Vauxhall VXR8 Bathurst S (2009) CAR review

If any car has a claim to be the spiritual successor to the knockout Lotus Carlton, it’s the new Vauxhall VXR8 Bathurst S special edition. GM’s back might be firmly up against the wall as it struggles to reinvent itself in a global recession, but the Bathurst S shows its Australian and European divisions still know how to serve up a hot-rod performance saloon to scare a BMW M5 or Audi RS6.

It’s basically a special edition of the VXR8, designed to add a few more bells and whistles. Especially since it has the noisiest supercharger this side of an original Bentley Blower. You can actually order the VXR8 Bathurst edition in naturally aspirated or compressor form, but Vauxhall has just the supercharged model on its test fleet. And that’s the car we’ve been deafened by all week. I’ve never driven a Lotus Carlton, but on paper – and in the metal – the 2009 iteration stands worthy of comparison.

What’s so special about the new Vauxhall VXR8 Bathurst S?

The sillplate bearing the Walkinshaw logo tells you plenty about this car’s pedigree. Vauxhall’s big Aussie bruiser has been to tuning school, with a beefy supercharger huffing and puffing power from 431bhp on the regular VXR8 to a rather startling 564bhp. That’s the headline change, but there’s a series of other mechanical upgrades to keep the ponies in check and justify the price increase, says Vauxhall.

Spring and damper settings are fettled, 20in alloys fitted and beefy six-pot front, four-pot rear brakes added. Not to mention a bodykit and interior makeover. End result: half a second lopped off the 0-60mph time (now estimated at a nausea-inducing 4.2sec) while top whack would extend to nearer 190mph without the electronic limiter spoiling the fun at 155mph.

So the VXR Bathurst is quick then?

Errr, yes. That Bathurst badge betrays the car’s Aussie roots as a Holden and you feel that big-lung 6.2-litre V8 would be very at home pounding the famous racetrack Down Under.

Not that you’d know at start-up. Twist the key, and the V8 starts with a surprisingly muted warble. You’ve already clocked the big Howitzer exhausts at the back, and you worry the EU laws have strangled it. But then you hit the road and within the first mile, you realise things couldn’t be more different. You’ll in fact be reaching for your earplugs albeit with a large grin etched on your visage.

Source : Carmagazine