Who's Laughing Now: British Or American FWD GM Fans?

General Motors wasn't an early adopter in the front-wheel drive party. Compared with Honda or Saab, they took their time. Until the 1980s, GM performance meant RWD only, including Corvette, Camaro and Firebird.

As GM branched out into front-drive, they started to make some fast cars; both in the US and the UK. The first legitimately fast front-drive GM car was the Citation X-11, which packed a 2.8L narrow-angle V6 and a four-speed manual, good for a respectable 8.5 second 0-60mph dash. Being a Citation, the rest of the car was crap, but it was a start.

Vauxhall (UK) got the hot-hatch performance ball rolling with the Astra GTE 16v in 1988.

With a 2.0L 16v (C20XE) motor cranking out 156bhp, it had a reputation as a proper torque-steering, tyre-smoking monster. With 0-60mph showing in 7.5s and a top-end north of 120mph, it put Vauxhall on the map as a legit competitor to the dominant VW GTi. Who cared that it handled like a pig?

With the Vectra-based Calibra Turbo, Vauxhall hit one over the fence. The C20XE was augmented with a turbo, for a healthy 204 bhp/207lb ft torque. If you could brave the torque steer, it would hit 152mph thanks to it's slippery body, and four-wheel drive gave Sapphire Cosworth owners something to worry about at traffic lights, too.

Over at Pontiac, after a brief foray into turbocharging, the 6th gen Grand Prix got an exiting new engine option in 1997: a 3.8L supercharged V6, called the GTP. Despite an engine design dating back to the 60's, with 240bhp/280lb-ft, the GTP had enough grunt to put a hurting on Ford's high-tech Yamaha engineered V8 SHO Taurus. This motor was also used in Chevrolets, Oldsmobiles, and Buicks, and is well known for ridiculous blower whine and mid-range power. Also worth noting; GM's high-tech Northstar 32v V8 made its debut in 1993, with 295 horsepower punishing the front tyres of Cadillacs.

In 2005, Vauxhall sought to invigorate their brand with a new performance line - VXR. There was a VXR version of the Vectra with the Saab 2.8T V6 which was a bit of a dog, and the rather mad Astra VXR, which boasted 240 lairy horses from its 2.0L turbocharged EcoTec unit. At the same time in America, Chevrolet was trying to boost their image with the SS label, which lead to the Cobalt SS - originally powered by a 2.0L Ecotec with a supercharger on top, good for 205bhp before it was inevitably fiddled with. There was also an identically equipped Saturn Ion Redline.

Things got serious in 2008 when Chevy replaced the blower with a turbo, creating the 260bhp SS Turbo. Clocking in at under 6 seconds to sixty, the Cobalt is a performance bargain - putting down a faster lap time than an Evo X around VIR during C&D's "Lightning Lap." We're big fans.

GM also went nuts in 2006, stuffing the brutal LS4 V8 under the hood of the Impala SS, Grand Prix GXP, and Buick Lacrosse Super. Basically a de-stroked Corvette engine, the 5.3L LS4 pumped out 303 horsepower, which was just too much for the W-body to handle. Still a ton of fun to drive, as long as you don't mind buying buckets of tyres.

And so we get to today: where you can get a 3-door Astra with a 280-horsepower, 2-litre turbo or a Buick Verano with a 250-horsepower version of the same. 

Question is: which side of the General Motors map does FWD performance better? US, or UK?