Vauxhall’s VXR8 GTS-R is the Chevrolet SS We Should Have Had
The very last of its breed, the VXR8 GTS-R goes out on the highest note possible.
In the United States, the Chevy SS was a victim of being an incredible car, with a lack-luster marketing plan to back it up. If that wasn’t trouble enough, the Australian production plant which pumps them out announced plans to shutter its doors. As it sits, the Holden-turned-Vauxhall-turned-Chevy would simply fizzle out before it had a chance to shine.
Not if Vauxhall’s VXR division has anything to say about it.
Tossing the 6.2-liter supercharged V8 under the hood gives this new model, the VXR8 GTS-R a 587 horsepower and 546 lb/ft punch. Mated with a 6-speed gearbox, it truly is the last big body GM 4-door muscle car. But for England, there’s two big problems. Costing 80,000 British Pounds makes it equal to about $115,000 US dollars. Alex Goy from Motor1 exclaims that yes, it is an 80,000 pound car “but what an 80,000 pound car it is!” That price could be seen by some as an equally forceful punch as you’d get from the engine. The other problem? Only fifteen VXR8 GTS-R’s will be sent to England. As for the United States, we’ll get 15 less than that as there will be no Chevrolet equivalent. Darn.
ALSO SEE: Last of the Great Australian V8s, the LS9-powered HSV GTS-R W1
That’s quite a shame really, because if there’s anything about the VXR8 GTS-R that justifies the cost, it’s the manners which it possesses. Goy says the handling is “properly set up, so if you want to drive it fast, you can, really well! If you do want to slide it, oh boy can you slide it. You can slide it and then some.” To have a big sedan muscle car behave in such a way does help justify the costs, and the equipment on the car backs it up too. Sadly, it’s a farewell tour that we just don’t want to see happen.
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