Vauxhall cars

Next Vauxhall Astra VXR to have 300hp

Autocar is reporting that the new Vauxhall Astra VXR three-door hatch will be going up against the Ford Focus RS and the Renaultsport Megane.

Sources say that Vauxhall wants to make up the ground lost to the Focus RS by making a hot 300 horsepower Astra VXR.

“The VXR brand is about extreme performance. It’s safe to say that the next Astra will build on where the current car is and react to market trends. It’ll be quite a power hike over the current car,” said an insider to Autocar.

Vauxhall engineers believe that they can achieve this 63 horsepower upgrade by tuning the turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder motor, rather than using a V6.

Like the Focus RS, the Astra VXR will get front-wheel drive; so expect it to have some sort of electronic differential to help cope with the power and torque.

Yet, despite this big gain, Ford is one step ahead once again. The next RS is said to be a hybrid, which will combine a 250 horsepower motor with an electric motor. Compared to that, the Astra’s power plant seems a bit dull.

The Astra VXR won’t go on sale until next year. The exterior design will likely be close to the Astra Sport Coupe that will be shown in Paris in September, but with bigger wheel arches and a larger rear spoiler.

The Vauxhall VXR brand has been a big hit in Europe, with over 3,000 models sold in 2009.

2010 Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer 4x4

Vauxhall unveiled today a new version for the very successful Insignia. It combines the Adaptive 4x4 all-wheel drive system with the adaptive FlexRide chassis and the electronically controlled rear limited slip differential (eLSD). The car will go on sale this September.

The new Insignia will be offered with four petrol engines ranging from 140PS to 325PS. Vauxhall will also offer a diesel engine to the tune of 160PS 2.0 CDTi. The 2.0 CDTi engine will be found int he ecoFLEX model that will have low fuel cinsumption and CO2 emissions.

The new Insignia Sports Tourer 4x4 is powered by a 2.0-liter 160HP CDTi diesel engine. It also features a power tailgate with programmable opening height, Automatic Self Levelling Rear Suspension (standard with Towing Pack), and the FlexOrganizer cargo management system.

Vauxhall has also announced a new trim level called SRi Vx-Line. It features a VXR-style sport leather steering wheel and gearshift gaiter and 19-inch, five-spoke alloys. The second trim level introduced, the Indian Summer interior, adds Nappa leather and cashmere stitching to the mix.

Press release after the jump.

2010 Vauxhall Corsa Black and White Limited Edition

The Vauxhall Corsa is a car of many names. Known as the Opel Corsa, Holden Barina, Chevrolet Corsa, Opel Vita, Vauxhall Corsa (obviously), and many others, you could say that this vehicle needs a little bit of a personality in order to not get lost in the crowd of aliases. Fortunately, Vauxhall revealed today that the Corsa will be treated to a very elegant and classy Black and White Limited Edition that will be available in showrooms from next month until the end of the year.

This special edition will get glacier white bodywork, black 17-inch twin spoke alloy wheels and detailing, topped off – literally - with a black sapphire roof. It also gets a lowered suspension and sports a VXR styling kit comprising front and rear lower spoilers, side skirts, and a new roof spoiler.

The same black and white theme is continued on the interior where it gets a piano black center console with contrasting white air vents.

Prices for the Corsa Black & White range from £13,995 for the 3-door 1.2, to £15,400 for the 5-door ecoFLEX diesel.

Okay, so it is not necessarily a 2010 Lamborghini Gallardo GT600 Black and White Edition by BF-Performance, but it can still get you from point A to point B with a little class and style.

Press release after the jump.

Video: Vauxhall Astra VXR Nurburgring Edition crashes at the Nurburgring

An overzealous man took his Vauxhall Astra VXR Nurburgring Edition to the track that bears its name and ended up crashing it into a twisted heap. Coming off a turn at one of the corners of the notorious Green Hell, the driver of the Astra lost control of his car, sent it careening into the barricade and smashed into it with so much force the car ended up turning over landing right back to its upright position.

The driver looked to be in OK shape after the crash, but the same, unfortunately, cannot be said for his special-edition ride, which pretty much lived up to its Nurburgring name a little too hard.

Check out the video to see how the crash occurred.

2010 Vauxhall Astra Police Car

Vauxahall Astra has a very long history as a police car ever since its first introduction in 1979. And the new generation Astra continues this long tradition as a Special Vehicle Operations (SVO).

The new Astra Police car will be available with an instrument console incorporating integrated switch panels configured for Police radio header units such as the Cleartone, Motorola, Sepura and Icom. It will also get mobile data terminals, video capture and multiple transceivers, seamlessly into the vehicle’s interior without the need for custom trim installations, a range of LED lightbars, headlamp flash, grille lights, bumper interceptor lights and rear reds.

Press release after the jump.

2010 Vauxhall Astra VXR Arctic Edition

Today, Vauxhall unveiled the special edition Astra VXR Arctic Edition limited to only 500 units. This special edition is priced at £23, 595 and is distinguished by an Olympic White exterior color with a contrasting black painted roof, mirror covers, front V-grille, and tailgate trim.

It will also get heated leather Recaro front seats, tinted glass, and black 19-inch multi-spoke alloy wheels. The Astra VXR Arctic Edition will deliver a total of 240 HP and will make the sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 6.2 seconds; top speed will go up to 152 mph.

What better way to check out the special edition than by testing it in Vauxhall’s VXR Power Events including the VXR Power Festival at Silverstone in August. Yep, that’s right, drivers and enthusiasts will be able to take this puppy for a spin to see what it can do.

Press release after the jump.

Vauxhall to bring giant snow globe to annual ice skate disco event

We rarely hear about Vauxhall at this time but when we do hear about them, they sure know how to get noticed.

Opel’s sister manufacturer will be hosting the Vauxhall Ice Skate event in London on January 28 and they’re bringing with them a gigantic snow globe that comes with at least 50 bags of artificial snow and a real Vauxhall Astra inside.

The snow globe, which is enormous by any stretch of the imagination, measures around 16 feet in diameter and is just one of the many attractions Vauxhall is bringing to their annual ice skating disco event.

Apart from the giant snow glove, the British carmakers are also scheduled to display their very own Gingerbread car and Corsa-inspired karaoke machine, which they appropriately dubbed as the ‘Car-aoke Corsa’.

There’s no telling what other kooky creations Vauxhall has in store for the ice skating event but judging from what they’ve already shown with the giant snow globe, we’re thinking that they may have a few more surprises under their sleeves.

2010 Vauxhall Astra ecoFLEX

Vauxhall revealed the new Astra ecoFLEX, the most fuel efficient model in Astra range. The model will go on sale this April at a price of £17,920.

The Astra ecoFLEX is powered by a 1.3 CDTi 95PS diesel engine mated to a five-speed transmission with new ratios to optimise economy. The result is a combined fuel consumption of 67.3mpg and a CO2 emission of just 109g/km.

Press release after the jump.

Scientific research determines the perfect formula for parallel parking

For those of you who have problems with parallel parking, there’s now a simple formula that you can follow to make even the trickiest parking dilemmas look like a walk in the park.

For you to understand it though, requires a strong grasp of Mathematics.

Worked on and formulated by Vauxhall Motors, in collaboration with Professor Simon Blackburn from the University of London’s Royal Holloway College, this formula will allow you to calculate your parallel parking endeavors by first using the radius of a car’s turning circle and the distance between the vehicle’s front and back wheels. Using the length of the car’s nose and the width of an adjacent car the formula can tell exactly how big a space needs to be for your car to fit.

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The official British School of Motoring will use Fiat 500 city cars to teach student drivers

For most people, obtaining a driver’s license is their fastest ticket to independence. So naturally, those who take it would want to make the best impression to their instructors.

The British School of Motoring, Britain’s largest driving school is giving prospective drivers a much-needed assistance by acquiring a brand-new fleet of Fiat 500s to replace its old Vauxhall Corsa line-up

You might wonder why these Fiat 500s would be a boon to student driver when all you have to do is, well, to not crash the car. Well, studies have shown that one of the hardest parts of a driving test is parallel parking, which we figure the Fiat 500 won’t have any problems with that.

The BSM’s recent tie-up with Fiat has resulted in the driving school acquiring over 14,000 Fiats with most of them being the 500 model.

Continued after the jump.