Brits get supercharger option for Vauxhall VXR8
Click image for a gallery of the VXR8
GM loves to tease its American customers. While we patiently await the arrival of the Pontiac G8 GT, in Australia, multiple high-performance flavors of the VE Commodore its based on are available from HSV. In the UK, one of those cars, the HSV Clubsport R8, is offered as the Vauxhall VXR8.
With 412 horsepower (417 PS) and 405 lb-ft of torque on tap, one would think that the rebadged HSV would be sufficiently awesome for our former colonial overlords. One would also be incorrect. Carscoop reports the Brits will be offered a supercharger option that elevates power to a staggering 540 horses and adds 30-percent more torque (figure a new rating of 526 lb-ft or so). The non-supercharged VXR8 does 0-60 in 4.9 seconds, so you can expect the blown sedan to shave a few more tenths off that number while making expensive tires cry for their mothers. The cost of the kit is £6,995.
Please, General: Pontiac G8 GXP Supercharged, okay?
[Source: Carscoop]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Andrew 8:51AM (9/04/2007)
GM should just kill off or replace a brand with holden. dear god, that thing is a BEAST.
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SSBR 9:49AM (9/04/2007)
Agreed. They should rename Pontiac to Holden. Holden was way more class then the current Pontiac.
F451 11:53AM (9/04/2007)
I completely agree, and Pontiac would be the ideal division to be axed, and replaced with Holden.
felipe 8:55AM (9/04/2007)
thats not a bad idea.
oh no wait, I forgot the Chevy Mala-boo is a great car..!
hahaha.
+1 for Holden take over of GM.
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John R 8:56AM (9/04/2007)
I'd would love to see Holden here. But I'd also be happy if the G8 looked exactly like this. This thing is pretty sick looking.
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tim 8:59AM (9/04/2007)
The gto didn't sell very well in the u.s. I read that the vauxhall monaro sold out. Does anyone in the u.k. know how many were sold? I just was wondering if the monaro selling out is because not as many were attempted to be sold as the gto.
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Avinash machado 10:05AM (9/04/2007)
Check out this link for sales figures.
http://www.gmeurope.com/company/sales_by_model.html
felipe 12:00PM (9/04/2007)
gto didnt do as well here mainly 'cause it cost too much by the time it got here.
ALSO GM f'd with it when it got to the USA, by putting wider tires on it....well that made the tires rub on the strut towers= RECALL. .. as a result they put in smaller
strut towers= TOOLS...way to screw handleing.
love the GTO, wouldn't buy one from GM though. they screwed up the perfect car given to them.
Devin 9:04AM (9/04/2007)
Maybe I'm the only one, but I much prefer the front nose of the G8 (even with the twin kidney grill) to this holden. I'd like to see the lower air damn put on the G8 at somepoint, but overall, the two cars are so similar, if they were both sold on American soil, you all would be bitching that GM sells too many rebadged products. They are really not that different. Stop bitching.
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James 9:06PM (9/04/2007)
Just remember the car you are looking at is a potential G8 GT, not a standard G8 and therefore it needs differentiation. Not to say you yankees wont get your weird BMW twin kidney grill obsession facelift plastered on, but its still a high performance model that can trade blows with the new M3 and M5 (but not win unfortunately.... but not by much I tells you!)
mk 6:05PM (9/04/2007)
Global badge engineering is what makes this a Vauxhall VXR8 in GB, a Commodore in Oz, and a G8 in the US, all under different brands.
Badge engineering in the US market, would be making this car into the Impala SS, G8 GT, Saturn *?*, and Buick Regal GS, and Cadillac ?TS, or something. All the same car, with different badges. That isn't happening. It definitely used to, but not with the G8, and GM doesn't do that as much as it used to as a whole.
Putting the HSV front bumper on a G8 doesn't make it a different brand, and thus not badge-enginnered. It makes it an option package. It might make it a G8 GXP, though. (although that is a very clumsy and pathetic name for a nice car, and I, for one am getting tired of alpha-numeric names.)
My point is, that if GM sold the HSV version of the Commodore in the US, it would not be a different nameplate than the G8, or competing with the G8 as a badge-engineered car.
It would be part of the G8's lineup. They are the SAME car, not just similar cars. Maybe they would have some class and call an US-sold HSV Commodore as the "G8 Bonneville," and drop the GXP moniker for this model.
But, if they sold the HSV version in the US, it would not be badge-engineered differently from the G8 we're already slated to get.
LoneWolf 9:21AM (9/04/2007)
For me, the G8 front looks much better. But it's a very nice sedan!
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Harold Kerrick 9:32AM (9/04/2007)
Man, the world is SOOOOOOO cruel. In the UK, gas costs what? nearly $6.00 a gallon? And they are offered these MEGA horsepower gas swilling road burners. In the US, emissions and/or safety regs conspire to keep these kinds of vehicles out the showroom...even though gas is (comparatively) dirt cheap.
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SSBR 9:47AM (9/04/2007)
Mark my words. This thing will be discontinued or replaced in 4-6 years. The G8 is a great looking car, and the numbers look good (engine wise) but its still a Pontiac. Yet another massive horsepower performance car from a no-class brand. Pontiac is on there way of building the brand with the likes of the G6 and Solstice, but they need more time to build the brand before anyone laysdown more then 34k+ for this (well under 35k.. we'll see). 34k+ is quite a bit of change for what they are asking for. Sure goes to tell you you can't buy class, not even for 34k.
The reason why this will be discontinued is because GM will not make a dime on this thing. For the first few months it will be completely sold out. Then a couple months later it will be rare. Then 1 year later, it will be collecting up dust and water spots. The G8 looks like is appeals to a teenager thats hopped up on mountain dew. Sorry, most teenagers can't afford 34k, and guys who are going through a mid-life crisis won't go for this, they are going for the vette.
For the masses, it looks way too cheesy for the likes of any luxury car (its sure priced like one) and even though it could beat most sedans in a 0-60 run, it has absolutely zero class. None, zip, nadda.
Yeehaw! Come on Cletus, lets go get er done!
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Avinash machado 10:02AM (9/04/2007)
So I guess you feel that the Camry has class.
Guenther 10:53AM (9/04/2007)
Some pos(t)ers don't have much class either. Go get a $7 chai latte and watch a polo match.
James 11:29AM (9/04/2007)
Its never been a Pontiac and will never be a Pontiac. Its an Aussie brute and I'm ashamed to see than weird V logo and dodgy BMW style twin kidney grill thingo on the front (of the G8). So hopefully GM will market the fact it ISNT REALLY a Pontiac and maybe it actually will sell in droves! Point is, IT IS A CLASSY AND QUALITY CAR BECAUSE ITS NOT A PONTIAC! I'd rather it over a Caddy any day too
Toy Yoda 12:28PM (9/04/2007)
A Grande Chai Latte where I live costs less than $4 with tax included.
TriShield 10:16AM (9/04/2007)
GM got nearly $40k for the top-of-the-line Bonneville SSEi/GXP for years and years. It was a car that always sold well. There is no question the G8 is a better vehicle. They will have no problem selling loaded G8 GTs as well as base V6 models.
It's also laughable to read comments regarding discontinuing a brand as if it is a piece of cake and a good business move. Do you guys have any idea how expensive and compelx that is, do you have any idea how franchise laws work in this country? It's obvious you don't. Holden isn't regarded at home any higher than Pontiac or Chevrolet is here.
If you don't like the car, and you don't like Pontiac there certainly isn't anyone holding a gun to your head demanding you buy a G8. There are plenty of other cars out there but none can boast the combination of a roomy, well-trimmed interior, excellent driving dynamics, athletic design and muscle-car performance for the money.
SSBR, the car pays for itself globally. It's sold in volume in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the Middle East. It will sell additional units in the US, Brazil and a few in the UK. The investment in the platform will also be spread out when US production begins on variants of it.
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F451 12:11PM (9/04/2007)
Discontinuing a brand happens continually in mergers and acquisitions. Pontiac has been dead in the water for eons. I respect what Holden is doing for GM as it appears hold a winning hand today. Actually, I would like to see GM, in the US of A, with these three brands: GMC, Chevrolet, and Cadillac. All vehicles can be folded into one of these three brands from the other closed divisions (those models that are successful).