The Frankfurt Show sees the debut of what Vauxhall is calling "Britain's fastest hatchback". We're not talking about the new Astra VXR, but its bigger brother, the Vectra VXR, due to be shown in Frankfurt as the Opel Vectra OPC.

You can see from the pictures that the VXR (based on the facelifted Vectra) gains the usual body addenda, without going too far. At the front is a deeper bumper incorporating foglights and honeycomb mesh, below the body-coloured 'V' grille. Side sills and 18-inch alloys complete the profile, while the rear end gains an understated spoiler and a new apron with a pair of trapezoidal exhaust pipes. VXR badging is relatively subtle all round.

If you've been following the development of Vauxhall's sporty VXR brand, you'll have noticed that the tag is not applied to cars with mere aesthetic makeovers, and this Vectra is no different. The heart of the car is a new 2.8-litre turbocharged V6 engine. Utilising variable valve timing and a twin-scroll turbocharger, the engineers have managed to extract 252bhp and 236lb.ft of peak torque from this unit (also to be fitted into Saab cars). Even in a large car like the Vectra, performance should be electric, with the 0-60mph sprint said to take just 6.6 seconds on the way to a top speed of 161mph - hence the 'fastest hatchback' claims.

Hauling the car back down from such speeds is a new brake system featuring massive 345mm ventilated discs at the front and 292mm items at the rear. Allied with a further evolution of the IDS-plus electronic damper control system, the Vectra promises to be a good steer, though it remains to be seen how its front wheels and the six-speed transmission cope with all that torque.

Indeed, that could be the only chink in this Vectra's armour, as the price is pegged at "under £25,000" significantly undercutting any rivals of comparable performance. Sales of the Vectra VXR start in September, and there could even be an estate version early in 2006. Watch out for our first drive in the Vauxhall Road Tests page.

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Related articles:
- All Vauxhall road tests
- Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch review (fitted with IDS-plus)

Shane O' Donoghue - 12 Aug 2005