Fastest Vauxhall Astra to debut in Geneva

The Vauxhall Astra VXR Extreme will go on show at the Geneva Motor Show next month. As you’ve no doubt gathered, this is the most ‘extreme’ Vauxhall Astra ever built and, with 296bhp, it should be significantly quicker than the standard Vauxhall Astra VXR, which is currently the fastest model on sale.

Vauxhall took design inspiration from the Vauxhall Astra Cup race car – which competed in the gruelling Nurburgring Endurance race Championship in Germany. You only need to look at the car in these pictures to see that it shows!

The company has made weight saving a key concern with the Astra Extreme, and it weighs 100kg less than the normal VXR. That’s thanks to extensive use of carbon fibre (the material used to build Formula 1 cars) for things like the car’s rear spoiler, bumpers and roof. Lightweight aluminium was also used for the Astra’s body panels, making a 50 per cent weight reduction on the standard car’s steel items.

The Vauxhall Astra Extreme is up 20bhp on the standard VXR’s power output, but the Extreme also gets powerful brakes and grippy tyres that should mean the Extreme corners even quicker than the standard VXR.

Inside, the Extreme’s backseats have been removed – to save yet more weight – while the front seats have been replaced with racey Recaro bucket seats. The steering wheel is covered in suede and gets yellow stitching, and there's a set of fiddly racing seatbelts to keep you firmly gripped in your seat at high speeds

The lack of back seats – and those seatbelts – mean the model is likely to be the preserve of committed Vauxhall enthusiasts or track-day racers, and there’s no conformation yet that the car will even be put into production. But, if it does get the green light, we can expect the Extreme to cost significantly more than the £27,260 Vauxhall Astra VXR.

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