Vauxhall Astra Vxr of the new generation 3 door Astra

Vauxhall have now released the shots of the new generation 3 door Astra in the hot spec VXR model. The new Vauxhall Astra Vxr is to be showcased at the Paris motor show and is a concept believed to be very close to the production model that’s not too far away. The GTC Paris as the show cars has been titles has been fitted with 21 inch alloy wheels and a bespoke interior with leather trimmed full size buckets seats but is rumoured to be very close to that which will make the final production version. Vauxhall have confirmed that the new VXR will have a 282bhp 2.0 litre turbo engine with stop start tech. This will be connected to a 6 speed manual and have front wheel drive with a limited slip differential along with a HyPerStrut front suspicion layout borrowed from the Insignia VXR.

At the heart of the VXR-D is our power upgrade. A larger VXR-R inspired and developed intercooler, created for us by Pace Products sets the ball rolling. Additionally a new Milltek Sport exhaust developed from our VXR-R race cars is added. The use of a high flow competition race catalytic converter, wider bore down pipe and main system together with a VXR centre exit design maximizes airflow and power.

Diesel cars suffer less from intake temperature capping power than their petrol equivalent. However, as with any turbo charged engine it remains an issue with higher intake temperatures dropping power due to there being less oxygen in hotter air. Our VXR-R intercoolers are market leaders in controlling this in the petrol cars so a version of the same design was used in the VXR-D to the same great effect.

As well as generating power it was crucial for the car to sound exactly like the VXR-R with a deep rumbling note that rises with rpm and pops and bangs on the over run - a real sports exhaust note. Initially we thought this impossible, how could we get an oil burner to sound like a race car? Simple. After a little bit of time, money and development we came up with our own system to give you that race car feel in your diesel.

Our very own development worked tirelessly on this, we wanted the rear of the car to look identical to the VXR but importantly sound identical and the net result is exactly that. We can't change the noise of the diesel engine of course so start up is no different but once you get some air through the exhaust you'd be hard pressed to believe it wasn't a VXR. The 350lb of torque does the rest.

With power comes control so brakes have not been ignored, the VXR-D comes with updated brake pads derived from our race cars with an option to add our Alcon based 4 pot brake kit to offer unrivalled stopping power, this is more important on the diesel engined chassis due to the higher relative nose weight the engine adds.

To set off the VXR-D are the vehicle graphics, subtle but with an option of the VXR-R style side stripes for those. Each car comes with its own numbered plaque on the dash.

The best news is that the VXR-D is available as an upgrade kit for existing CDTi vehicles & owners. Previous VXR-R models were only available from new but the VXR-D and the new VXR-R Insignia models can be upgraded on pre-registered cars.