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Vauxhall has introduced a new top-of-the-range luxury variant of the Zafira to further strengthen its position as the leader in its market segment. Loaded with standard equipment and offering great value for money with on-the-road prices starting at only £18,950, the new Elite is at Vauxhall retailers now. As well as the innovative Flex7 seating arrangement with which the Zafira broke the mould in the MPV market, the Elite comes with full leather trim, electronic climate control, cruise control, CD30 stereo with MP3 socket, alloy wheels, a multifunction trip computer and a sight and light pack, which incorporates automatic lighting control, rain-sensitive windscreen wipers and an electro-chromatic self-dipping interior mirror. Engine choices include 1.8i 16v, 2.2 16v Direct and 2.0i 16v Turbo petrol engines, or a choice of 120PS or 150PS 1.9-litre CDTi diesels. Vauxhall’s clutchless Easytronic gearbox is available on 1.8-litre models, with a conventional automatic offered on all other ...

With spring just around the corner, every driver dreams of catching some rays in a stylish and dynamic drop top. Now there is a way to get the most Exclusiv roadster on the street at a surprisingly affordable price. The new Tigra Exclusiv Red edition is based on the Sport model, but features an extra £1,350 worth of goodies for no additional cost. Perhaps Tigra Exclusiv Red’s most distinct feature is the bold interior. The two seats and door trim inserts are trimmed in scarlet leather, and the red treatment is even mirrored in the gear lever surround. This is complemented with the usual classy fixtures you would expect from Tigra such as a leather covered steering wheel, alloy effect centre console and gear knob insert. It’s not just the interior which gets the Exclusiv look. This special Tigra is available in three metallic or pearlescent colours, Metro Blue, Star Silver and Black Sapphire, each with the distinctive silver-finish targa roof bar. The Tigra Exclusiv Red also sits on ...

Сoolest two-door to be unveiled in Switzerland: the Vauxhall GTC (GranTurismo Concept). Vauxhall 's official line is that this two-door sport coupe is a design exercise indicating its future styling direction. Sadly the firm says it has no plans to produce a coupe in the near future, so it seems much more likely that the GTC is a stylistic forerunner for the next-generation Vectra, due to appear sometime in the middle of 2008. It might sound a bit far-fetched, but Vauxhall has a history of producing coupe concept versions of non-coupe production cars - the new Antara was initially shown off in coupe guise before morphing into a production soft-roader. So stick another couple of doors on the GTC, raise the roofline, and cut back on the bling and you might just be looking at the next Vectra. The GTC is powered by a turbocharged 2.8-litre V6 developing 300bhp - an engine that General Motors is unveiling in Geneva and which Vauxhall says could find its way into a production car ...

Like the distant cries from the mad uncle locked in the attic, we hear that Vauxhall has another barmy Aussie motor on the way, just waiting to howl at the moon. The Antipodean is called the VXR8 , so it won't take a forensic scientist to work out that there's a big old V8 lurking under the bonnet. It's the same 6.0-litre 420bhp monster that we last saw in the end-of-line Monaro VXRs, and in this VXR8 saloon, this is enough to see off 0-60mph in 4.9 seconds, although there's no word on top speed as yet. Sticking with rear-wheel drive, the VXR8 comes with either a six-speed manual gearbox or, included for the first time, a five-speed auto. The auto attracts a £1,400 premium, but when the VXR8 costs only £34,995, we reckon you can afford to indulge in a few extras when the car goes on sale in July. Source: topgear See also: First Drive: Vauxhall Astra 1.6T 180 SRi Vaux in the box

Ah, the great gap between concept and reality. We rather liked the Vauxhall Antara concept that we saw a year-and-a-half ago - a swoopy, funky little SUV with coupe stylings. Eighteen months on and this is what we get as a production model. A dull-as-daytime-TV soft-roader. Targeting the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV-4 - and impressively managing to be even more anodyne and unthreatening than either - the Antara is Vauxhall 's first 4x4 since the Frontera died a little-mourned death in 2004. Perhaps its most telling feature is what Vauxhall is calling Intelligent Four-Wheel Drive. Basically it means that the Antara operates in two-wheel-drive mode for everyday, on-road use, and only switches to the full-four when it hits the slippery stuff. Call us cynics, but we don't reckon that'll happen often in Bromley. This half-baked four-wheel-drive system does at least have the benefit of decent economy. The two-litre turbodiesel - yep, that's the top-of-the-range engine - returns...

First opinion As the best-selling compact family car after the Ford Focus, Vauxhall knows not to mess with a successful formula – hence the Astra’s mildly updated looks. The new 1.6 Turbo engine is brilliant, though; it’s powerful, efficient and very clean. And while the Focus still has the edge, it makes for a fun driving experience. With prices increasing only slightly given the considerable leap in performance, the Astra represents better value than ever. Cabin gets fresh trim, while design is sharper. New turbo combines pace and economy. Don’t worry; your eyes aren’t deceiving you. This really is the revised and updated Astra. But while the minor cosmetic changes aren’t likely to get many pulses racing among enthusiasts, what’s now sitting under the bonnet most definitely will. That’s because flagship versions of the compact family hatchback get the manufacturer’s latest 1.6-litre turbocharged engine – a unit that already takes a starring role in the Corsa VXR and is set to appear...