This is the fastest ever Astra VXR

Vauxhall has released a single image of a new production Astra that will debut at this year's Geneva Motor Show. When it arrives, it will be the fastest production Astra...in the world.

It's called the Astra VXR ‘Extreme', and is not a friendly Astra you can take to the garden centre, but one that would very much like to drive through the garden centre and set it on fire. It takes inspiration from the 300bhp cars that raced in last year's Opel Astra OPC Cup (keen viewers will remember it was the unfortunately named Bonk Motorsport who took top honours last year), and will sit at the top of the Astra VXR range.

So, it'll be street legal, relieved of extraneous fat and trimmings, use high-quality carbon components, a roll cage, racing seats and six-point safety belts. No word on power, but we expect it to be much more powerful than the already bonkers 276bhp Astra VXR; a car we admire for its ability to smoke the front tyres. As mentioned, those OPC Cup cars pack around 300bhp. 300bhp is a very, very large figure for a front-wheel-drive hatchback (just check out those Hankook tyres in the pic above).

Vauxhall has timed it to perfection, too: 2014 marks ten years since the launch of the VXR range, and what better way to celebrate than with a limited edition run of a car that wants to tear your face off? More info will be released as we creep closer to Geneva. Be afraid.