Hi all long time listener first time caller
If you read the other thread about the vxr v wrx it was me that wrote the original on the astra sport forum. I really do mean that the vxr is quicker but that is not just it, it looks better is built better and is still fun to drive.
I am in no way biased because before this i did have a 53 plate wrx and before that a 2001 bugeye wrx. Great fun and the noise with an afterburner vortex exhaust was fantastic. I have been watching this website for about 3 years learning from more experienced scoobyowners but have never posted anything.

But i really do think that the VXR is a better car, and until you have driven both properly you should not comment. I notice that there is always (like on the last thread) people saying yes but i have a PPP or ECU remap. But i am talking about standard cars here.
Also the Second Scooby caused me no end of bother with the pre selector going twice and the dealer being a little less than proficient. I had a little bump (in the wet twisties) Which was just bodywork, and it took them 6 weeks to fix it and then parts were not put back on the car and the lights didn't work.

I do not want to annoy anybody but the VXR is better in all departments except the noise. And despite what you might think and what Clarkson said (remember he said it torque steered by accelerating hard with no hands on the wheel, and the stig had all traction control off when doing the lap) The torque steer is hardly noticeable.

 

but....LOL

 

Thanks very much for that,case closed.......now go away

 

Wow, bet loads of people will say "oh ok" then, what with this being a Scooby Site

 

If you can't drive a Scooby in the twisties then you won't last long in the Astra!

 

1. Can't speak for others, but it doesn't annoy me when people prefer something to a scooby: you're perfectly entitled to your opinion, if you think the VXR is the better car, that's fair enough. At the end of the day YOU have to drive it.

2. I've driven pretty much every "hot" vauxhall of the last five years and a std WRX (albeit fairly briefly) and my MY99 Scooby. I'm also a fan of the hot hatch and have covered a few miles in many of the genre. I have still yet to come across a FWD car that feels anywhere near as composed as a good RWD or 4WD car when you really ask questions of it and especially in the wet. Closest has been the Puma, which was a cracking car.

FWD works well in a light, nimble car with no more than 180bhp and less torque. It can be made to work in more powerful cars, but it is not the most effective, nor satisfying way of deploying over 200bhp and -in particular- the kind of torque swells that a turbo car produces.

NS04

 

at the end of the day mate its just an astra wi mental torque steer and one ugly bodykit just my honest opinion tho mate !!

 

They used to say the Focus RS had hideous torque steer, now it's the darling of the press.

 

IMO - what will casue most conversation at a party / function etc.
I drive a Vauxhall Astra!

or

I Drive a Subaru Impreza!

Most people I have met drive sensible boring cars (not saying the astra is boring) and seem interested in the scooby as they are too scared or the missus won't let them buy one...whereas saying to the missus - I want a Vauxhall Astra might get a different repsonse.

 

I'm having a go in a VXR at the weekend. I love the way it looks, but then unlike most I'm not a bit fan of the Scooby and Evo "picnic table" rear spoilers.
I have to say, I think over 200bhp in a fwd car is OTT. My Leon Cupra R had 210bhp as standard which it just about coped with (in the dry) but with the 260bhp remap you could barely touch the throttle until 3rd gear otherwise you'd be either wheel spinning or in the depths of ESP doom.

Having said that, the FRS coped better but then it has a LSD on it which attributed a lot to the torque steer issues (which once you're used to it wasn't a problem). And the Teg DC5 I've been in was again OK but I think that's down to the fact the power doesn't really kick in till the VTEC zone so you're never going to blaze away from the lights.

 

Sounds to me like you cant drive and NEED all those toys to keep you on the road. All my own opinions of course - Tosser - That too.

 

Some non biased people about then. All i am saying is that i have had both and know what i'm talking about, and the other so called hot astras are not a patch on this, so you cant compare the VXR to them. But it was always my intention to avoid the 06 scooby by the VXR and see what the 2007 Hot hatch scooby had to offer. And in my defence when i crashed the scooby i was trying to go round corners when it was icy at about eleventy million miles an hour. But dont hate me,i would still rather s**t a pinapple than dis the scooby, but for now i am convinced that i made the right choice, i yet may be back, but it will take some quality engineering by Subaru and a new dealer.

 

PMLS briliant post!

 

I love these mines better than yours. Don't be offended VXR if you offend. Try going into a pub and telling the big bloke at the end his bird looks like a swamp donkey and your birds fit as a butchers dog. The reaction will be relative...

I'm glad you like the car as stated you have to drive it if your happy then we're happy.

Good luck on the VXR Forum

TaTa

Roo

 

You looking after my car Davie?

 

I drove a Vauxhall Astra 1.7D estate once (non-turbo, M plate). Fock1n rubbish

I've also driven an Astra 1.6L and a Vectra 1.8L. What's with the poor driving position? Both cars gave me back ache due to subconsciously having to "twist" my spine to align with the steering wheel and pedal!!!

I know it's these cars are completely different from the new VXR, which I'm sure has some good points, but........

It's still a FOCK1N VAUXHALL !!!

 

If that party is full of geeks,I suspect the statement "I drive a vauxhall Astra that will whoop a WRX's ***" would give rise to the most conversation

 

Funnily enough when people ask what car I have, I reply that I have an Astra.

 

this is very simerler to that of the audi tt. when that car came out, most persons who i new said that car was a rocket. i say give this car about half a year, then come back and see if it still has the thumbs up ye....

 

 

I said that was an S3 in a party frock from the start!

Didn't like it then, don't like it now!

Davy- LANGUAGE!!!...............you dirty b*stard!!

Ns04

 

Having driven a astra sri 1.8sri for nearly three years (g shape, one before current) i think in truth my astra felt more composed than my my00 cornering and braking and at speed, might be because of pushing the scoob to higher speed etc but not ever having on track or comparing directly i don't know for a fact.
bear in mind the sri models have uprated suspension, lowered and design by lotus (but not alot of people know that lol)

vauxhalls, when geometry is set up correctly (as mentioned above), seem to handle very well indeed, a mate drove my car and said it went round corners better than his running gear modded saxo vts (taking into acount more power and less weight in the vts), but now i've had the running gear uprated on my scoob it doesn't even come close. plus i challenge anyone to get 260bhp down throught the front wheels of any car (y do you think they bang on about getting the start right on touring cars etc)

 

just for those interested, brand new vxr 19k otr, brand new 06 wrx 21k otr (thats straight off rrp from each manufactureres website)

 

A friend of mine has a very modified mk2 Astra, pushing around 330bhp, yet his best 1/4 mile is still only 13.1, which is only 0.1 faster than my mates standard P1.

Pointless having all this power if you can't put it down on the tarmac.

 

HOW SAD ARE YOU IF YOU GO TO PARTIES TO TALK ABOUT YOUR CAR, AND FORGET ABOUT TRYINGTO COMPARE IT DIESEL NORMAL ASTRA'S TRUST ME THIS IS VERY! DIFFERENT

 

And how sad is asking abaout Vauxhall on a forumn that is Subaru biased ???
Richard

PS Turn the CAPS OFF !

 

The Cupra R owner will be along in a moment claiming 300bhp revo'ed lump and how it beats any 4 wheel drive car

 

Everyone allways claims their new car is better than their old car so no sueprises you prefer yours. Its a matter of opinion about which car is best. One car may be faster than the other, but who knows and who cares. Its all about how the car feels to you and how fast it feels to you. Ive had fast cars before that didnt feel that quick so were not that satisfying. There is a good chance that the VXR is faster in a straight line than the WRX but fotunately its not straight roads everywhere and I dare say the VXR would really struggle to put its power down in the wet. Either way I dont choose my cars by deciding in my head which one is fractionally quicker than the other, its how it makes you feel. I dont think you can knock the scoobs for reliability either as they have been at the top of the JD power survey for several years and have actually been right at the top a few years ago and I cant remember vauxhall ever being that high up. In fact do they not regularly finish right at the bottom??

 

thing is most races start at a roll, not at the traffic lights. on the move it would surely blow a P1 into the weeds if you apply common sense and logic... but then again, the Scoob is the fastest car in the world

 

In a straight line yes, but even the owner admits it is c**p round corners, and would never consider putting it on a track!!!!

I don't think Scooby's are the fastest car in the world, i used to have an Astra Turbo myself, but unlike some i didn't feel the need to stop at the nearest toilets, knock one out to celebrate, then go onto an Impreza forum boasting how super my car is!!!!