http://www.autocar.co.uk/contentImages/Car/Vauxhall/Concepts/2627794159.jpg
http://www.autocar.co.uk/contentImages/Car/Vauxhall/Concepts/2627794348.jpg

http://www.vauxhall.co.uk/vx/vxr/flash/index.html

http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/AllCars/224242/

Here's something to make you forget about congestion charging, road pricing and ever more tax on the motorist. For just £34,995, you could have a rip-snorting, 414bhp V8-powered muscle car on your drive.

Vauxhall is bringing over the Holden HSV Clubsport R8 from Australia, rebadging it the VXR8 and flogging it to us lucky Brits from July.

In typical Aussie muscle-car fashion it's about as subtle as Roo in the dunny, or whatever it is they say. We're already looking forward to driving it.

Under the bonnet is the same 6.0-litre 414bhp, 406lb ft V8 as in the now-defunct Monaro. That's enough to shoot this four-door five-seater to 60mph in 4.9sec and on to a governed 170mph top speed - only 7mph slower than the legendary Lotus Carlton.

The antisocial antipodean's urge should also be more than adequate to ensure a whole heap of tyre-smoking drifting action (if you turn off the standard stability and traction controls, naturally) since, following in the tradition of all great Australian muscle cars, it's rear-wheel drive.

If you’d rather just cruise around, enjoying the rumble of the V8 from the quad exhausts, the VXR8 will also be available with an auto box, though it does have a manual override. The Monaro, the VXR8's immediate predecessor, was manual only.

Meanwhile, for those of us who think that 414bhp simply isn't going to be enough, there's a supercharged version of the VXR8 on the way too. Ripper, as they say Down Under.

That would be seriously unfair if the Aussies & the Brits get that car, but not the Yanks. Hopefully, this is the teaser for the G8 GXP version.

That's 68G USD. Glad I don't live in Blighty. Since only a handful will be sold in the UK anyway, might as well give them the HSV. IF a GXP gets sold in NA, hope it's much less. GM/Holden do not have a lot of time to make a decision if the OZ version is going to be such a limited run before production in CA. Seems like they should have announced it with the GT if it were going to happen. Maybe they are going to see how the first years sales pan out? Would GXP cannibalize CTS-V? Performance buyers are a small segment of the population and they will be getting lots of [affordable] choices in short order. I don't envy the people who make strategic decisions for the general.

good. now top gear can test it.

Don't compare UK prices directly with US prices. At GBP35,000 the VX8 is GBP2K more than a 530i. The 530i sells in the US for around $US47,000, so the VX8 could see a price closer to $USD50,000.

Would GXP cannibalize CTS-V? Performance buyers are a small segment of the population and they will be getting lots of [affordable] choices in short order. I don't envy the people who make strategic decisions for the general.

We had the CTS-V and GTO both with LS2's selling side by side so I think we have more G8 power in the future. Pontiac needs credibility and a flagship car to push GXP through the product line (the G6 GXP and Torrent GXP ain't gonna cut it). I will bet the 400+ hp G8 GXP is coming, but at a price. It may be time to cough up the big bucks.

The question for me is the timing. When will they announce?? If they do like they did with the Solstice, we may know just about at launch time.

Except the GTO is a coupe. I concede that someone cross-shopping a CTS-V might not consider a Pontiac and maybe the V will have more power than a GXP to compensate. I think Cad only sold roughly 3,500 CTS-V's last year so not that many sales to take away. It's funny that GTO is called a failure based on sales but uh... look at CTS-V sales. Anyway, off topic. Love the tail on that VXR. Hope a GXP, if we get it, looks like that. :)

300 of them for 2007

* LS2 6 Litre V8 (307KW and 550Nm)
* 6L80 E six-speed automatic transmission
* HSV Premium Four-Piston Brake System
* Exclusive ‘Luxury Performance’ body styling
* 19-inch alloy wheels
* Unique Grange leather seats and interior, with 10 way electric fronts and three memory settings
* Optional ‘Light Urban’ trim (no-cost)
* ESC – Electronic Stability Control
* MRC – Magnetic Ride Control
* Unique HSV instrument cluster and steering wheel
* Curtain air bags – six air bags in total
* Rain sensing wipers
* Rear, headrest mounted, DVD Player
* Tyre pressure monitor
* Tri-zone electronic climate control
* Bi-Xenon headlights (self leveling)
* LED tail lamps
* Heated exterior mirrors

they had it on this weeks episode of top gear. didnt drive it - just mentioned it and showed it in the studio. they said there would be a supercharged option for it as well

I like the body stylings of that better than the G8, wonder what it would look like with a g8 hood...

they had it on this weeks episode of top gear. didnt drive it - just mentioned it and showed it in the studio. they said there would be a supercharged option for it as well

Video in the news section.