REVIEW DETAIL PAGE

Vauxhall Insignia

Expert Rating

75%

Owner Rating

86%

Ratings in comparison with other Medium Range Family Cars.

GRAND DESIGNS

By Jonathan Crouch

Ten Second Review

The second generation version of Vauxhall's Insignia has been usefully updated, now offered only in five-door hatch form and featuring an efficient engine range, plus smart looks, a classy cabin and some hi-tech features. If, like many business buyers, you're browsing in the £30,000 to £40,000 bracket selecting a medium range segment model or a mid-sized executive contender, it's a contender that you still might not want to overlook.

Background

If you perceive Vauxhall's Insignia as a middle management mainstream company car, then the brand reckons it's time you had a re-think. The second generation version of this model launched in 2017 was a decent step forward and in recent times, that design has been lightly updated. Continuing attributes include a spacious cabin, plus there's an optional slick-shifting 8-speed auto gearbox, lots of equipment and a supple ride. Think of a feature you can get in a pricey compact German premium brand - LED matrix lighting, Lane Keep Assist, Head-up Display, cutting-edge media connectivity. All of it's on offer here.

Driving Experience

Cars like this one don't spend their lives on open country roads but on endless motorway trips and snarled-up suburban crawls. Dynamically, they should be designed to suit that remit - in the way that this one really is. To some extent, it feels like the bigger car it's become in second generation form, the suspension floating you over broken surfaces that would have troubled and impeded the previous pre-2017-era model. Few other models in this segment ride better, which is some compensation for the fact that this isn't in any sense a car that you'd take out to drive for the fun of it. But it's one you'd be very happy to have chosen at the end of a long day fighting against the clock to meet appointments with awkward clients who simply don't care about the difficulties of grappling with Britain's congested highway network. You might be surprised, given the current environmental zeitgeist, to learn that nearly all Insignias are still sold with diesel power, though as much as anything, that's down to Vauxhall's continued refusal to offer this model with sensibly priced petrol units. The usual Insignia driver's choice these days is the 122PS 1.5-litre three cylinder diesel unit, recently borrowed from the Astra line-up and available with the option of 8-speed auto transmission. There's also a 174PS 2.0-litre Turbo D unit if you want a bit more performance, also with that same auto option. For the few who want petrol power in this car, Vauxhall offers a 2.0-litre turbo powertrain, wedded to a sophisticated 9-speed auto gearbox. This variant develops 200PS and is the range flagship, the old top GSi 230PS variant being no more.

Design and Build

Insignia buyers are now restricted to a single five-door hatch body style, but it still looks quite appealing, with a flowing shape based on the brand's Monza concept car. Vauxhall believes that this Insignia has 'the aura of a car from the premium, upper class'; you decide. The brand reckons that this improved model looks smarter - thanks to a few front end styling tweaks and the adoption on plusher variants of piercing Intellilux LED pixel headlights. The company's stylists believe the car also looks lower and wider than it previously did, thanks to the position of the air inlets with their integrated fog lamps. The prominent grille and those slim-line headlamps enhance the wide horizontal design of the front end and provide it with a bold appearance. Inside, the cabin now feels a little plusher than it did before, thanks to the addition of precisely placed chrome accents. As previously, the driver sits quite low and is surrounded by clean lines, pleasant surfaces and impressive build quality, a highlight being the frameless touchscreen of the IntelliLink infotainment system. Cabin width in the rear remains a strong Insignia selling point - as you'd expect it might be given that this car is wider than supposedly much bigger 'E-segment' models like BMW's 5 Series or Mercedes' E-Class. Unfortunately, mitigating against that is the height of the centre transmission tunnel and the fact that the rear bench has been sculpted so that any middle occupant must position themselves on an uncomfortably-raised section of foam. This hatch model does though, boast a reasonably-sized 490-litre boot.

Market and Model

The Insignia has quite a few attributes but in the past, the main reason you'd have chosen one in this segment is because of its value pricing. This policy hasn't continued under Stellantis Group ownership. With this improved version of the MK2 model, the range has been slimmed down to a single hatch body style and pricing for mainstream models now sits up in the £31,000 to £40,000 bracket, spread across just two main trim levels - 'Design' and 'GS Line'. There are just three mainstream engines, the range kicking off with a three cylinder 1.5-litre 122PS diesel, which can be had with the £1,700 option of automatic transmission. We'd think twice about finding the extra £1,000 that Vauxhall wants for the four cylinder 2.0-litre 174PS diesel; it's a lot less economic and the auto option with that unit for some reason costs over £3,500 more. You'd think in this day and age where using diesel goes against the general zeitgeist, Vauxhall would offer a reasonably priced petrol option, but no; hardly anyone's going to choose a petrol engine in this car because the cheapest one, the 200PS auto-only 2.0-litre powerplant, can only be had with this pricey 'GS Line' trim and costs around £40,000.

Cost of Ownership

This improved Insignia consumes up to 18 per cent less fuel than the outgoing model thanks to powerful new high-efficiency engines. The engine range features three and four-cylinder units, including a 1.5-litre (122PS) diesel unit that achieves up to 61.4mpg (WLTP). This three-cylinder engine is up to 50kg lighter than its four-cylinder predecessor in the earlier model. Above these is a 2.0-litre petrol engine with 200PS, as well as a 2.0-litre four-cylinder 174PS diesel. All Insignia diesel units are fully RDE2 compliant, meaning no four percent BiK surcharge. The 1.5 Turbo D unit puts out a very competitive 121g/km of WLTP-rated CO2 in manual form, a return replicated if you opt for the 2.0 Turbo D engine (or 130g/km for the auto). The 2.0-litre petrol engine was the first Vauxhall engines with cylinder deactivation. Unless the driver needs a lot of power, the variable camshaft control deactivates two cylinders, significantly reducing fuel consumption. The 2.0 Turbo petrol manages 167g/km of CO2. You'll also need to know that Vauxhall includes a three-year, 60,000 mile warranty as standard, a package that can be extended up to five years and 100,000 miles at extra cost. A year's free breakdown cover is also provided, along with a six-year anti-corrosion guarantee. Plus you can opt for a service plan that lets you pay monthly to spread the cost of regular work to your car. As part of this, Vauxhall offers discounts on wear and tear items, such as brake pads and windscreen wipers.

Summary

Overall, we're reasonably impressed by what Vauxhall has delivered here. This smarter package builds on the strengths of the original version of this model - which primarily centred around a spacious rear cabin, decent equipment levels and a pretty efficient range of engines. The Insignia might still not be quite good enough to beat the premium German makers at their own game, but it's certainly still one of the most practical and supple-riding propositions in the volume part of the D-segment. Which made this a worthwhile option in its class all the time it was priced affordably. Now that sticker prices have risen though, selling Insignias is going to be a challenge for Vauxhall franchises. Get the right deal onone though and this car might still add up for you.