The Vauxhall Astra VXR is just about as extreme as a hot-hatch gets. It produces 276bhp from its 2.0-litre turbocharged engine, which allows it to accelerate from 0-62mph in 5.9 seconds. When it comes to twisty roads, the VXR feels incredibly at home. There is a huge amount of grip – so much so that it's difficult to trouble the Astra at legal road speeds – and there's a good amount of feedback through the steering wheel. All of those aspects help to cement the Astra VXR's place as a car for people who enjoy driving quickly. 

As a focused hot-hatch the VXR was never going to have supple, comfortable suspension. Instead it gets an extremely firm set up that is great for handling but not so good for soaking up bumpy and rough roads. The seats are comfortable but spend anything over an hour in them and you’ll begin to feel a few aches. It should be said though, that the VXR's ride compares well with other models in this class like the VW Scirocco R and Renaultsport Megane 265. There's also the option to firm up the suspension even further with a Sport and a VXR mode. 

Vauxhall have been moving up in public opinion surveys concerning the reliability of their cars so we’re expecting the Astra VXR to perform well. All of the parts used have been tried and tested elsewhere in the Vauxhall line-up and have been jointly engineered between teams in England and Germany. The VXR hasn’t been tested for crash safety by Euro NCAP but the Astra GTC on which it is based has, and received a five-star rating in the process. 

Despite its compact shape and swooping lines the VXR remains a fairly practical car. With all the seats in place it has 380 litres of boot space but this figure can be increased to 1,165 litres by folding the rear seats down. Seating passengers is a bit more of an issue as access to the back seats is a little difficult in this three-door-only model. 

The Astra VXR is more expensive than the Renaultsport Megane 265 and Ford Focus ST but less expensive than the Volkswagen Scirocco R. Equipment levels are relatively generous, with electric windows, air-conditioning, DAB radio, FlexRide and a limited slip-differential to improve cornering, all included in the price. An optional Aero pack costs £995 and Vauxhall believes that 85 per cent of buyers will specify it on their VXR. 

With stop/start as standard Vauxhall has done its best to keep running costs low on the VXR. Fuel economy is quoted as 34.9mpg but on our test drive we found that figures of 25mpg were more accurate. CO2 emissions of 189g/km will mean a fairly hefty road tax bill too. With this kind of performance it's reasonable to expect insurance to be expensive and you might find yourself shelling out for new front tyres quite regularly too.