Features

The dash is much nicer, especially around the new Blaupunkt stereo/infotainment centre, crowned by a trio of white dials that match the ones facing the driver. There are better mouldings for the dash top - though some seriously shoddy bits of plastic in other places - and a big feeling of space you simply didn't get in the more swoopy-roofed Monaro.

Even the back seats swallow proper human adults without ritually crippling them first, and they're damn comfy too, though any fifth passenger has to perch in the middle rather than getting a nice chair to themselves.

It all shapes up well under the first bout of scrutiny. Grasp the overly-thick flat-bottomed wheel, fire up the V8 and you'll be disappointed by the muted noise (of which we'll discuss more later), but not by the initial impression.

The gearbox is unremarkable - better than the Monaro's standard 'box, but still a bit rubbery. It locates well enough but can get slightly slack when you're going for a fast change from, say, second to third.

But that doesn't matter so much when you have immense flexibility at your disposal from that massive motor. And it's when you start to push the V8 that you realise just how fast this 1,831kg five-seated and booted saloon can be made to go. And it feels... effortless.

Where us Europeans froth over high-output, small capacity forced induction turbo units, there's much to be said for a ruddy great big motor trying to tear the rear wheels off. The VXR8 doesn't disguise its mass as much as just ignore it.

And it really only needs four gears. Trust me, use fifth and sixth as overdrives or prepare to meet and greet your local plod. You will not go unnoticed in a VXR8, and you can't outrun a helicopter.

The best bit is that it really is a wonderfully dichotomous engine. One minute you're scraping the belly of 100mph in third gear, bellowing around the roads like a supercharged elephant and trying to inflate Bridgestone's profit margin, the next you're cruising as comfortably as any medium-strength large saloon. Better, in many cases.

In fact, there's still a huge feeling this engine is determinedly unstressed despite its ability to deliver the VXR8's grin-stretching performance figures; this state of tune just doesn't bother the LS2 at all.

Some of the stats bear out the feeling you get from the seat of your pants - at 50mph in sixth the VXR8 tools along quite happily at 1,200rpm. At 80mph it pulls just 2,100rpm. On my first run out, driving slowly, I got 27.2mpg. That would make a Range Rover Sport owner cry.

Even the suspension feels more grown-up. Yes it's firm, but it also manages to filter out bad vibes 90 per cent of the time. You lose slightly in body control terms; the VXR8 leans a bit when pressing on and it would actively wallow on a track, but the damping feels spot on for a mixture of normal and fast driving - any harder would lose the day-to-day usability you want from a four-door saloon.