British Drivers Get Blown 500hp Monaro VXR

By Motoring Channel Staff - 14/Sep/2006

Luton, England — The British are very lucky. While they aren't blessed with Australia's warm climate, stunning beaches or relaxed way of life, they can now strap in to one of the fastest Holden's ever built. 

While the venerated Holden Monaro is now very much a collectors edition model in Australia, General Motor's UK branch, Vauxhall, has just released a very angry version of the Monaro capable of surpassing 290km/h.

Named the Vauxhall Monaro VXR and based on the HSV GTS Coupe, it features the 6.0-litre LS2 V8 that has made its way into many vehicles in the GM universe, but this one's a bit special - it's supercharged.

Imagine a Monaro, then imagine it with the kind of acceleration that would tear the tyres to shreds. As the Editor would say, just take a look at the photos.

As Vauxhall explains, the limited-edition VXR500 is based on the standard 6.0-litre Monaro VXR, but uses forced induction to take the power from 403 to 500hp. For local Australian readers, that translates from 297kW from the naturally aspirated V8 to the boosted 367kW of power. Such levels of power are normally the reserve of the most exotic vehicles in the world.

And while power has been boosted to dizzying levels, the torque delivery has been hiked from 530Nm to 677Nm. Why didn't HSV or Holden release a model similar to this? Some may argue that it doesn't know its customers well enough, but it comes down to the fact that the Monaro production has now ended in Australia and all of GM Holden's efforts are turned on the VE Commodore and it's various spin offs.

With 367kW of power and 677Nm of torque, the VXR500 limited edition model costs £35,995, which is around $A90,000, and Vauxhall says that in addition to the positive displacement supercharger, the conversion also includes an upgraded fuel system, clutch revisions and bespoke engine tune. 

Though nothing concrete has been released, Vauxhall claims that the VXR500 will have a sub five second 0-96km/h time and a top speed in excess of 180mph (290km/h) and adds that it is surprisingly relaxing to drive, as most of the torque is available low down in the engine's rev range. The Luton-based firm has says that this limited edition model's £35,995 price is is less than half the price of any other sports coupe with 500hp.

As well as the Vauxhall Monaro VXR500 limited edition, the British company has also released a new 2007 version of the Vectra VXR. In Australia, Holden is discontinuing the Vectra line here as sales and public interest have dried up. Instead it is expected to release a new mid-sized car in 2007, based on the Chevrolet Epica from America, which Holden will rebadge and will be able to sell for much less than the Vectra, and perhaps compete with Accord Euro and Mazda6.

The Vauxhall Vectra VXR sports model, based on the Opel model of the same name, gets new 2007 model year versions including more power. Boosted from 187kW (255hp) to 206kW (280hp), the 2.8-litre V6 turbo borrowed from the Saab 9-3 Aero gets a redesigned induction system, modified engine components and retuned electronic engine control software. These revisions to the 2.8-litre V6 turbo engine knock four tenths of a second off the 0-96km/h sprint time, taking it down to just 6.1 seconds for the hatchback and 6.3 seconds for the wagon. 

Vauxhall says that to match the engine's extra power, it's engineers have also tweaked the chassis to provide even more dynamic handling. Modified spring and shock absorber settings and correspondingly retuned IDSPlus2 chassis control software is said to optimise the pitch, roll and turn-in characteristics to make the most of the increased performance without ruining the Vectra VXR's impressive refinement. The difference between the normal chassis setting and the Sport setting, which is activated by the dashboard-mounted Sport Switch, has been further increased too, making sure that the Vectra's handling can cope with the most enthusiastic driver's demands.

Both models - Vectra and Monaro - are no longer offered in Australia, but with models like these, perhaps they should be?