Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer 2017 review - Greater style and more practicality
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.
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The infotainment system is a big improvement
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.
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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 not offering cause for complaint with either. Interior quality is to a large extent good, although lower down the cabin some cheaper hard plastics are pretty easy to spot.
The infotainment system is a big improvement over previous Vauxhall technology but still not without its usability flaws, while the overall interior is nicely designed and functional. There is a huge amount of legroom in the back while headroom is reasonable, though taller rear passengers will find they may need to duck a little to get in. But it is the boot space that defines much of the action with these types of car and it is fair to say that the luggage area is much improved over the last car. The wrap-around design for the previous model’s tailgate has been replaced by a more straightforward rear.
As well as increasing load area, it also has the benefit of streamlining the rear bumper, which was previously a chunky item that took some leaning over even to reach into the boot. The load area on this new Insignia Sports Tourer is long though not the deepest but it does have four handy hooks for hanging bags you don’t want rolling round the boot.
Access is also wider than before. All bar the base model get a switch to drop the rear seats flat at the touch of a button and the luggage cover pulls across but can also be raised diagonally when the boot is open to help access luggage without having to retract it. The Sports Tourer costs an extra £1,500 over the five-door hatchback but the big news on the pricing front is quite how much Vauxhall is undercutting its main rivals.
Skoda’s Superb and the Ford Mondeo cost thousands more for the same trim levels.
And Vauxhall isn’t scrimping on the standard equipment either, with keyless entry and start being fitted to every car, along with the likes of automatic lights and wipers and a DAB digital radio.
Vauxhall’s industry-leading OnStar system also brings a wifi hotspot, an app to tell you the status and location of the car and you can have a call centre send a destination straight into the sat nav, as well as automatically alerting the emergency services to the car’s exact location in the event that the airbags are deployed.
This new large estate from Vauxhall is better looking, more practical and very aggressively priced in terms of causing headaches for rival mainstream estate cars. As far as criticisms go the driving experience is inoffensive without being the most characterful.
Rivals can offer better fuel economy and, on paper, a larger boot but if those criticisms aren’t a deal-breaker the Insignia Sports Tourer is a very cost-effective and stylish large estate car.
LOGBOOK LOWDOWN
● Model: Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer
● Price range: £18,685-£29,920
● Engine range: Turbo-petrol – 1.5, 1.5 165bhp, 2.0-litre; Turbo-diesel – 1.6, 1.6 136bhp, 2.0-litre
● Power: 0 to 60mph in 7.1 seconds, 152mph top speed (2.0 petrol)
● Fuel economy: 70.6mpg (1.6 TD)
● CO2 emissions range: 105-199g/km
● Rivals: Ford Mondeo, Mazda 6, Skoda Superb, Volkswagen Passat
● Rating: 8/10
