If the BMW M5 and Audi RS6 are chiselled, Mr Olympia-winning bodybuilders, the VXR8 is Geoff Capes circa 1983 - a big fat bruiser ready to beat the thin-waisted posers to death with a massive log.

And Vauxhall's maniacal saloon has just gone even more mental with two new iterations, the Bathurst and Bathurst S. At a fiver under £50k, the latter is the cheapest way into the cockpit of a 500bhp-plus car. In fact, its supercharged V8 produces 560bhp, which is a full 129bhp more than the standard VXR8 can muster.

The non-S Bathurst, on the other hand, stays naturally aspirated but still gets the raft of dynamic upgrades the supercharged car does. That raft includes bigger brake callipers (six-pot at the front and four at the rear), stiffer, height adjustable springs, fully adjustable dampers, and both cars get the option of a Bi-Modal exhaust. The system endows the car with an extra 10bhp and allows the driver to select two noise levels: street and optimum. All very 'Need For Speed', but pretty cool nonetheless - apart from its £1,600 price tag.

Back to the Bathurst S (which lets face it is the one we're most interested in): the supercharger not only ups power to 560bhp, it also has 527lb.ft of twist (as opposed to the lesser car's 406lb.ft) - and Vauxhall clams the engine could have coped with more, but that driveability was key. (And by driveability, we assume Vauxhall means 'keeping hold of its rear tyres'.) Changes alongside the supercharger include a bigger intercooler, uprated fuel injectors, a separate air intake and a remapped ECU to fully exploit the extra performance. It also gets a stronger clutch, sensibly.

As you can see, both cars get lairy graphics so that Joe Public knows you're rolling in no ordinary Griffin, and you can spec some 20-inch rims if you fancy ruining the ride just a little bit. All the upgrades are the handiwork of officially licensed VXR8 tuner Walkinshaw Performance, and both cars are available now, priced at £37,995 for the 'slow' one and £44,995 for the supercharged Bathurst S.

Mark Nichol - 11 Feb 2009