Centre of attention
Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer SRi VX-Line £27,350 OTR/£34,575 as tested
If you’ve been anywhere near a telly recently, you’ve probably seen the trailer for the new series of TopGear, which starts on 25 February. It was flmed at the TG track and at various farm and countryside locations nearby in early January and features Matt, Chris, Rory, Ivy the cow (you kind of need to see the clip), a Volvo digger and around £40m worth of supercars. Our long-term Insignia estate doesn’t feature in the trailer, but we did use it as a support car for the day.
Granted, it’s not as good-looking as the Aston Vantage Zagato, the McLaren 720S or Porsche 918 in the background, but it’s still a handsome thing (I particularly like the crease down the centre of the bonnet) and a whole lot more practical when it comes to lugging kit around the countryside. The heated seats are an absolute godsend on a cold winter morning, but they come as part of a package featuring perforated Nappa leather sports seats with heating in both the front and back, plus power controls on the driver’s seat.
At £3,070, that’s a pretty expensive extra for a car with a list price of just under £27k. I can also report that the Insignia is rubbish of-road, as we came perilously close to getting stuck on a muddy verge. But that’s OK – it’s still great for eating up the m’way miles, its 560-litre boot gives you more than enough luggage space, and it doesn’t look like the ugly ducking when surrounded by the world’s most beautiful supercars. What more could you ask for?