2005 Vauxhall Astra VXR 2.0L Turbo 6MT (240 HP)

Vehicle Overview

Vauxhall charged the hot hatch segment in 2005 in UK when it introduced the Astra VXR, challenging its competitors with a turbocharged engine and a seductive-looking car.

The British automaker carefully chose which bodywork version of the Astra should be used to make the VXR variant. It disregarded the five-door regular hatchback, which was Vauxhall’s competitor for the mundane Volkswagen Golf or the Renault Megane, and went straight to the GTC shape, which it considered to be more appropriate. With one of the best-looking three-door hatchbacks on the market and a potent engine under the hood, it thought that it couldn’t go wrong. Unfortunately, unlike Renault, it didn’t go the whole nine yards to install a limited-slip differential, so the car couldn’t put down all the oomph that it had, and it had plenty!

While it shared many body panels with the rest of the GTC version, the VXR had a few specific items that made it look different. It still had the same rhomboidal and swept-back headlights with projector beams, which looked good anyway. The grille, on the other hand, was different. It featured a honeycomb mesh, and instead of the chromed badge at its upper side, it had a body-color one. In addition, the lower bumper was more aggressive than the regular one from the Astra GTC. It sported the same hexagonal pattern on the lower grille and the side scoops that housed the fog lamps.

From its profile, the low-roof GTC bodywork was considered attractive by most young people, and not only. But unlike that model, the VXR featured deeper side skirts and wider wheel fenders that better matched the front apron’s look. At the back, the automaker added a roof spoiler at the top of the raked forward tailgate. Finally, the pieced de resistance was the mid-mounted exhaust that peaked through the rear apron. These distinctive elements made the car look sporty and, fortunately, matched the vehicle’s spirit.

Inside, Vauxhall installed a pair of Recaro sports seats at the front with high-bolstered areas that hugged their occupants. The automaker offered a few options for the interior, such as the three choices of displays atop the center stack for the onboard computer, where the highest version also featured a navigation system. Besides the aluminum-looking trims on the center stack, the automaker added carbon-fiber elements on the door cards, the dashboard, and the steering wheel. Fronting the driver was the same setup, with two large dials for the speedometer and tachometer, respectively, and the fuel gauge. On the center stack, the automaker installed the button for the adaptive suspension, which was a novelty for those times.

Under the hood, the automaker installed a turbocharged two-liter inline-four engine. It produced more power than its competitors, beating them in the horsepower war. Thanks to the six-speed manual gearbox, the car could also dominate some of them in the quarter-mile run. While it couldn’t become the king of drag strips, its attractive price and good look helped Vauxhall to sell many of them.