ACROSS THE POND - Opel & Vauxhall Corsa

You're deep in the heart of Kansas. You have long, flat, empty roads. You want to go fast, man. You are a hop, skip, and a jump from great mountain roads in Colorado. Arkansas' back roads are not far at all.

And you're concerned that GoodCarBadCar's recommended cars from Across The Pond, though good and fine, are just not offering the juice you need. 100bhp from a small Fiat is plenty fun, but we're talking about empty roads. Let's have some fun. Suzuki's Swift Sport is very unlike any Swift we've ever known.

But c'mon - this country was built on Z28's and Mustang GT's. How can The Good Car Guy expect you to make such sacrifices? I mean, hey - oil is expensive; but you're living high on the hog. Preserve the oil, sure. Just don't starve me of it.

I hear ya. Vauxhall and Opel are - rather, were - not renowned for their hot hatchbacks. Vauxhall, being General Motors British brand and Opel the European GM outlet, built cars for straight lines with very little excitement. Then along came the Astra VXR. (We'll stick to Vauxhall talk now, Opel would call it the OPC but I don't speak German.)

Vauxhall's Astra VXR is wild, stupid, crazy fast. There is a lot of power flowing through two wheels, and those two wheels are also tasked with steering the car. It also looks like a handsome version of a very angry European hatchback. We'll see this car on our side of the pond as the Saturn Astra, with 100 fewer horsepower.

I digress. The Astra VXR sounds like it fits the bill for Kansas boy who heads to Colorado and Arkansas for roads more worthy than his straight lines. Realistically, if other options include the Fiat Panda 100HP and Suzuki Swift Sport, that Astra is thousands of £ too expensive.

Move on down the ladder, my friend. If you're willing go up two notches from the Panda, but just one from the Swift Sport, and come down a couple steps from the Astra VXR, a £15,625 Corsa VXR is your's. Oh, forgot to mention. You can't buy the Corsa in Kansas, just like you can't buy the Panda or Swift. For that reason, GoodCarBadCar is supplying the video below. Ya ain't never gonna see one of these VXR's in action - and GCBC considered it important viewing.

Pricing for this Corsa VXR is inching toward the domain of Mini Cooper S. The Corsa is unlikely to be recommended by many over-and-above that other Brit, but with 189 horsepower; 140mph capability; plenty of equipment; and modern sporting looks, the Corsa is at least worth watching.