Ideologically, the Sprint is the VX equivalent of Lotus's trackday hero, the Elise Sport 190. It's a hard-nut special built to stoke up the heat for the 220bhp road-going Sprint that launches next April. This track-optimised car looks to both Chapmanesque efficiency and raw muscle as its guiding principles. The hike in power and torque to 237bhp and 240lb ft is down to a re-mapped ECU, tweaked turbo with a modified dump valve, water injection, intercooler water spray and a lightened flywheel.

There are weight savings to make the most of the enhanced grunt, and they're rather more ruthless than the airbagged, sound-insulated and anti-lock-braked production Sprint will be treated to, though it should be about 30kg lighter than the stock VXT. But this track Sprint is a stunning 56kg lighter. All the sound insulation has been binned, the wheels save 16kg, anti-lock braking hardware has been given the heave-ho and the heater matrix left in its cardboard box.

If there is an accusation to be levelled at the regular VXT's frankly wonderful chassis, it's that for hardcore track work it's probably a little soft. Vauxhall has decided not to address this in increments but throw a full-house Exige chassis at the issue, lower the whole caboodle by 40mm compared with the standard VX and fit AP Racing stoppers with cross-drilled discs, four-pot callipers at the front and two-pots at the rear.

The functional mods at the sharp end to increase airflow to the engine by about 10 per cent - holes where the fog lights were and ducts cut into the blacked out grille - also have the effect of giving the Sprint's face a rather meaner demeanour. The changes to the rear are more dramatic, particularly the domed engine cover with its extra meshing to help expel hot air, though the black painted spoiler looks quite sexy, too.

The cabin isn't really any sparser than the regular Turbo's (hard to see how it could be) but it does obviously belong to a car with more serious intentions. Rollcage apart, there's a fire extinguisher, a brake bias control, a button to activate the water injection, various cut-off switches and, of course, five-point race harnesses.

Should Vauxhall ever offer the Sprint in this spec for sale, it would accelerate, corner and brake at a level owners of most ΂£35,000 sports cars simply wouldn't believe possible. Even a 911 Turbo driver is going to be impressed with a 4.0sec 0-60mph time and 0-100mph in 9.75sec, but formidable as these claimed figures are, it's as a pure driving machine that the Sprint shines most brightly.

The three allocated laps of Goodwood were woefully inadequate but, even so, served up some rare thrills. Keep the engine's voracious turbo fed and explore the fabulous grip, finesse and balance of what has to be one of the very best mid-engined chassis ever, and it's easy to imagine just how good you'd feel about experiencing forces and sensations that would normally cost at least ΂£50K more. There might be a twinge of disappointment about not having a quad-cam V8 behind your head, but that's about all.

Next April's ΂£30K road-going VXT Sprint won't be quite as devastating, but it will provide the basis for what could well be the optimum mix of trackday talent and everyday useability.