The Holden VXR8 - A Budget Hero 

It may be a "POOR MAN'S M5" but it has one thing no modern thing M5 has... RELIABILITY! I own the Chevy version and am a former M5 owner. Inexpensive to maintain and repair. It currently has 172k miles and it has never failed to start or left me stranded. My M5 was in the shop so often I felt compelled to invite the service manager to my daughter's wedding because I knew him better than some of the other guests.

The indicators are on the CORRECT side for a RHD car. The reason that we have them on the left these days, is so that car manufacturers only have to make one type of (LHD) unit, probably to save money. British cars from the 70's and earlier, had them on the right. The Aussies and Japanese have them on the right for their domestic markets.

I have only been spanked twice in 9 years of owning my E34 BMW M5. Once was by a Vauxhall VRX8 and the other was by a nissan GTR. Nice car

This was my old car, good to see it still about!

I don't know any roads around here where I can test out the handling, so I'll just assume it isn't very good. Perfect 50/50 weight distribution with the over 90% of the engine behind the front axle line. They handle great and better than just about any other car of its size.

2:40 - wrong, thats the corrct placement for indicators, on the rhs. you are just use to crappy lhd to rhd conversions that leave it on the left

Holden puts the plastic inside, BMW puts it on the engine.

Can't beat the sound of any cross plane crank V8 After all, the most important stat on a car is how fast it takes you from adult to giggling school kid.

As a proud Aussie, right up until the end of Holden we made some seriously fun V8 sedans, even turbo straight 6 ones with our Falcon XR6 Turbo’s and the HSV’s dynamically we’re soooo goood

It's designed for Australian roads. We not only have big long highways, we have plenty of narrow back country roads which make a lot of UK roads look smooth.

Correction: the “Holden Coupé”, known in Australia as the Monaro, was a coupé version of the Commodore, a ‘saloon’ or sedan.

as a Lotus (VX220) owner for many years, a big v8 was my daily for a number of years. Considered a VXR8 a number of times but both times went for a XFR V8 (5.0 Supercharged), and then the C63 6.2 NA....would still consider this as a daily...maybe next on the list...great review.

I've seen a lot of these videos of English Ladies and Gents reviewing the VXR8 and commenting that it is a descendant of the Lotus Carlton, When in reality it is a descendant of a much older car also made in Australia by Holden, The Holden Torana SLR 5000

Australia had a rich history of coupes. Surely car guys(US & UK who received our commodores) knew of our classic Holden vs Ford rivalry. 2 phases, pre & post 1980. Pre falcon vs kingswood/torana post, falcon vs commodore. And yes we stole the first coomodore from vauxhall, so it has in fact come full circle. In the pre 1980 days particularly the late 60s/70s both manufacturers had smoking coupes!!! My personal favourite & my first car in 1990(all be it a 4 door😭) the falcon GT351 hardtop. Yes, for those of my age, the mad Max interceptor. Yep, that's the one........ 1970s falcon coupe. 351C. At that time Holden had 2 coupes. A biggen and a mini. And yes coupes are always 2 door versions of existing sedans. At that time the kingswood and the torana. Big usually 5L. Small usually 4.2L. Though there were some 5.7L monaros and 5L toranas. The torana hauled arse in Bathurst being lighter than the opposing 351 Ford. It was outrage in the 80s when the new falcon & newer commodore no longer provided a 2 door!!! 😡😡😡 Fast forward to early 2000s and past a snooze fest of 90s mediocrity and both falcon and commodore upped the game. Unfortunately falcons did not go 2 door but they did bring back the much loved GT now with a 5.4L, and commodores were now on the LS bandwagon. Commodores brought out the monaro moniker again and for a few brief models we had both 5.7 & 6.0 monaro coupes again. Based on if I remember correct VY-VZ commies 2000-2006ish. There was a concept based on the next gen 2006+ VE commie the coupe 60 if I remember. Unfortunately no go. Ozzie car manufacturing was touch and go leading up to its demise recently so coupes were a luxury we could no longer afford from the hey day of Aussie muscle from the 70s. Long live the last of the V8 interceptors. 1974 XB GT351 coupe.

If pretty sure these are renowned for handling superbly ? In fact I know they are !

I must agree with 2 things... all hail the mighty Lotus Carlton & nothing sounds like a small block chevy ( that car would make me go looking for tunnels all day)

My dream car. But not with the awful automatic gearbox but with the six speed manual.i would also have the wortec exhaust system. Ram air induction and a custom remap. Got the money to buy one but I can’t. Bastard. Beautiful car.❤️

Wanted one of these for years. Finally got my hands on one and… my god it’s good fun 😂 Loud, fast and permanently sideways if you push it hard, whilst being a big friendly giant. It’s easy to control and you look like a hero. It’s an auto, would have preferred a manual but they’re obviously more desirable and a good couple of grand more expensive… but for what you get it’s great fun. Standard they don’t have much noise, after a few mods it sounds like the devils chauffeur. Headers, cam and a full switchable stainless exhaust later (keeps the neighbour’s happy) it never fails to put a smile on my face. Still keeps up with the big boys despite being an oap in car terms, keeping up with m3’s and 5’s. Decent remap and you’ll be hitting 470ish bhp with standard internals. Mpg? Lucky to get 15/20mpg out of it but if that’s your concern… get a diesel. Tax? Well prepare to get lubed up and bent over at £750 a year. To top it all off they are incredibly rare, like hens teeth in the U.K. gets a lot of attention from fellow petrol heads. It’s simple, to the point and stripped back to basics. It’s not luxurious but how many cars happily sit at 100mph+ without breaking a sweat? It’s massive inside, I can’t stress how huge it is. I’m 6,6 and could comfortably sit behind myself in the rear seats, plenty of head room and could easily get 2 bodies in the boot. It’s got brakes the size of planets and considering it weighs the guts of 2tons it stops really well. My only gripe is parts… they are a nightmare to get. There are specialists that deal with them and you can get parts but it’s not something you can pop into your local car parts store and get. You MUST order them in advance for mots/services ect. Overall it’s the best car I have ever bought. I will never sell it… never Unless it’s for a supercharged manual 😂

Good videos falls. Maybe more of a walk around of the exterior and interior so we can see what the cars are like aesthetically.

Had a Monaro VXR 5.7 four 4 years . Just got my big Brother The VXR8 6.0 42obhp

The upgraded version has the LSA SC engine. It's a 4 door Camaro

The Lotus wasn't the first insane 4 door saloon. Go back to about 1967(?), Australia, the locally made Ford GT Fakcon. 5.8 litre V8.

Am I correct in that the track on the logo of the jacket is Laguna Seca?

Have you seen custom versions from walkinshawperformance? The top versions are AMG shreders....BTW there was VXR8 estate as well...

@JayEmm on Cars Can you get your hands on a VF vxr with the supercharged v8? Would love to see your opinion on it.

Indicators are always on the right in JDM cars

What I’d give to have one of these...might have to make it happen next year...

I love the Vxr8 as a young lad in the 90s Vauxhall’s engines were so much more fun in delivering there smiles per gallon and then they were so much stronger than the equivalent Ford or Pug 1.9 I embarrassingly spanked some good friends of mine in a Astra GSI that cost a 3rd of the price of the Rs turbos and if you got a good red top they were virtually trouble free. So when motoring Nirvana was for many a Cosworth for me the only lust was for the lotus Carlton. And because of this on my last 3 Car buys I have looked at the vxr8 as a wild 😜 card ( should I would I could I 🤔) but I certainly do believe that one day I will 😊 ps get a lotus Carlton on your channel at least ✊🏼

Cast your mind back to 1968 and there was a Mercedes 300sel 6.3 followed by a few years later the 450sel 6.9 both predate the lotus carlton somewhat. (Unlike today 6.3 and 6.9 was the engine size).

this car is going to love the UK motorways!

Push it on a dry track and you will find it handles well stops we and goes well .

Oh look, THAT'S what a V8 sounds like!!

Being a Brit you might not get this reference, but that is not the car equivalent of steak & chips...it's the car equivalent of buffalo wings so hot that you have to wear gloves & goggles to eat them, and no blue cheese or ranch to dip them in. That's a very, *very* good thing.

Eviscerating tyres & Spanking BMW's & MB's is the specialty of Holden's Monaro....which precedes the Lotus Carlton by 20 years...! Holden [Vauxhall] VXR8 GTS-R - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CacOaDR7YWA.html Holden [Vauxhall] VXR8 - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RAumb8Rv2SQ.html Holden [Vauxhall] VXR8 Bathurst S - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-KWcKfwf1aYw.html

Should try find some more holdens mate

You're charismatic Guy!😎 Thx for this VXR8 Report. I hope i can buy my One soon... I've fear, of the damn Brexit-Story. 😒

The Monaro coupe was based on the Commodore, I owned one for 17 years and now a VF GTS. GTS value $100-200K, GTSR $200-300K, W1 $400K plus, not cheap. Btw mate women love these cars too 🤷‍♀️

indicator on the right so your left hand car be on the gear stick

Amazing car for the money, such a shame they stopped production

我爱vxr8

Poor Brits.... if I want to hear a V8 grumble, I can spend $20 and go rent a UHaul pickup truck lol. Gas bills on this over there must be eye watering though. For what its worth the rebadged Holdens we got here didn't survive either.

A great car - if you can afford the fuel bills.

Captain Maks!

Why isn't this YOUR type of car, curious?

Hgh regulations and taxes in Australia 30 yrs killed the car manufacturing labor party

The manual in the Holden was never that good. Very heavy clutch. Auto was always the way to go.

yep good value , now 10000 pounds down under

I love You!

It would be nice if it didn’t have a stupid electronic speed governer on it... I mean, this isn’t a BMW, Audi or a Mercedes-Benz!

Prats UK Government Wants us all 2 Drive Elec /Cars. Up Yours . Im in UK my Car 4now is a Monaro VXR . 5.7 V8 387hp. My next Car will be a VXR 8. Long Live The V8 ?

Sorry to be a pedant, but it's a Vauxhall VXR or a Holden (HSV) R8. There's no such thing as a Holden VXR8.

Budget?🤣 in Australia they cost arm and a leg wtf

Early 2000s version looked a billion times better. This car is aesthetically....bad. It looks so tall

Bang for buck for the first couple months maybe - then it's an unreliable, oversized paperweight

But it`s a vauxhall!!! Just no.

When the fat guy started comparing it to steak the review made a bit more sense but not much.

This car was designed to appeal to the knuckle-dragging, neanderthal Antipodean. He's the second cousin, brother and uncle to the good old boy from Mississippi.

Truly awesome car and kinda like the GTR, so VERY easy to tune the living daylights outta it! A great mix of Yank engine (the ONLY decent thing about US cars!) but in a chassis that actually CAN go around corners swiftly and that has the suspension and brakes to keep you safe. Most Yank cars (Mustangs in particular!) can't even accelerate hard in a straight line!

first time watching this guy its very topgear esc i love it. topgear should have hired this guy instead of the new ppl they got now