There have been quite a few changes to the Vauxhall VXR8 for the 2011 model year, but some things remain the same. This car is still a Holden, shipped over from Australia and fitted with Vauxhall badges, and it offers a great deal of power for a relatively small amount of money, the same as it always has done.How much power and how much money? Well, all versions - including the Maloo pickup and Sports Tourer estate, which are now available in the UK, though only to special order - use the same 6.2-litre V8 engine also found in substantially modified form in the Holdens racing in the Australia V8 Supercars series, and, with a supercharger, in the Corvette ZR1.As fitted to the VXR8, it produces 425bhp, which isn't actually all that much for a 6.2-litre engine. That's a good thing, though, because with this maximum output it's very calm at low revs. Used to its full potential, it fires the Vauxhall from 0-60mph in 4.9 seconds, yet at the time of writing it costs £49,500 in higher-spec GTS form with the standard six-speed manual gearbox. (There's also an automatic transmission option for an extra £2700.)Now, £49,500 - or £45,000 if you go for the less well-equipped Clubsport model - is quite a lot of money, but if you want that sort of acceleration, plus seating for four adults, plus roughly the same amount of luggage space as you get in a Vauxhall Insignia, that's what you're going to have to pay. The BMW M3 and the Mercedes-Benz C 63 AMG, which perform similarly in a straight line and have slightly smaller boots, both cost several thousand pounds more even if you don't buy any of the extra-cost options, which as a BMW or Mercedes customer you naturally will.Exciting though those German cars look, their visual effect is as nothing compared with that of the VXR8, which for 2011 has been tarted up in no uncertain manner. It's not remotely subtle, but I love it. The GTS also has eight-way electrically adjustable sports seats, plus Magnetic Ride Control suspension (which lines up metal particles in the shock absorber fluid to increase damping) and larger wheels and tyres than the Clubsport.Sounding good so far, isn't it? I think so. Part of me also wants this to be my absolute favourite car in the world. But it just isn't, for a variety of reasons.For a start, it feels as if it has been built down to a price. The interior looks good but isn't made of high-quality stuff, and the handbrake in particular is just horrible, being made of very cheap plastic and having a button on the top which you have to press down while you're lifting the lever up. That stonking great V8 sounds disappointing too, even under hard acceleration, though I'm sure Holden had to stifle its enthusiasm in this respect in order to keep on the right side of noise regulations.I'd be okay with all that if the car was better on corners than it is. I'm sure you've seen VXR8s been driven sideways on television with clouds of rubber smoke pouring off the rear tyres. Well, whoop-di-doo. Any high-performance rear-wheel drive car can be made to do that, but it doesn't mean they all handle equally well.The VXR8 doesn't exactly handle badly, but it's a bit of a lumbering old thing through corners, never feeling quite as poised as it might be. And it's easy to make the power - even just some of it - overcome the chassis. On one bend at the top of a motorway slip road I decided to be wary of the slightly (really only slightly) damp conditions and press the throttle pedal less than I wanted to about ten yards later than I wanted to. The adjustable Electronic Stability Control was on its most watchful setting too, but the VXR8 still snapped sideways on me.My passenger at the time, who would certainly have made a comment if she had thought I was over-driving, instead expressed surprise that the car had reacted that way with so little provocation. She was no more surprised than I was.Basically the VXR8 is a muscle car in the combined Australian and American tradition. Like other muscle cars, it looks fantastic and goes like stink in a straight line, and on Route 66 or across the Nullarbor Plain I'm sure it would be splendid. But European manufacturers - BMW and Mercedes, as mentioned, plus Jaguar - can provide at least this amount of power in a car which would knock the spots off it on a twisty UK road.So it's a silly car, really, but one that's fun (to a point) and cheap (for its power output). If that's what you want, the VXR8 is the car for you. Engine 6162cc, 8 cylinders Power 425bhp Transmission 6-speed manual Fuel/CO2 20.9 mpg / 320 g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 4.9 seconds Top speed 155mph Price £49,500 Details correct at publication date
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