Vauxhall's GS performance brand is back in hybrid format. Does it deliver? ⚡️
I am going to admit to some bias here. I’m fond of the Vauxhall brand by dint of circumstance. As a wee lad – I’m talking 17 and just passed my test – I bought myself an Opel Kadett. Yes, I know I said Vauxhall, but let’s not split hairs. It was essentially a Mk1 Astra, and while it was as tatty as a Scottish scone, it had character oozing out of every pore – including the rusty ones in the front wings.
Here the powertrain is a 1.6-litre plug-in hybrid, which is producing 225hp and 266lb ft of torque. The bad news is that’s the same powertrain as featured in a heap of other products in the Stellantis line-up, including mundane stuff like the I drove last year. It delivers a 0-62mph time of 7.5 seconds, which doesn’t sound like it’s going to make this the hottest of hot hatches.
It’s not OTT inside, either. Sports seats, a GSe steering wheel and some ‘fancy’ dash and door trims – spoiler alert, those aren’t that fancy and look a bit cheap – and that’s pretty much your lot. There are some other iffy materials dotted around the interior, but a lot of plush ones as well, so it not a cheap-feeling car. But then it’s not a cheap car either like Vauxhalls once were.
I found the steering dull and lifeless, while failing to provide the improved on-centre feel we’d been told it would. The brake pedal is too soft to begin with and full of regen corruption after that. And because you can’t tell intuitively what’s happening through the braking phase, the likelihood is you’ll end up having to modulate the pedal pressure as you draw to a halt. That seems to confuse the system and cause yet more interference.
I was expecting more of the same from the hatch, especially as a few of the other hacks had driven both and said that was the case - but it wasn’t. I preferred the hatch’s steering, which had a bit more connection around the straight ahead and a bit more weight build-up either side.
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