And i can't believe you say they have really bad torque steer,Octy's aren't exactly torque steer less are they.

Well no but if you put your foot down in first in a MK2 octy vRS without holding onto the steering wheel you wont end up in the hedge thats on your Left hand side.

im just saying that because i test drove both the Astra and Vectra VXR and you really have to be wary if you floor it in first as they pull sharply to the left and i mean sharply:eek:

at the end of the day its each to our own and the only way you will know is if you test drive one and see how you feel in it.

Carl

Thats the same though with all very high power FWD cars.

Being brutal about this - how often do you floor it in 1st? The action is over so quickly you may as well short shift to 2nd and then run up to 70/80 - or if rolling let 3rd take you well into 3 numbers.

Thats on private roads of course.

The most fun with high power petrol turbos cars is the mid range punch - very brisk over taking/safe overtaking. And/or trying to keep up with a spiritedly driven 330d 321bhp.

Just reading up on the VXR and it sounds like an excellent package. 280bhp, 355Nm max torque produced between 1800-4500rpm, combined fuel cycle of 27.2mpg and massive brakes front and rear (shame the calipers are blue though). 6.1 secs to 60, 161 top speed, 5 seats, decent service intervals and a huge boot. Suspect there is tuning potential too........

Might have to get me a test drive!

Chris

There is serious tuning potential. i have had a word with a tuners near where I work, being Huddersfield/Halifax based. The orignal was 255BHP, but was updated to 280 with a ECU tweak and better induction. Both are good for 300BHP with a remap. With the 255 model you can have a switchable low/high torque map when you engage the Sport mode. THe 280 cannot. The 255 model also falls under the F bracket for car tax. The 280 comes under the G bracket. 280 also has changed dampers as well, but the rest is exactly the same.

The model to go for seems to be the 255. Cheaper to tax and modifyable the same way. I just need to find a demo car in the South Yorkshire area to test....

Good point about the high tax - Band G next year

Well no but if you put your foot down in first in a MK2 octy vRS without holding onto the steering wheel you wont end up in the hedge thats on your Left hand side.

Maybe Vauxhall assume that under hard acceleration you will be holding onto the steering wheel?

Chris

Maybe Vauxhall assume that under hard acceleration you will be holding onto the steering wheel?

Chris

If it's as bad as described, maybe the pull is bad enough to scare some people even if they were holding the wheel lightly?

Thats the same though with all very high power FWD cars.

Nope... torque steer is a product of un-equal length drive shafts. You can get it on low powered fwd cars if the difference is big enough.

If it's as bad as described, maybe the pull is bad enough to scare some people even if they were holding the wheel lightly?

Thats the point i was trying to make

Cheers Ken:thumbup:

Carl:thumbup:

If it's as bad as described

This is why you need to make up your own mind

Nope... torque steer is a product of un-equal length drive shafts. You can get it on low powered fwd cars if the difference is big enough.

It's not necessarily down to unequal length drive shafts - all that torque has to be reacted somewhere and that can set up some interesting parasitic deflections in the chassis. As a result torque steer can be capitalised on to reduce steering inputs under cornering

Chris

It's not necessarily down to unequal length drive shafts - all that torque has to be reacted somewhere and that can set up some interesting parasitic deflections in the chassis. As a result torque steer can be capitalised on to reduce steering inputs under cornering

Chris

hmmm ...... I beg to differ but that'll be taking to the thread off topic.

Im not sure that any FWD car has equal length drive shafts its due to the position of the engine

Im not sure that any FWD car has equal length drive shafts its due to the position of the engine

Again nope... most have by have by introducing an intermidate shaft on one side of the transmission.

Im not sure that any FWD car has equal length drive shafts its due to the position of the engine

And you'd be wrong. Straight-5 Audis (also some 4s), early FWD Subarus, Citroen 11, 15, SM, DS and GS models, real Alfasuds, Triumph 1300/1500 mk1 all had centre-line in-line engines and gearboxes with FWD (not comprehensive list, just the ones I can think of off the top of my head). It's also quite common for transverse-engine FWD cars to use a Carden shaft to feed an intermediate bearing and make the shafts between the CV joints equal lengths both sides.

If they were so bad, would the boys in blue use them? don't get me wrong I am in no way a fan of vauxhall's as I have driven a few and they where a bit pant's.

If towing a caravan is one of the box's to tick then why not? I would prefer a Mondeo to a vectra in reality and you do get a lot more toys for your cash than you do in a Skoda these days.

If they were so bad, would the boys in blue use them? don't get me wrong I am in no way a fan of vauxhall's as I have driven a few and they where a bit pant's.

They buy on costs, space for kit and straight-line performance I think.

The boys in blue use them as they are fantastic for straight line speed i.e motorway patrols as there aint many sharp bends etc on motorways (would be more fun if there were:rofl: )

Also police pursuit drivers are trained to drive cars at speed and its like anything the more you do it the better you become so the more they drive the VXR's the more they get used to how it handles.

Lastly no police pursuit car, wether jam buttied up or not, is left "as made by the factory". They are all taken away have speedo's properly calibrated have suspension changed and engine tinkered with.

As i and other people have said the best thing to do is test drive one yourself and see how you feel. if you can live with its handling and (In my personal opinion) boring interior then go for it. Its gonna be your car and as long as you are happy then thats all that matters:thumbup:

Im not sure about that the police modify EVERY high speed patrol car.

When you buy the Old V70 T5's nothing is mentioned about increased performance.

I have heard that they do fit high performance brake pads and they are serviced very frequently - buying a cop car is very sensible even though it will have been driven hard most of its life it will have been driven hard by highly trained drivers who know how to drive a car properly.

not according to the TVP techs :confused:

As for drive shaft length all I can say is that every car I & my dad have owned (in my lifetime) have different length driveshafts.

VW/Vauxhall/Rover/Austin brands and a number of different models under each brand.

As for drive shaft length all I can say is that every car I & my dad have owned (in my lifetime) have different length driveshafts.

VW/Vauxhall/Rover/Austin brands and a number of different models under each brand.

Yes they will. But there is an intermediate shaft to compensate for this.... thus making the drive shafts "appear" equal and reducing torque steer.

Heres 2 links to help you decide if you havent already

YouTube - Top Gear - Ford ST220, MazdaSPEED 6, Vauxhall Vectra Part 1

YouTube - Top Gear - Ford ST220, MazdaSPEED 6, Vauxhall Vectra Part 2

I just thought I would reply to this thread as it made interesting reading.

I have a Vectra VXR 280 model for the last year and can confirm with you guys that it is a very comfortable car with amazing performance.

It's true, it does torque steer even more when the ECU has been remapped to 300BHP but what front wheel drive car wouldn't.

For the money this is a decent family hatch that's also immense fun to drive. To really appreciate the power you have on tap is to go out on some quiet B roads and open it up, then handling is very good and it does stick to the road on 18 or 19" Conti tyres that come as standard.

I've had many cars over the years but the Vec VXR is one of the only ones other than the Clio sport that genuinely puts a smile on my face every time I drive it.

I'm not trying to sell the car to you but would reommend you drive one fast before passing judgment.

If anyone has any questions, i'd be happy to answer.

Essco.

For the money this is a decent family hatch that's also immense fun to drive. To really appreciate the power you have on tap is to go out on some quiet B roads and open it up, then handling is very good and it does stick to the road on 18 or 19" Conti tyres that come as standard.

Come on be honest. Have you really pushed it ? Every vectra I've driven seems to want to understeer into the nearest tree at the hint of any spirited driving...... event the VXR I test drove.

Come on be honest. Have you really pushed it ? Every vectra I've driven seems to want to understeer into the nearest tree at the hint of any spirited driving...... event the VXR I test drove.

Every Vectra I've driven not only wants to understeer under even moderate provocation, but omits to actually tell you that it's doing so!