Vauxhall VXR8 Bathurst S

So, the new guy at work has just bought one of these. 572bhp, 527lbs/ft, 1831kgs.

Inevitably, we're going to find ourselves 'going the same way' so, how bad will it be? The only stats I have are from an old Evo mag (I believe it was against 'The Guv'nor'?) and they suggest that it's not hugely faster than an E46 M3

I also seem to recall a Performance Car comparison with the Jag XFR in which the Jag was supposedly a LOT quicker, which would correberate this...

A lack of 'vs' vids across the internet aren't surprising considering only 16 (apparently) were built. I might have to capture some video of the monster at full chat at some point too, as I understand they make quite a noise

It's gonna rip you a new one I reckon.

who cares,its aweful

It's a lardy old beast so will likely handle like a bus

I've just seen a reference to the Evo article- New vs Old or something. It was definitely slower than the Lotus Carlton... which seems weird now. I'll pull the specs together and run it through the calculator... I can't trust real data anymore!

It's still 313bhp per tonne, not faster than an E46 M3? Thats the biggest load of balls ever, it will be sub 10s 0-100 and in the 12s on the 1/4 mile with a 190mph top speed most likely. Even a 400bhp coupe would struggle against it I would say.

But since there will be no racing comparisons here except in the track sections, there won't be a problem, will there?

Well here are the numbers from Evo magazine (with a few distance time/ terminals from my calculator). I'll run t through the other calculator later and see what that says.

Vauxhall VXR8 Bathurst S (2009)
0-30mph: 2.0
0-40mph: 2.8
0-50mph: 3.7
0-60mph: 4.6
0-70mph: 6.0
0-80mph: 7.3
0-90mph: 8.7
0-100mph: 10.7
0-110mph: 12.7
0-120mph: 14.8
0-130mph: 17.1
0-140mph: 23.3
0-150mph: 30.0 (my best guess)

Calculated 0-400m (s): 13.04
Calculated 0-400m (mph): 111.6
Calculated 0-1000m (s): 23.41
Calculated 0-1000m (mph): 140.2

Calculated 60ft (18.3m) (s): 2.31
Calculated 60ft (18.3m) (mph): 33.9
Calculated 330ft (100.6m) (s): 5.78
Calculated 330ft (100.6m) (mph): 68.5
Calculated 1/8 Mile (201.1) (s): 8.64
Calculated 1/8 Mile (201.1) (mph): 89.5
Calculated 1000ft (301.7m) (s): 10.98
Calculated 1000ft (301.7m) (mph): 101.4
Calculated 1/4 Mile (402.3m) (s): 13.09
Calculated 1/4 Mile (402.3m) (mph): 111.8

Actual 1/4 Mile (402.3m) (s): 13.10
Actual 1/4 Mile (402.3m) (mph): 112.80

I'd imagine its very quick once rolling and above 80mph. However from memory I think I recall the gearbox being VERY slow, i.e you cannot rush it, so maybe a blast from 40-80 is your best bet, i.e powerband of 2nd and into 3rd.

So, we met up for a drive the other night; I don't think I've heard another car as loud as this thing! It pops and farts CONSTANTLY on the overrun and makes a hell of a noise on full chat. Because it's still a relatively lazy lump though, the tone doesn't seem to change throughout the rev range; it's just on or off. It sounds especially fruity in a high gear at a low speed at full throttle though, I'll no doubt capture some video footage in the Summer for all to see.

One thing is for sure though, it isn't 564bhp... I'd guess around 450bhp and the performance would certainly seem to confirm the above road test stats and comments about the Jag XFR being quicker in road tests. I'm trying to get it on Track'n'Road's dyno to see what we're looking at but he doesn't seem particularly interested.

It's still a fair old beast though and ceratinly turns more than a few heads rumbling up the road

Would your coupe take it in 3rd gear though...? That is the question!

So he finally took it to Track'n'Road where it made;
Flywheel power: 481.1bhp @6,491rpm
Flywheel torque: 464.9lbs/ft @3,745rpm
Wheel power: 431bhp @6,250rpm

Anyone else think losing 50bhp to the wheels in a 500bhp car with a tractor gearbox is a bit 'iffy'?

is that at the wheels or fly trappy?

Marco - my guess is that the 431 is at the wheels and 481 is at the fly

@ Trappy - yes, 10% is simply too low, especially when it involves a rear diff and a 90 degree turn in the drivetrain

Why different RPMs between the two figures though? Surely the rpm at which maximum power at the wheels is made = maximum power at the fly.

Looks to me like a second run with a higher rev limit as opposed to a single set of fly/wheel figures

Edit: ignore the last bit 50bhp over 250 rpms seems a lot...

I've cleared up the results, apologies for the confusion.

There really is no reason why the flywheel peak power should be at different rpms to the wheel power. Drivetrain losses increase with rpms, if you had a car with a flat power line, the wheel power would be when the line peaked as it would drop off where the flywheel power didn't.

My coop on the same rollers lost 67bhp at the redline. what on earth could cause a dyno to produce an error like this?

Just a little update on this beast. We took it up to Walkinshaw in Oxford today so he could leave it for a week for it's first major service. It's also having a cam upgrade, 'toothed pulley' and a remap to unleash a bit more poke. Unfortunately, I had to 'follow' in the coop to bring him home. Oddly enough, I actually had a bit of trouble staying behind; despite the power figures posted above, not once was the old Fiat caught napping in 115 miles of clear motorway driving

We never did have a proper through-the-gears; he was "always in the wrong gear" when we had a blat and so I sailed past . I guess we'll never know which is quicker now, but it should be interesting when he picks it up with a proper 600bhp...

The old girl also returned a respectable 30mpg over the 232.5 miles round trip. Very impressed and loving her more than ever!

Thought I'd post an update on here. The owner has had it in for engine modificatons a few times over the years. Last time around, he finally had it dyno'd.

658bhp

It maxed out the dyno at 600lbs/ft

I bet that shifts a bit!
A mate of mine had the standard one a few years ago with just a remap, filter and exhaust and that was pretty rapid.
They sound epic as well.

They really aren't as fast as the BHP would seem to suggest though. In every test against similarly powered V8s (M5s, C63s, XKRs etc.) they (and the later supercharged models) get absolutely smashed, every time...

I had a hunch they were a lot heavier than claimed but I've sinced found owners who have had them weighed. Even the manual gearbox doesn't explain why.

Either way it is but it's still a monster. The most incredible thing is the torque on the dyno curve. The 600lbs/ft peak is mighty impressive but it makes 510 from 2,000rpm and it only just creeps down to the same number at the redline. That's 85% of peak torque... everywhere

There are many Holdens down here with that engine (ls3). I literally can't drive a few km without hearing or seeing one, from the r8 utes to the commodores and caprice statesman's. I have spent several years watching them go down the 1/4 mile strip at perth motorplex. It seems even when the walkinshaw supercharger kits, can upgrades, full system exhausts and a variety of other expensive mods they struggle to crack a 13 sec 1/4 mile.a friend has a wagon with 660bhp and it spins the wheels so much it isn't as quick as the numbers suggest. On a track, the Renault Clio's typically out hustle them on everything but jacks hill climb. Lots of fun though. Hell of an engine, so robust versatile and hardy.

I was about to say something similar, ie they struggle to do sub 13 sec quarters. I ran a Monaro VXR500 for about 18 months, similar kind of beast, and between us and the supercharged VXR8s (including a bathhurst S) only a couple of us actually made it under 13.

In my opinion though, they're really not about the performance at all (even though, compare it with what you will, they're still plenty quick enough). It's all about the noise, the effortless torque delivery, and the fact you're driving a proper muscle car.

All that said, I really don't like the whine that the Bathurst's supuercharger makes. The one fitted to the VXR500 sounded much, much better.. horses for courses though, obviously.

I just wonder if the traction is shite or not so refined as other marques....

My E63 just sticks to the road when I nail it, no squeals.....

And this is the lowly last of the 6.3 na lumps... Estate of course !!!

I do like the s/c whine, but doubt I could live with it every day!

It isn't traction. There are countless videos of supercharged VXR8s being smashed by similarly powered German cars on youtube in comparison tests. Even once rolling, they just fall back lengths.

When my mates car was making a dyno'd 481bhp, it was noticeably slower than my coop that made 315bhp on the same dyno. It doesn't appear to be weight as this has been confirmed on weigh bridges and it isn't transmission losses as this has been proved on dyno run print-outs. The slow gearchange argument doesn't wash either as they're slow in-gear too. I honestly can't work it out. Aerodynamics wouldn't account for it unless it had a parachute either



Road test figures for the Bathurst S and the GTS versions confirmed the poor performance. Your E63 would walk away from both of them.



As I understand it, that car in the old Top Gear video was tweaked to make all that noise. My mate's one doesn't do it at all. Well, you can't hear it over the exhaust anyway...

When he gets it back to the UK (it lunched its gearbox in the modball rally a few weeks back) I'll get him to 'meet up' again as it's been a while

I don't know whether that's the case with Top Gear - I wouldn't put it past them to have *enhanced* the noise a little, but every S/C Monaro or VXR8 I've been in you can definitely hear the whine.. albeit, the whine sounds very different depending on which specific S/C is in there.

As said my VXR500 whine sounded good. Not too loud that it does your head in, but not so quiet that it doesn't make a difference. With your mates it possibly is due to the exhaust. I had the 'standard' VXR500-fit Wortec system on mine, which was just at the very legal limit in terms of loudness. Anything significantly more than that and I can easily imagine you'd drown out the sound of bombs dropping, let alone a supercharger whine!

I had some footage of his car from Modball a few years back but it's since been removed. I've just found some more of it from a few weeks back at the start of the latest one but you can't hear it properly amongst everything else. I'll post some up when I find it. It really is ridiculously loud!

Hopefully, with 658bhp it'll be in front long enough to hear it for a while now

Hmmm... The simple recipe of a big v8 and brute tuning should work... Just wonder where them lovely horses are being wasted ??

I'd still love the ute version !!

Almost got a s/c for the E63, but I'd ruin it... Bit like the coop! Should have left standard.

I'd quite like to strap the Performance Box to it and see the numbers for sure but I fear you'd need a runway for a car like that...



A guy I knew through my ex had an E63 AMG and he was talking about taking the S/C route on his. He decided against it in the end and bought a 997 Turbo to go along with it instead - that seemed to scratched the FI itch!

I can imagine a S/C E63 being a bit of a handful. They're pretty lairy anyway from what I've heard / read and that V8 is a different animal entirely to the lazy LS3.

While doing the Modball rally, it seems my pal had a few blasts with someone with a Mercedes-Benz GT S and he had the legs on it... It's all on video too apparently.

Maybe it's a fair bit quicker than I'd thought then

It recently made 743bhp after further work