Vauxhall has announced pricing and specification details for its facelifted Insignia Grand Sport. The large executive hatchback will start from £23,120, cheaper than an entry-level Volkswagen Golf.
This strong value offering positions the Insignia below all of its rivals such as the Volkswagen Passat, Skoda Superb, Mazda 6 or Ford Mondeo. That translates to a lot of metal for your money, with the Insignia offering generous passenger and luggage space.
The new Insignia will go on sale during summer 2020.
Four trim levels and standalone GSi model
There are four standard trim levels – SE Nav, SRi Nav, SRi VX Line Nav, and Ultimate Nav. All are particularly well-equipped, with even the base model coming with a seven-inch infotainment screen, Apple Carplay and Android Auto, cruise control, dual-zone climate control, automatic lights and wipers and all-round LED lights. It costs from £23,120 with a 1.4-litre petrol engine.
Step up to SRi Nav (from £24,620) and you get some chrome and gloss-black window trims, LED ambient lighting and a rear spoiler, while top-of-the-range SRi VX-Line Nav (from £27,620) upgrades the infotainment screen to eight inches and brings Vauxhall’s IntelliLux adaptive headlights, a wireless charging pad, heated and ventilated front seats, 20-inch alloy wheels and adaptive suspension.
Ultimate Nav, meanwhile, is priced identically to SRI VX-Line Nav, but comes less glamourous features in exchange for greater comfort – heated rear seats instead of 20-inch wheels, for example.
GSi models, meanwhile, sit proud of the range with a more powerful 2.0-litre petrol engine and also gain active front seats with massaging functionality, four-wheel drive, an external styling pack and two additional rear side airbags. They weigh in at a hefty £38,850.
All models include navigation as well as lots of standard safety kit – autonomous emergency braking, lane-departure warning, following distance indicator, tunnel detection for the automatic lights, high-beam assist and all-round parking sensors.
What new tech does the 2020 Insignia get?
Highlighting the refreshed look, and hinting at the updated technology within the new Insignia are Vauxhalls latest adaptive headlights. Using LED headlamp technology. Vauxhall says that its IntelliLux LED headlights are its best units yet, with 84 LED elements per side for the optimum nighttime driving experience.
The new set-up features automatic switching between dipped and main beam during night driving, and Vauxhall says they adjust seamlessly in milliseconds. As with other ‘Matrix’ LED units available, the road can remain lit brightly as the system automatically dips the beam in sections to avoid dazzling oncoming traffic. Reduced energy consumption makes the Insignia more efficient overall, although we’ll have to wait until January to find out by how much.
Other new tech includes a new rear-view camera and optional rear cross-traffic alert, which uses radar sensors to detect objects 90 degrees to the left or right behind the car.
Other tech includes includes:
>> Forward collision detection and Autonomous Emergency Braking
>> Lane-keep assist
>> Side blindspot alert
>> Adaptive cruise control with emergency braking
>> Traffic sign recognition
>> Advanced park assist
>> Head-up display
A bold new look? No…
There are tweaks to the front and rear styling. The sharper front-end styling has been lifted by new headllights, flanking a new chrome-edged radiator grille, which is both wider and bolder looking. The LED Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) have been repositioned to the bottom of the headlight – an easy giveaway.
Although we haven’t seen any images of the interior yet, Vauxhall says that, ‘the slim, horizontal lines of exterior design continue into the interior, with precisely placed chrome accents adding to the stylish ambience in the top-of-the-range model.’
New engines – three petrol, one diesel
Vauxhall’s given the Insignia four new engines – and they really are new. In fact, they’re some of the last engines Vauxhall developed on its own. In future, it will share engine and gearbox technology with its parent firm, PSA – the same brand that builds Peugeot, Citroen and DS cars.
Your options will be:
- 145hp 1.4-litre three-cylinder petrol, six-speed manual/CVT automatic
- 200hp 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol, nine-speed automatic
- 230hp 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol, nine-speed automatic
- 122hp 1.5-litre three-cylinder diesel, six-speed manual/eight-speed automatic
- 174hp 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel, six-speed manual/eight-speed automatic
That’s a reasonably comprehensive line-up, though it’s very strange to offer three totally different automatic gearboxes on one car. We’ll be sure to test as many as we can lay our hands on to give you a definitive verdict.
There’s no hybrid offering just yet, which is a shame, but to be expected. Vauxhall’s hybrid technology on the Grandland X Hybrid4 is shared with Peugeot and Citroen models, but the Insignia was designed before the brands partnered up – so its very possible that PSA’s hybrid system is too costly to adapt. Still, it means there’s no Vauxhall rival to the likes of the Volkswagen Passat GTE or Ford Mondeo Hybrid.
All promise good fuel economy, though, with the diesel promising up to 61.4mpg and 121g/km of CO2. The 1.4-litre petrol claims 48.7mpg and 135g/km, and the 200hp 2.0-litre claims 38.7mpg and 171g/km. This is due in part to active shutters around the front grille, which close up when they can to make the car more slippery at high speeds.
The range topper is the GSi, powered by the 230hp petrol engine and paired up to an all-wheel drive system capable of delivering power to all four wheels depending on driving scenario.
Anything else we need to know?
All infotainment set-ups are now compatible with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, from the basic 7.0-inch display to the all-singing and dancing Multimedia Navi Pro unit. That gets an 8.0-inch touchscreen and a number of Connected Navigation services. Other services include real-time traffic information, online map updates and predictive navigation for route planning.
Replacing the useful Vauxhall OnStar system is the optional E-Call, which currently is exclusive to Vauxhall and can be specified for Insignia orders. This benefits safety by automatically sending an emergency call if the seatbelt tensioners or airbags are deployed. There’s also a Peugeot-Citroen-style SOS button to summon the emergency services when needed.
What this means for you
This is an incremental update designed to make an efficient car even cheaper to run. We’ve not experienced the 2.0-litre engine, but have tried out the new 1.4-litre petrol and 1.5-litre diesels in the new Astra. They’re impressively refined and punchy and are capable of delivering excellent fuel economy. So, for motorway users, the Insignia’s impressive range and economy will be quite a draw.
However, these smaller engines will undoubtedly be more challenged by the bulkier, heavier Insignia. Also, it’s losing out by there being a limited choice of diesel models, and a complete absence of plug-in hybrid versions – these will affect its desirability as a company car and for those who buy with their own money.
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