Vauxhall Astra VXR – the Arctic Edition

The Vauxhall Astra VXR Arctic Edition - on sale from today

The latest Astra bowed in less than a year ago in the depths of the GM crisis. Looking back at the first teases for the 2010 Astra we were at the point where Fiat where making moves to try and take over Vauxhall and Opel. That seems like a very long time ago, but it’s less than a year. And it’s a lot less since the new Astra started to hit the road after its official launch at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. But we’re still running with the old Astra VXR, so we have a ‘Limited Edition’ Astra VXR – the Arctic Edition – as a swansong.

The Vauxhall Astra VXR Arctic Edition (which they should really have punted out in December when the snow was around) gets a custom paint job. Go on, guess what colour. It also gets – according to Vauxhall – almost £2000 worth of extras for just an extra £720, which assuming you want the extras you get given is a decent deal.

The extras thrown at the VXR Arctic include heated leather Recaros, tinted glass and Black 19″  alloys. Add this to the Olympic White paint job with a black roof, mirrors, grill detail and boot trim and you have a smart looking limited edition Astra VXR. You can even throw in the panoramic roof from the options list for the first time on a VXR if you want. We wouldn’t bother.

Regardless of the toys, you get a well built car that’s a lot of fun to drive. Performance is far from slovenly with a 0-60mph of just over 6 seconds and a top speed of 150mph. And with a healthy dose of torque on tap – 236lb/ft – the VXR feels on the very brisk side all the time.

Vauxhall are producing just 500 Astra VXR Arctic Editions, and they’re up for grabs from today at £23,595.

By Cars UK