Vauxhall VXR8: Now With Supercharged Power

Motoring Channel Staff - 4/September/2007

Luton, England — The chief reviewed the HSV Clubsport R8 early in 2007 and gave it an impressive 4 out of 5 overall rating. One of the things he cited about the LS2-powered vehicle was its magnificent power delivery. 307kW is a huge amount of power, and as it turns out the Brits get even more power. Almost 100 kilowatts more power.

The HSV Clubsport R8 is exported to the UK and sold as a Vauxhall VXR8, and one of the new options that you won't find here in Australia is the addition of a supercharger. It's not cheap at £6995 for the forced induction, which is about $17,000. 

The conversion is covered by a three-year factory guarantee, and can even be retro fitted to models already in the hands of UK drivers. 

Total power output rises from 307kW to a clutch nullifying 402kW, or 412hp to 540hp for our British readers. Vauxhall hasn't released specific torque outputs but says it'll be increased by about 30%. Based on the current 550Nm, this figure could rise to 730Nm. That's a lot of torque.

HSV and Vauxhall reckon the Clubsport R8 and VXR8 sprints to 100km/h from standstill in just under 5.0 seconds, but as Feann explained in his review of the car the vehicle was more like a 5.7 second sprinter. 

Either way, the addition of a supercharger to the UK version of the HSV Clubbie should improve its benchmark sprint and quarter mile times by significant margins. We'd expect (real world) sub 5.0 second figures.

We now ponder the reason why HSV doesn't offer the option of a factory-fitted supercharger, one that doesn't void the warranty of the car? If it's good enough for the UK, why haven't we seen one in Oz?

Vauxhall will offer the supercharger kit for the VXR8 from October 2007.

Related articles:
- HSV Clubsport R8 (Road Test)
- HSV Maloo (2007)
- HSV Grange (Road Test)
- HSV Senator vs FPV Force6 (Road Test)
- HSV E-Series (2007)