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By Jonathan Crouch

Vauxhall energises its Mokka Electric with this fast GSE version. Jonathan Crouch drives it.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 39

If, like us, you doubted that Vauxhall's Mokka small SUV could ever be really sporty, then check out this hot electric version, the Mokka GSE. It's been thoroughly developed by enthusiasts. But will be thoroughly at home amongst fashionistas.

Backgroundword count: 187

Vauxhall and its partner Opel used to be experts in small sporting cars, as anyone who's owned an old Corsa VXR or Astra VXR will tell you. So when its classic GSE badge was dusted off in 2023 for use in modern day Astra hatch and Grandland SUV performance models, much was expected. But what a disappointment. No proper performance tuning, no huge hikes in power - not even much of an exclusive look. And with all the clumpy weight of a PHEV drivetrain to cart around, those two models weren't even particularly fun to drive either. But forget about that now and consider here a Vauxhall far better tuned to what a small, sporty car should be - the Mokka GSE. To suit the mood of the moment, it's all-electric, but the engineering here is promising, basically the same as we've seen in other recent perky Stellantis Group small EVs like the Peugeot E-208 GTI, the Abarth 600e and the Alfa Romeo Junior Elettrica Veloce. This was Vauxhall's very first all-electric GSE model, followed shortly after by the similarly-engineered Corsa GSE. Let's take a closer look.

Driving Experienceword count: 379

The Mokka GSE was inspired by the brand's GSE Rally competition model, which was the first rally car to be developed to the FIA's new eRally5 regulations. And Vauxhall claims the production model shares its competition counterpart's motor, battery, inverter and wiring harness. You're going to want to know about power - there's 280hp of it, a massive 120hp increase over the ordinary Mokka Electric, which is why the 0-62mph time of 5.9s is a full 3.1s faster than that standard model, helped by a meaty 345Nm of torque (85Nm more). What the GSE does share with its standard counterpart is its 54kWh battery (51kWh of which is usable), though the range it delivers here is just 209 miles (about 50 miles less). You might hope for a more sophisticated independent rear suspension system to handle all this extra power, but the budget here didn't allow for that, so the GSE retains the same simple torsion beam rear axle as any other Mokka. But it's been worked on quite a lot and the spring and damper system's been upgraded, with new shock absorbers and double hydraulic bump stops all round. The engineers have added new knuckles on the MacPherson strut front suspension, which create enough space for the bigger 20inch wheels to clear the 10mm lowered body. And there's a bespoke 30.8mm anti-roll bar for the torsion beam rear suspension that means roll stiffness is up by an enormous 189% compared to an ordinary Mokka Electric. There's also a wider track, and a Torsen locking front differential, with 36% lock-up under acceleration and 34% under braking. Plus four-piston Alcan brakes with 380mm front discs featuring yellow GSE calipers. There are beefy 268mm rear discs too. Oh and the electric power steering's been tweaked (to a 14.5:1 ratio, increased from 16.2:1 in a standard Mokka) so that the rack's faster-reacting. In short, it's all been properly done. The thought of taking an ordinary Mokka on a track is almost laughable, but you could could almost consider venturing onto a circuit in this one. In the unlikely event that you did, you might find it quite entertaining; the steering feel's good and the suspension's not easily upset by mid-corner bumps. It really is a proper hot hatch; just a bit taller.

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