Friday 18th April 2008

New Vauxhall Insignia

Vauxhall unveils its Vectra replacement

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You may have already seen the leaked images on the internet but Vauxhall today officially launched its Vectra replacement, the Insignia.

In the past the launch of a new mid-size Vauxhall would be a good time to think of as many ways as possible to say ‘boring’, but we have to say, this car actually doesn’t look too bad.

Also the good news is there will be a 260bhp version which is likely to have four-wheel drive, which should sort some of the handling issues of powerful Vectras of the past.

The car almost has a coupe-like roofline and there is what Vauxhall calls a ‘blade’ feature running from behind the front wheel and along the side of the car.

Overall the design is clean and Vauxhall has ditched the ‘V’ shaped front grill in favour of a tidier version.

The car will be available in hatchback and saloon guise initially, but expect an estate to join the range soon.

‘We’ve re-defined our design vocabulary,’ said Mark Adams, vice president of design, GM Europe.

‘The Insignia is muscular, but lithe and curvaceous. Our aim was to develop a confident look which reinforced the car’s superb driving dynamics, but also one that made it clear that this was a premium product, albeit still at a highly competitive price in its class.’

Inside there is ‘ambient lighting, which will be featured in future Vauxhall models, radiates a warm, luxurious aura’.

The Insignia also features AFL (Adaptive Forward Lighting) - nine different light beam settings automatically adjust themselves to cater for various driving conditions.

The Insignia is available with five engines at launch and come with either manual or automatic six-speed transmissions. The three petrol engines range from a four-cylinder 140bhp unit to a V6 with 260bhp.

Two new 2.0-litre direct-injection diesel engines will be offered with power outputs of either 130bhp or 160bhp.

[Silentrunning]

Yawn...

[VladTheDad]

Insignia's got everything - shampoo to shower gel.
Deoderant and after-shave, it's one all over smell.

Actually, it looks quite smart. But bring back the name "Cavalier" I say!

[rhinochopig]

Silentrunning said:

Yawn...

It's a rep mobile what do you expect? That said I think it looks ok. If I was picking a car of a cc list then I'd have this over the Mondeo - with the caveat that it drives ok.

Edited by rhinochopig on Friday 18th April 10:40

[Droptheclutch]

Not too shabby. I'm unsure about the rear tho. Still, better looking than the current Vectra...

[toys]

It looks a bit Jaguar XF-ish in some ways...?

[Code Monkey]

toys said:

It looks a bit Jaguar XF-ish in some ways...?

with a small side view order of the 5 series BMW

All in not bad though for a rep mobile

[chunkymonkey71]

Never been a fan of vauxhall,

but that looks ok actually.

[Mr Whippy]

Hate the styling, what is it with swoopy frikkin flame alike surfacing these days?

So many curves and bends and surfaces conflicting, it just looks wank!

Yes, lovely bold sides, but then it gets fat over the rear wheel arch and frikkin tall, they know it, they have a strong line to mask it, but then oh no, they need a deep boot with a low entry point because one 3ft high is too high, so they droop the arse end down with a new line.

Sorry, but you can't have something nice that is compromised for the spec sheet.

Like the wheels though.

Dave

Edited by Mr Whippy on Friday 18th April 10:56

[timewatch]

Looks ok, Crap name though !

TW>>>

[march]

It looks like the BMW 5 series to me, dull, bland and boring, just like every other repmobile.

[Garlick]

Not too bad for a rep wagon, but it's good to see Vauxhall step away from the boring styling they have become known for over the last few years.

But do I want one? Not really.

[godders75]

hmmm looks better than the new Mondeo, a car that is VERY sensitive to colour, wheel choice, grille choice and body shape. Black, chrome Ghia with spoiler, h/back/estate = lovely. Anything else is horrible.

So Vauxhall: any glitches that will put buyers off? There always seems to be something that ruins it: daft indicator stalks maybe?

[cvegas]

Not bad at all - looks better than a Mondeo

[dr matt uk]

The model pictured looks OK I suppose..

But I bet that the first one I see will be in non-met dark blue, have 14" hupcaps (one of which we be missing), scuffed bumpers, a 'DIESEL' sicker on the filler cap and have the tell-tale green Avis sticker in the window.

Edited by dr matt uk on Tuesday 22 April 14:46

[Gizmo535]

Don't much like the front: looks like some kind of rodent with full pouch cheeks.
And that lip spoiler on the back looks daft, especially with the Hyundai-Sonata-alike chrome bar across the boot.
Side view's OK though.

That said I'm hardly target market, so what does it matter

[Road_Terrorist]

Looks inoffensive, more importantly there is a 260bhp AWD version, hopefully it's a decent drive so it will be a nice barge bargain in a couple of years, assuming someone actually buys one!

[Rich VRS]

if vauxhall have sorted the chassis then this could very well be a good car(how likely are they to use the same chassis again?). i like the looks (albeit all new cars look the same atm) clean and tidy (i kinda like the previous shape a bit aswell though). just a shame about the name really.

[scotty_917]

...design defo going in the right direction.....I'm sure the car will be fit for purpose, covering most bases well....similar to the Mondeo....

At least for some it's a reasonable, quality product on a budget....well done Vauxhall....a big improvement.

[VladD]

Blandtastic.

[chrisbr68]

Its an improvement!! Nice to hear there will be a non FWD version after the disaster of the VXR Vectra