Insignia loads up on style
THE new Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer is conceived to combine greater style with greater practicality, two things always welcome in the estate car sector. But one of those two is a new development compared with the previous big Vauxhall load-lugger, with the Luton-based firm claiming that design was one of the key reasons buyers chose it, but practicality was not.
The boot size has grown only marginally to 560 litres – and that’s far from class-leading. The extra 30 litres over the previous Insignia Sports Tourer is all in the length and gives the car a much more practical load bay.
It’s still shallower than the likes of the Skoda Superb or Volkswagen Passat but that length gives this new estate a more usable position.
Vauxhall cites examples of problems with its predecessor – with a large carpet company that couldn’t fit its samples in the back without the ends curling and the police, whose dog cages would fit but the clamshell-style bootlid wouldn’t close. This new Sports Tourer will accommodate both.
Extra versatility is why, along with the sleek looks, Vauxhall reckons this estate will prove much more popular than the last, accounting for around one-in-five Insignias compared with just 8 per cent last time around.
The design is predictably close to the stylish five-door hatch Insignia that arrived in the UK in spring and the low-slung wide stance works even better on the bigger car. It has still got hints of Mazda 6 about it, especially with the narrow headlights and long bonnet.
The car’s height is well hidden by the sweeping chrome arc that runs along the roof.
By positioning it below the roofline as it gets further down the car it hides some of the Insignia’s large square shape well, making it look sleeker than rival loadluggers.
The engine range is three petrol and three diesel options, all turbocharged.
The petrols are 140bhp and 165bhp versions of the 1.5-litre, along with the range-topping four-wheel drive 260bhp 2.0-litre, while the diesels are a pair of 1.6-litre engines of 110bhp and 136bhp, and a 170bhp 2.0-litre.
Unsurprisingly the 260bhp petrol engine is the quickest Sports Tourer, accelerating from 0 to 60mph in 7.1 seconds and on to a top speed of 152mph, while the most efficient is the 110bhp 1.6 diesel with an average fuel economy figure of 70.6mpg and 105g/km emissions.
Overall the Insignia Sports Tourer’s efficiency figures aren’t particularly impressive versus older competition that can beat it for official economy – although Vauxhall claims its new model will perform comparatively better than rivals under real-world use.
To drive, the Insignia Sports Tourer is placed in the middle of the pack, being neither at the top for sportiness or ride comfort but