Generation Game

With a nitrous-injected 430bhp to play with, this Vectra VXR is taking the fight to its four-wheel drive successor...

- Dan Furr

It’s easy to look at the Griffin scene in terms of a pre and postVXR world. As highlighted elsewhere in this issue of Performance Vauxhall, C20LET engine conversions ruled the roost in the decade leading up to the launch of the VXR brand in 2004, but the arrival of the Astra VXR, VX220 Turbo and Vectra VXR thereafter heralded a new era of Vauxhalls with high horsepower – cars wearing a VXR badge guaranteed rapid pace from the off. There was no longer a need to raid Cavalier or Calibra Turbos for their turbocharged two-litre engines and celebrated six speed gearboxes.

Of course, it would take a while for the cost of buying a used VXR to come down to the point where many modifiers felt comfortable enough to tinker, but today, a good Mk5 Astra VXR can be bought for as little as three grand (get hold of our buying guide in the June/July edition of Performance Vauxhall by visiting bit.ly/trackspecial). Moreover, a high number of the Vectras, Novas, Corsas and Astras that were retro-fitted with C20LETs are currently being raided for their borrowed powerplants so that now valuable Cavalier and Calibra Turbos can be returned to their original mechanical specification!

MOVING FORWARD

That’s not to say there hasn’t been significant development when it comes to the VXR range since its introduction (marked by the arrival of the Monaro VXR at the Birmingham NEC Sunday Times Motor Show thirteen years ago). The Vectra VXR and its turbocharged 2.8-litre V6, for example, went through a number of changes, including ECU software, cam profile, air box design, exhaust and IDS suspension upgrades, during its low volume three-and-a-bityear production run, resulting in a shift in standard power to the 280bhp mark by the time the model was replaced by the Insignia VXR in 2009.