Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer review

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.

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 with similar-sized occupants there.

And, unlike the Insignia hatchback, with its sloping roof that zaps head room, the straight roof of the Sports Tourer model means that there is no such issue, although the large hump in the floor could prove annoying for a middle-seat passenger. It's also worth bearing in mind that, as good as this car is, nothing beats the Superb Estate for ultimate rear-seat space in this class.

Design models get regular 60/40-split rear seats that can be folded only with 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 worse 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.

Compared with its archrival, the 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. That said, it is a couple of small suitcases shy of the boots of the Superb and Volkswagen Passat estates. But the low load height and flush floor, which leaves no internal load lip at the edge of the tailgate opening, will help when lifting in heavy items.