If you live in the UK, you are very fortunate to be able to buy the Vauxhall VXR8 Tourer, which is basically a rebadged version of the HSV-prepped Holden Commodore SS SportWagon. This means it gets a 6.2-liter V8 engine with 408 hp, rear-wheel drive and a manual six-speed gearbox, all with plenty of boot space to carry as many of your possessions as you can throw in.
It is a well-regarded, but traditional kind of performance estate, and now Autocar magazine has put it up against one of its more higher-tech rivals, the Audi RS4 Avant.
Costing only £3,000 more in its base form than the Australian car, the RS4 is better in every single measurable way, except for torque where the larger displacement of the LS3 motor V8 really makes its presence felt over the Audi’s high-revving 4.2-liter unit – 88 lb-ft (119 Nm) more, to be precise.
The conclusion drawn is that the VXR is a “lovely” car that is “more characterful” than the RS4, and a good enthusiast’s choice, but with the small price gap, the latter turns out to be the much better overall buy.
By Andrei Nedelea
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