Driven: Vauxhall VXR8

Driving a large yellow saloon with two-tone alloys and a rear wing is enough to attract pedestrian attention during ‘walk to school’ time in most villages. Doing it with a 6.2-litre V8 growling away as I threaded my way slowly through the parked cars was enough to have me reaching for the brown paper bag and scissors. The revised Vauxhall VXR8 is not everyone’s cup of tea. But at up to £29,000 less than is rivals – cars like the Audi RS6, Jaguar XFR and Mercedes E63 AMG – it’s worthy of consideration if you’re in the market for something loud and lary. It’s still developed from the HSV model from GM’s Australian division Holden. But for this generation it’s based on the higher spec E3 GTS model, rather than the ClubSport R8. The latter is still available as an entry level model costing £45,000 from selected Vauxhall dealers, while the newcomer is priced at £49,500. With a new look inside and out, styling and quality feel much improved. The 431bhp V8 makes a fantastic noise on start-up and pushes the car to 60mph in 4.9 seconds. There’s a choice of manual or automatic transmissions, both with six speeds and both with mechanical limited slip differential. I drove the auto, which has a swift kickdown for when you want a burst of speed. But performance figures of 320g/km of CO₂ and 20.6mpg mean eco-motoring awards won’t be forthcoming.