10 Nov 05
Even before you get behind the wheel, the Vauxhall Zafira VXR will make you laugh out loud - much in the way I did when a friend told me about his Morris Minor, powered by a small-block V8 developing a gazillion horsepower; or another colleague who wrote a feature about a shopping trolley scaled up so it was about nine feet tall. And powered by a big-block Chevy V8.
So here's the deal. This is a respectable high-riding seven-seat MPV that does all sorts of clever things with its fold-flat seats - only, it's got the turbocharged 240bhp 2.0-litre powerplant straight out of Vauxhall's fireball Astra VXR. That means it'll make 60mph in 7.2 seconds and romp on to a distinctly non-PC 144mph - Chevy-big-block-shopping-trolley funny, I think you'll agree.
Visually, the Zafira VXR tries to look hard by slapping on a deep front spoiler, chrome-ringed foglights, side sills and some very silly big-bore dual exhausts. 18-inch wheels fill the arches convincingly, but if you want the full "you-lookin'-at-me" effect, there are optional 19-inchers. This will work for those of us that know what we're looking at - the rest of the population will see a tarted-up MPV, because it's still the Zafira's MPV-ness that strikes you first.
