Picked up my new red Astra VXR from Inchcape, Newbury last Thursday. Great fun, better than expected. Got a good deal from John at the dealers, having extras of 19" alloys, Sat Nav, Climate, Bluetooth and Cruise. Very impressed, feels so different in handling terms to my previous Leon Cupra R, feeling faster on the road. Cant get the grin off my face.
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My LCR was a 210, bought new in May 03. I never had it remaped as I was quite happy with the performance. The VXR feels much more planted on the road than the LCR, which in my view has a lot more body roll in the bends. The Astra feels from my initial feelings to drive more like my old 205 GTI; it seems to like to turn into the bends a lot more. It seems faster than the LCR and I am loving ever minute of it at the moment. I recognise your name from Seatcupra.net, if you have a look on the message board there, certain individuals slated the VXR. But I am more than pleased with my change. Even the interior build quality feels good to me, lightyears ahead of the previous Astras I have owned and the gadgets are great. Very impressed with the Sat Nav ICE system and with the intigration of the bluetooth system.
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hi m8
i too an ex seat-cupra...had several ibizas and leons, then switched to subaru, then evo, currently on a clio trophy of all things...although strangely this is my 2nd clio after my first clio williams 10 years ago! oh even strager, the trophy is also the best handling car i've ever driven...!
anyway, not in the market for a new car for 12 months or just over, but think i might now be tempted to the vxr given the cheap remaps available, and also the reasonable discounts that seem to be cropping up. st is ok, but not really LOUD enough, the next ctr looks very interesting, renault have lost the plot a bit with the latest clio 197 (TOO heavy and TOO expensive for what it is) and seat have TOTALLY lost the plot...! so choices seem kinda limited...
so, just wanted to say hi, and introduce myself as a potential new recruit. think 19s in red is the way to go... ; )
atb
Comedy Si
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You will not be disappointed. I loved my LCR, although I did have loads of problems with it. The VXR is a step up in my opinion (feels faster and loads more features) and I am loving every minute of it. Every time I take it out it turns heads, even more so than the LCR (which is an agresive looking beast). The seats are great and it probably has more leg room in the back (my daughter cant kick the back of the front seats while in her child seat as she did in the LCR) and no more front splitter scrapes, a bonus for any former LCR owner.
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This could become the old Cupranet, Cliosprtnet and in the end Sscoobynet
The talk of my old LCR made me post a pic
I have to say its not a car Ive missed. It never pulled the strings and I was really happy to get shot. I think more than anything it lacks soul. The R32 that replaced it had soul, but was a bit too much mouth and no trousers.
Like Comedy Si Ive also done the Scooby and Clio thing, but a std 182 with Cup packs. One of my employees has a Trophy and Ive been out for a couple of days Reping in it, anyone that lives with that car on a day to day basis has my respect. I might be showing my age, it does out handle a VXR, but at least my dentures are still in at the end of the day. Not sure Renault have lost the plot with the new car, the old 182 was 15k+, but only 13.5 with discount. Not sure the new one wont be the same. My biggest critisism of the 182, Trophy etc was the performance. I would take the VXR everyday over it. I would struggle to go back to one as I'd miss the easy mid range grunt.
As Tiff said tonight, the VXR is a bit of a beast and the ability of cars such as the GTI and 182 make driving fast too easy. The VXR changes that
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chins - good post. like you, i think this could be perhaps a car that does take over those kind of people...setcupra.net was a good group of guys, and with the easily tunable 20vt engines, provided some great tuning potential for not many dollars. i think that the vxr may turn into a similar kinda car - it will attract that kind of person who want big bang for not many bucks...although it won't handle as good as my trophy... ; )
all the same, it's a different kind of attraction. i'll look forward to driving one in the not too distant future...
as for the trophy - no, great great car. handles like a dream - easy to go fast, but so rewarding also. to make it go REALLY fast then you need to know what you're doing...that's what makes them so good. the fact you can get so much quality of handling for such little cash makes it superb in my book.
clio 197 - too little extra for too many dollers. current price is 16k they reckon...with NO nice extras like on the full fat 182. i think renaultsport uk may struggle to shift them...
Comedy Si
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