Hot hatch king' is how Autocar termed the GTE 16V's victory against its French and German opposition. Car magazine too joined in the praise for the fast Astra, preferring it to not just the Golf ...

In our recent issue on hot hatches, the new Vauxhall Astra is steadfastly refusing to play ball. Though you can still buy the previous-gen VXR, there won't be a MkVI Astra VXR until next year ...

So this is the latest hot Vauxhall? Exactly. It’s called the Astra VXR, it costs £26,995, and it’s a hot hatch heavily based on the three-door Astra GTC. We love the latter, so things bode ...

So, who drives which car in our test? We toss a coin and I’m pleased to get the Astra GTE 16V — the fastest hot hatch of its day. It’s not a big car — roughly the same length as the latest Corsa — but ...