Item: Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer
Rating: 3
Author: What Car? Team

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Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer

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Compared with the rival Ford&nbsp;Mondeo Estate, the Insignia Sports Tourer’s boot looks pretty spacious – its square shape means you can squeeze in a few more bags of shopping with the seats up or down. It also has a flush floor with a low load height which leaves no internal load lip at the edge of the tailgate opening: a boon when loading&nbsp;heavy items.

In outright capacity, though, the Insignia falls&nbsp;a couple of small suitcases short&nbsp;of&nbsp;the Superb and&nbsp; Passat estates.

<h3>&nbsp;</h3>

Vauxhall claims that the current Insignia Sports Tourer feels more "premium" than ever – a statement that is largely borne out. Okay, the indicator and wiper stalks feel rather flimsy, but elsewhere there’s soft-touch plastic placed strategically in the areas you touch regularly and flashes of chrome that catch the eye, making the interior feel sufficiently plush.

There are some scratchy surfaces lower down, but we’d argue that it’s still a far nicer place to sit than a Ford Mondeo, if a little bit behind the Superb for perceived quality.

Introduction

Performance & drive

Interior

Passenger & boot space

Costs & verdict

Even the seats fitted to the entry-level Design models are pretty comfortable, but we’d suggest moving up to Tech Line Nav trim for a greater range of&nbsp;adjustment that includes&nbsp;lumbar and seat-squab tilt for better thigh support. And, thanks to plenty of steering wheel height and reach adjustment on all models, you’ll be able to find a comfortable seating position.

Once in place, you’ll discover that the gearlever falls easily to hand and the major controls are just as conveniently located.

Design trim kicks off the range and has a decent amount of standard kit. This includes auto lights, keyless start, electric front and rear windows, air-con, cruise control, a 7.0in touchscreen infotainment system with DAB radio, Bluetooth connectivity, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as a multi-function steering wheel.

However, whether you are a private buyer or a company car driver, Tech Line Nav makes the most sense. Along with the above, this trim adds in-built sat-nav, dual-zone climate control, automatic wipers and driver’s adjustable lumbar support.

The more expensive GSI Nav and Elite Nav add more luxuries such as adaptive LED headlights, leather seats (heated up front) and a Bose stereo.

Meanwhile, the more rugged Country Tourer is a distinct model that, along with a similarly high standard of equipment to the Elite Nav and GSI Nav trims, also has four-wheel drive, a raised ride height, black plastic bumpers and wheel arch extensions to create something of an all-terrain image.

What’s in a name? Rather than call this load-lugging version of the Insignia an estate, <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/make/vauxhall">Vauxhall</a> has gone with the far more exciting-sounding Sports Tourer. No doubt it's designed to make you think of mountain bikes and surfboards rather than flat-pack furniture and trips to the dump, but this bigger-booted Insignia&nbsp;could actually be ideal for all of the above.

Of course, the&nbsp;Insignia Sports Tourer is&nbsp;based on <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/vauxhall/insignia/hatchback/review/n17370">the Insignia Grand Sport saloon</a>&nbsp;and that means it's available with a wide range of petrol and diesel engines. Power outputs run between 108bhp and 256bhp and, depending on the engine, you can have an automatic gearbox and four-wheel drive, too.

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Over the next few pages, we'll look at everything from how the Insignia Sports Tourer drives to what it’s like inside and how much it’ll cost to run. And, of course, we'll compare it to&nbsp;key rivals such as the estate versions of the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/ford/mondeo/estate/review/n107">Ford Mondeo</a>, <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/skoda/superb/estate/review/n17344">Skoda Superb</a> and <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/volkswagen/passat/estate/review/n29">Volkswagen Passat</a>.

When you’ve read up on the nitty-gritty and decided on your wagon of choice, head over to our <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/new-car-deals">New Car Buying</a> page for the very best deals available.

There’s loads of space for two adults to sit side by side without fear of knocking elbows, and the seats go back enough for long-legged drivers. Head room won’t be a problem, either, since the seats can go nice and low.

Storage is good, too. The front doors have generously sized pockets that can take a small bottle of water and plenty of other bits and pieces, and there’s a spacious cubby under the centre armrest. In front of that is a pair of cupholders and another lidded cubby with enough space for a smartphone.

Despite having shed some weight over the previous-generation car, the Insignia Sports Tourer still feels relatively heavy in bends. The steering is reasonably accurate but, as you turn into a corner, there’s a discernible hesitation while its body leans over, and only when it has settled into this jaunty attitude does the car feel happy to change direction. But there is plenty of grip and balance, so you can confidently&nbsp;carry good speed through bends.

The adaptive dampers sharpen things in their stiffer modes and allow&nbsp;the car to change direction more keenly. This applies even to the Country Tourer variant, despite its 20mm higher ride height.

Meanwhile, sporty GSI Nav trim takes things the other way, with lower suspension that has bespoke adaptive dampers and springs that keep body lean very well checked through corners. Its upgraded Brembo brakes are also meaty and reassuring, imbuing you with confidence.

All models have&nbsp;a 7.0in colour touchscreen as standard – the top two trims upgrade this to Multimedia Navi Pro with&nbsp;European mapping and an 8.0in screen.&nbsp;Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring are&nbsp;standard, allowing you to control certain phone functions through the infotainment screen.

When you operate the touchscreen, you’ll find the on-screen icons are mostly large and easy to hit,&nbsp;the menus&nbsp;responsive and simple enough to figure out. Admittedly, it’s not as slick as systems in premium-brand cars, but it’s not far off the usability of&nbsp;Volkswagen Group offerings, as fitted to rivals such as the Passat and Skoda Superb.

All versions get a USB port in the front and all bar the lowest trim have two outlets in the rear.

Estate

Vauxhall has an incredibly diverse range of cars on sale, a few of which stand out above the class average. Add in the fact that it still offers some of the largest Target Price discounts in the market (something it is trying, without huge success, to cut back on), and there are very good reasons to consider buying one of its better models.

However, you need to choose carefully, because it is also a brand in transition. It has a newish parent company – the same one that owns Citroën, DS and Peugeot. And while Vauxhall’s newer models tend to be competitive, some of the others feel dated; a quick check of our star ratings will reveal which is which.

Still, given the recent success of sister brands Citroën and especially Peugeot, each new launch should make its range more appealing to buyers.

VAUXHALL

INSIGNIA

A wide range of petrol and diesel engines are available, the cheapest being a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol with either 138bhp or 163bhp. We’ve tried the higher-powered option, finding it flexible from low in the rev range and fairly fuel-efficient. Given the small price, emissions and fuel economy penalty over the 138bhp version, we’d say it’s worth considering, particularly if you don’t do many miles.

There’s also a 1.6-litre petrol with 197bhp available with a manual or automatic gearbox. This really starts to push the list price up, but does provide considerable extra punch. With the automatic gearbox, it pulls away quickly from a standstill and builds through revs smoothly with gear changes that are almost unnoticeable. What is noticeable, though, are the CO2 emissions, which are higher than those of the smaller petrol unit and bring&nbsp;a big jump in company car tax costs for business users.

Moving on to the diesels, there are four available: a 1.6-litre with 108bhp or 134bhp and a 2.0-litre with 168bhp or 207bhp. The less powerful 1.6 is surprisingly willing and is by far the cheapest engine to run. That said, those who regularly have a full car would be better off with the more potent 1.6.

The 168bhp 2.0 diesel (the only option if you want the more rugged Country Tourer model) has a much more muscular mid-range than the 2.0 petrol and isn’t much slower in terms of outright pace. Ultimately, though, the additional cost means you should only consider it if you&nbsp;plan to tow&nbsp;a caravan or heavy trailer.

As for the 207bhp version, this feels barely any quicker. So the facts that it is one of the least economical 2.0 diesels on sale – it officially averages 38.7mpg but will undoubtedly do less in the real world – and is only available with the decidedly expensive GSI Nav and Elite Nav trims, make&nbsp;it an engine we’d recommend avoiding.

The Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer is well equipped and can be cheap to buy, but it’s not quite as spacious, refined or efficient as its rivals

There’s just as much room in the rear. We doubt anyone will complain about the amount of leg room, because even our six-foot-plus testers found their knees nowhere near the back of the front seats, even&nbsp;with the latter occupied by similarly sized colleagues.

And, unlike the Insignia hatchback' s head room-zapping roof line, the horizontal roof of the Sports Tourer model presents&nbsp;no such issue. It retains a&nbsp;large hump in the floor, though, which can&nbsp;prove annoying for a middle-seat passenger. Ultimately, as versatile as this car is, nothing in this class beats the Superb Estate for&nbsp;rear-seat space.

Although you can identify them as diesels from outside, the 1.6 and 2.0 engines are impressively hushed from behind the wheel. At idle and under acceleration, you hear some clatter and feel a few vibrations through the controls, but they're pretty refined by and large. Slot&nbsp;the slick six-speed manual gearbox into top gear on the motorway and you can barely hear the engines at all – and the same is true of the petrols.

So that’s the good news. Now for the bad: even with the smallest 17in wheels, road roar is surprisingly noticeable at all times. At motorway speeds, it develops into&nbsp;a constant and irritating drone that on coarse surfaces makes it hard to relax. It gets worse if you add bigger wheels, to the point that noise on 20in rims is quite dramatic in a car designed for motorway jaunts. Wind noise is also considerable&nbsp;and can overwhelm what there is of the engine note.

Vauxhall only made an average showing in our 2018 What Car? Reliability Survey, but like all Vauxhalls, the Insignia Sports Tourer comes with a three-year or 60,000-mile warranty and a year’s worth of roadside assistance. This is in keeping with cover from the majority of other manufacturers, but it can’t beat the five-year warranties that Hyundai and Toyota offer or Kia’s seven-year package.

Driving an example with the standard suspension and relatively small 17in wheels, we found the Insignia Sports Tourer handles crests and compressions on smooth roads in a relaxed – if slightly floaty – way. But throw in some craggy surfaces and the ride quickly deteriorates; the car fidgets noticeably and thumps over sudden obstacles such as potholes.

Adaptive dampers – dubbed FlexiRide – are standard on the GSI Nav and Country Tourer models and optional elsewhere in the range. They offer greater pliancy over larger undulations when set in the softest Comfort mode, but the ride is still jittery over smaller imperfections, especially on the biggest 20in wheels that come as standard on the top petrol and diesel engines and are optional on other models. Set it in the stiffer Sport mode and the ride is just plain firm on UK roads.

Whichever suspension choice you make, try to stick to 17in or 18in wheels if comfort is a priority.

If there’s one thing the Insignia Sports Tourer definitely has going for it, it’s price. With a range that opens at a similar cost to a well-specified supermini, even before discounts, it'll appeal to a wide audience. However, look towards the&nbsp;Elite Nav and GSI Nav models and you’ll find their prices more in line with&nbsp;models from Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

CO2 emissions aren’t spectacularly low for any model and are particularly poor for the four-wheel-drive 207bhp 2.0 diesel in the Country Tourer, Elite Nav and GSI Nav models. If you stick to the cheaper variants in the range, though,&nbsp;benefit-in-kind tax payments for business users&nbsp;(which are calculated against list price and CO2 emissions)&nbsp;should still be lower than for less polluting but more expensive rivals.

Fuel economy should also be good on the less powerful variants. Like any car, it won’t manage the official figures, but we saw well over 45mpg from the base diesel. On the downside, residual values won’t be as good as a Volkswagen or Skoda, and this may push&nbsp;monthly PCP finance costs up.

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Euro NCAP gave the Insignia a five-star safety rating and it performs well throughout the various categories in which it was&nbsp;tested.

Its impressive scores came, in part,&nbsp;because it comes with lots of standard safety features. These include&nbsp;automatic emergency braking (AEB) and lane departure warning with lane keep assist, and there's an improved AEB system, blindspot warning and a rear cross traffic alert system available at extra cost.

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Design – and, annoyingly, our preferred Tech Line Nav – models have regular 60/40-split rear seats that can only be folded by manipulating a handle on the seatback itself. The rest of the range comes with handier 40/20/40 split-folding seats with one-touch release handles in the boot. Fold the rear seats down and you’ll find a small slope to push items up, but it’s no more awkward than rivals.

There’s no flat-folding front passenger seat to enable you to carry really long loads – a function that is available on the Superb.

The Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer is well equipped and can be cheap to buy, but it’s not quite as spacious, refined or efficient as its rivals

We doubt you’ll find any issue with the view forward past the Insignia Sports Tourer’s fairly slim windscreen pillars. Looking over your shoulder, things aren't quite as good, due to relatively thick rear pillars. If you take our advice and opt for the Tech Line Nav (or SRi) model, at least you’ll get the help of standard-fit front and rear parking sensors.

For anybody&nbsp;still worried about parking what is a comparatively large car, a&nbsp;rear-view camera and a&nbsp;360deg panoramic view system are optional&nbsp;on all trims. You might also want to consider the powerful adaptive LED headlights (standard on top trims) to take the stress out of driving at night, and blindspot monitoring, which is an option on most trim levels.

<h2>What we're looking for:</h2><ul><li>Huge boot and excellent practicality</li> <li>Plenty of interior space so you can carry passengers as well as luggage </li> <li>Strong engines to pull a heavily laden car</li> <li>Comfortable ride, especially on the motorway</li> <li>Low running costs for company car drivers</li></ul>

If you’re after bags of space but you don’t want to commit to the van-like dimensions and styling of an MPV, there are some great estate cars on offer that should do the job.

Tricks to look out for include an electric tailgate&nbsp;that opens automatically when you wave your foot under the rear bumper; this is&nbsp;particularly handy if you’re trying to load in a heavy or&nbsp;bulky item. You should also look for handles in the side of the boot itself that can drop down the rear seats; these are much more convenient than having to walk around the side of the car to do it.

There are some terrific estates at most price ranges. The humble Skoda Fabia Estate offers cavernous space for not much cash at all, for example.

Further up the price range, another of our perennial favourites is the Skoda Superb Estate;&nbsp;it’s great to drive and as practical as most people should ever need. Meanwhile, for serious mile-munching ability and a premium, well-finished interior, it’s hard to look beyond the BMW 5 Series Touring.

Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer review

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Read the definitive Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer 2022 review from the expert What Car? team. Check specs, prices, performance and compare with similar cars.

What’s in a name? Rather than call this load-lugging version of the Insignia an estate, Vauxhall has gone with the far more exciting-sounding Sports Tourer. No doubt it's designed to make you think of mountain bikes and surfboards rather than flat-pack furniture and trips to the dump, but this bigger-booted Insignia could actually be ideal for all of the above.,Of course, the Insignia Sports Tourer is based on the Insignia Grand Sport saloon and that means it's available with a wide range of petrol and diesel engines. Power outputs run between 108bhp and 256bhp and, depending on the engine, you can have an automatic gearbox and four-wheel drive, too.,Over the next few pages, we'll look at everything from how the Insignia Sports Tourer drives to what it’s like inside and how much it’ll cost to run. And, of course, we'll compare it to key rivals such as the estate versions of the Ford Mondeo, Skoda Superb and Volkswagen Passat.When you’ve read up on the nitty-gritty and decided on your wagon of choice, head over to our New Car Buying page for the very best deals available.,

Available to order now >

Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer review

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