VXR, you’ll find the bigger-brother Astra H VXR of the same vintage, which makes it a personal choice between the two rather than a cost compromise. This bodyshape, launched back in 2004, was something of a world car for the brand, being built in such diverse and far-flung locales as Germany, Belgium, Brazil, Egypt, Poland and Russia as well as Ellesmere Port, and like any Astra it offered a bewildering variety of spec levels and styles. The VXR was a popular model, not least thanks to favourable press and TV reviews at launch, and the spec isn’t to be sniffed at: with its 2.0-litre turbo motor serving up 237bhp, this was the most powerful hot hatch you could buy in…

It’s been an interesting start to the year so far. At the time of writing, the PMR boys (and girls) have just returned from the second round at Donington Park, bringing some silverware home with them, and pulling in a decent points haul across Race Day itself. This follows what can only be described as a pretty awful weekend at the opening round at Brands Hatch. It all started so well, with BTCC ace and TV-personality Jason Plato qualifying second, putting in a blistering qualifying lap towards the end of the session. The first race of the day started well, but almost immediately took a turn for the worse, as Jason immediately received a “drivethrough” penalty, meaning he had to drive through the pits, observing the pitlane speed limit of…

When it comes to the rather full-on Modified Nationals weekend, the name of the game is clearly diversity. Now, I’m not talking about grown men dancing about on stage, or even the fact that the show is open to all modified cars of any make and model. Focussing on the bits we’re most interested in for a minute – the ones with a Griffin on the bootlid – the fact is that you’ll find it all here. Every part of our world is represented, everything from retro-restos and highperformance track/road builds, to audio cars and superbly stanced street cars. Exactly the sort of all-encompassing stuff our new Ed bangs on about when it comes to the finery of the UK Vauxhall scene (you’re not wrong there! – Midge). There’s also…

MIDGE CORSA VXR The little man loves his little cars, especially the rapid ones! DAN H VECTRA GSi From big saloon to track legend, you’ll see more of this one soon! DAN FURR VECTRA VXRS Dan loves his Vectras so much he’s got two (that we know of). DAN FURR CAVALIERS Yep, you guessed it, he’s got a few of these retro monsters too. DOUGIE ASTRA COUPE A Total Vauxhall legend set to return to the PV fold. Nice! JULIAN ZAFIRA 1.9CDTi 150 Flying the flag for plenty of practicality… and some fun.…

The ‘R’ in VXR has always stood for ‘Racing’. As you’ll already know, this iconic badge’s roots lie in the VX Racing BTCC entrants of 2003, prepared by long-time competition partners Triple 8 Racing. The following year, the VXR badge debuted on uprated versions of the Monaro and VX220, before filtering down to the rest of the model range; by 2005, buyers were able to drive an Astra VXR straight out of the showroom, and it wasn’t long before the Vectra, Corsa, Zafira and (weirdly) Meriva followed suit. So, what does that mean for us? Well, enough water has passed under the bridge that some of these early models are becoming surprisingly inexpensive, while later models are getting properly affordable too. So, we’ve pulled together four of our favourites to…

The Car Over the years, Vauxhall have enjoyed the unruliness of applying the VXR badge to unexpected models, like the Zafira, the Meriva, and the Insignia. What’s important to note is that they’re not just paying lip service to the racy subbrand – it’s not just the badge being applied, but the ethos and the engineering too. So the Insignia VXR is every bit a contender as any other VXR-badged variant, although what’s most pleasing to note is that it’s still very much an Insignia – that is, comfortable, cosseting, wellappointed and refined. It also just so happens to be a bit of a mentalist, thanks to its 321bhp turbocharged 2.8-litre V6. That’s a hell of a lot of engine to shove into a repmobile, so you’ll also find the…

While the Guinness World Record for the largest number of vehicles ripping a simultaneous burnout keeps jumping from country to country in recent years (currently 126 cars in Australia, January 2019), it’s hard to argue against Australia’s reputation for being the land of the burnout. 20-odd years ago, the country’s annual Summernats Festival was really the primary place to be for competitive burnouts. Today, there are numerous events including – or even dedicated to – burnout competitions, some offering big prize money. Unlike the Americans who have historically ripped their skids in a static fashion, often on a thick steel plate, Aussies have turned tyre destruction into an art form. Highspeed 360-degree spins, drifting and donuts are all part of the repertoire and drivers are judged on consistency of smoke,…

The best things in life are often the ones we don’t plan for in advance. Just think about it: we’ve all got unforgettable memories of spontaneous nights out at the pub with mates that have turned a little crazy. And we don’t imagine you had that hilarious honeymoon skinnydipping session jotted down in the diary before it happened either. In a similar vein, Cornwall-based Callum here never considered that the relationship with his Astra VXR Nürburgring would flourish in the way it has done since he snapped it up a few years back. But it only makes the end result even sweeter. After owning a couple of classic Minis to start off with, window cleaner Callum’s car history has revolved almost entirely around BMWs or Japanese cars of the rearwheel-drive…

This is a weird one to approach. Performance Vauxhall has always been about outrageous motors with highly modified features to match; so, pitching in this seemingly ordinary Insignia might seem a tad out of the box, but stick with me. First things first, this is the fastest Vauxhall estate on sale today (thanks to a constant battle with emissions laws). Dubbed the Sports Tourer, you’ll get a 1.6-litre turbocharged four-pot under the bonnet with a punchy 200PS at your disposal. All this goes through the front wheels with the choice of a six-speed manual box or six-speed auto. The car we’ve driven here is mated to the auto box, which, lets be honest, is most likely going to be the most popular option. Then again, auto boxes have come a…

OLD SKOOL COOL special Self-awareness is something so often absent from the car scene. Some people are so relentlessly keen to impress, they talk up their achievements like Donald Trump until they’re in very real danger of being ingested by their own backsides. What we really need more of is a focus on reality, a sense of humour, and most importantly of all, not to take things too seriously. That said, being serious where it counts is imperative. Let’s take the Chevette we have here as a perfect illustrative example: the exterior isn’t exactly rat-look, and it’s by no means a sleeper – there are far too many clues here that something sneaky is happening behind the scenes. It’s more an exercise in function over form; a necessary housing for…

OLD SKOOL COOL special The lifecycle of the Nova is a shifting and evolutionary one. Being a dyed-in-the-wool Vauxhall enthusiast, you’ll know this. Those angular box arches have been with us since 1983, and in that time the model’s passed through a number of phases; what began as a frugal and sensible shopping car took on a harder edge with the arrival of the sportier variants – the perky SR, then the brawny GTE and GSI – which allowed it to become the darling of the clubman rally scene and, most visibly, the poster boy for the ‘ban-thecruise’ media crusade of the late-’90s and early-’00s. But as the Citroën Saxo replaced the Nova as the modding villain of choice, it was able to enjoy a certain reinvigoration of credibility. Nowadays…

The Car The D-generation Corsa represented a fresh new direction for the evergreen supermini line. Based on the new SCCS platform (jointly developed by GM and Fiat), it was a sufficiently well-packaged and versatile urban runabout to bag the coveted Car of the Year award from What Car? and assorted other titles. Of course, the one we’re really interested in is the hot VXR variant: this sported a perky 1.6-litre turbo motor offering up a vibrant 189bhp and 192lb.ft in stock form, imbuing it with true 140mph potential and a 0-62mph time of 6.8-seconds. It was well equipped too, with cool and huggy Recaros as standard, along with climate control and a pretty decent audio system. The 888 tuning package was offered from 2008, which added AP Racing brakes and…

The Car Of the four cars in the guide, this is very much the oddball of the group. Being a Vauxhall fan, you don’t need us to tell you that the Corsa, Astra and Insignia are all Vauxhall/Opel products that have had the VXR treatment applied to augment their European architecture, whereas the VXR8 is essentially a rebadged Australian muscle car. But it wears a griffin badge, which means it’s part of the family! Sold from 2007-17, the VXR8 was based on two distinct Holden models – from 2007-10 it was an HSV Clubsport under the skin, and from then on it was the HSV GTS. Early cars used the GM LS2 (Gen IV) 6.0-litre V8, putting out 411bhp, and later models used LS3 (Gen IV) 6.2-litre for 425bhp. The…

The Vauxhall VX220 – badged as the Opel Speedster in Europe – represents a very smart bit of joined-up thinking. You see, back at the turn of the century when new crash safety regulations were being introduced across Europe, Lotus needed to come up with a plan to replace the first-gen Elise. Being a small, niche manufacturer, they had to strike a deal with a major partner in order to secure the requisite investment in the platform, and General Motors were the big boys who were willing to sign the cheque. The deal was that Lotus would get the funds to develop their new Series 2 Elise, and at the same time they’d use the platform to create a new line of Vauxhall and Opel sports cars. So the VX220,…