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our test drives or view them all

Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer 2.0T SRi NAV

NEXT to litter, the most obvious sight on our roads appears to be Vauxhall’s new Insignia – they’re everywhere!

And I’m not surprised.

I’ve been a fan since the hatch and estate were launched – it’s well assembled, unpretentious, practical, roomy, drives beautifully and is exceptionally affordable in these constrained financial times.

I raved about the modest 1.8i hatch a few months ago – now it’s the turn of the spacious Sports Tourer estate.

My 218bhp turbocharged two-litre petrol SRi NAV test Sports Tourer was about £1,300 more expensive than the standard version that comes without a built-in satellite navigation and audio system – but with the prospect of between £1,500 and £2,000 off its list price of £24,650, it’s still a promising new buy.

The reality of cars such as the Insignia and its rival Mondeo is that they devalue fairly swiftly. But that’s not all bad news.

Buy it new as a hard-working vehicle and you’ll get a stunning deal with a great warranty – wait for it to hit the used market and you’re likely to pick up a real bargain with plenty of miles left in its heart.

The silky smooth two-litre turbo SRi would not have been my first choice. Wearing your sensible shoes you’d have to opt for a turbodiesel version of this car – much better fuel consumption and bags of low-down pulling power.

But there’s nothing wrong with the sporting model I piloted for a week – apart from suffering the multivalve petrol engine’s common complaint of delivering next to no torque at low revs with an embarrassing consequent bout of stalling as I got used to pulling away cleanly from junctions and lights!

Insignia scores top marks in many areas. Refinement is outstanding, assembly excellent, there are good levels of standard equipment, and comfort is great on long runs.

From the start there’s a “good feel” factor with this car. The interior layout is fresh and modern and finished with high quality materials – a major advance for a car in this mass production slot, and miles ahead of the cheap plastic dashboard horrors that once graced Cavalier and earlier Vectra predecessors.

Vauxhall may be ailing as a car-building giant – but with a product of the Insignia’s standard there’s hope yet for this famous British badge.

The only irritation was the SRi’s over-large 20-inch alloys and "stylish" Goodyear Eagle F1 245/35 section low-profile tyres – ridiculous!

The marketeers may think we all want our cars to look "sexy" with these ornaments, but the truth is they do nothing to enhance the driving experience ordinary cars such as Insignia.

All they achieve, apart from massaging some egos, is to blunt refinement, raise road noise and lower ride quality.

When you have such a good chassis at the Insignia, give me a smaller wheel and 50-section tyre any day!

I put my money where my motormouth was some years ago and changed my own heavy 205bhp sports car from low profiles on to to 17-inch 245/45 section tyres – the improvement in ride and lower road noise was significant, with no deterioration in roadholding.

It also saved money and meant less chance of sidewall damage from kerbing and potholes because there’s more rubber between the wheel rim and the hard stuff.

There are 28 model variants in the Insignia Sports Tourer family, so there’s no shortage of choice. My favourites are the two-litre CDTi turbodiesels with a choice of 128bhp £23,000) or 158bhp (£23,500).

Compared to the smooth and fast 2.0 Turbo I was testing, they are far more frugal and will average 47mpg against the Turbo’s struggle to maintain 31mpg.

They are also cleaner with emissions at 159g/km (VED band G road tax at £150) and the Turbo hits 209g/km (band K road tax at £215).

My biggest Turbo shock was seeing consumption plummet to 21mpg on some mild urban driving – even on the open road it was thirsty and couldn’t stay above the low 30s.

But it was smooth, quiet and quick – a brilliant and responsive performance two-litre that’s well matched to the slick-changing six-speed manual gearbox.

I was surprised just how satisfying the Sports Tourer was to drive over the A86 and again along the cracking new Fort William to Mallaig road.

It gripped well as most properly engineered front drive cars do, and even a hint of softness in the suspension was no problem and helped to ease the harshness generated by the car’s 35-section rubber covers.

The SRi is a well-appointed Insignia from the middle of the five trim level range and sandwiched between S and SE specification.

But it lacks little, especially at the NAV level I sampled that comes with a good colour screen sat-nav that’s quick and easy to programme.

The screen has no touch facility but it does allow some audio function and is money well spent if you want this feature and can do a deal.

But not everyone wants or needs a built-in sat-nav system, and even if you do want electronic guidance there are some excellent portable systems on the market from TomTom and Garmin that cost less than £200.

In that case make a bee line for the non-NAV model and save well over £1,000.

Other standard gear includes large front and side airbags, very powerful ABS braking, Vauxhall’s excellent electronic stability control, central locking, alloys, climate control, four powered windows and door mirrors, cruise control, driving computer, superb radio (even if you decided against the NAV option), and a split and fold rear seat for loading flexibility.

Two options I’d recommend include £395 for metallic paint and £365 for rear parking sensors because of the Insignia’s large tail end and substantial length of almost five metres. It’s not that’s it’s awkward to park – there’s just a lot of it!

But it’s round the back that the Sports Tourer goes to work.

Not only is the estate an elegant and sleek-looking cargo carrier, but it packs a lot of capacity.

And even though it’s down on the Mondeo Estate’s huge 1,733 litres with the rear seats folded flat, the Vauxhall’s 1,530 litres is still a very useful load.

With the rear seats in use, both estates offer a similar 540-litre capacity with the Ford leaving room for an additional two litres of wine!

The Sports Tourer has a strong, flat load floor and its seats fold quickly and easily. There’s also an underfloor storage tray.

It’s a great workhorse – but what’s better is its comfort and incredibly relaxed ability to soak up mile after mile with ease. The Insignia is an exceptional mass production car.

Rating: 8.5/10

FINAL THOUGHT: Insignia may well qualify as a repmobile – but don’t be fooled. This is one of the best large mass production cars I have driven. In its Sports Tourer estate guise it’s huge, handles well and is generously equipped. A better buy than a Mondeo.

Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer 2.0T SRi NAV

• Price: £24,650
• Capacity: 1998cc
• Power: 218bhp
• 0-62mph: 7.5 seconds
• Maximum speed: 147mph
• Economy: Combined 31.7mpg; Urban 21.9mpg
• CO2 emissions: 209g/km
• ESP: Standard
• Insurance: Group 14