Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer ES 1.8i 5dr Car Review - March 2012

Inside the cabin it’s a pleasant enough environment, with ample adjustment on the driver’s seat and steering wheel to make finding the perfect driving position an easy task. Rear visibility is hampered a little because of the odd shape of the rear windscreen. The dash is well designed; however the centre console seems more cluttered with controls than other cars in its class. The interior finish is excellent and the materials used wouldn’t look out of place in a more expensive car.

The 1.8-litre 4 cylinder 16 valve 138bhp petrol engine is the entry level option. It provides decent performance and is lively and responsive producing a healthy 129lb-ft of mid-range torque and propelling the car to a top speed of 126mph. However, the diesel options do offer a better all-round package.

The Insignia Sports Tourer’s handling is competent, but it doesn’t perform as well as the Mazda 6 or Ford Mondeo. The ride can be less than smooth over rough surfaces and its steering can feel a little too light at times. While it’s nicely composed on the motorway, it doesn’t perform as well on back roads and rough road surfaces, where it feels less sure-footed.

The Insignia has very good aerodynamics, and you might expect it to be one of the quietest in its class. The interior is comfortable but engine noise is a little intrusive and road noise is increased with the 18-inch alloy wheel option. The wind noise from the tailgate is also noticeable at cruising speeds.

The Sports Tourer may well be the most handsome of the whole Insignia range. Clean flowing lines give it an aerodynamic appearance, and the interior is equally well designed and finished.

The Insignia Sports Tourer is well equipped for its price. It comes with power steering, central locking, air-conditioning, electric door mirrors, electric front windows, cruise control, alarm, immobiliser and CD+MP3 connectivity as standard. Vauxhall also offer a range of optional extras including alloy wheels (£490), metallic paint (£495), rear parking sensor (£395) and Bluetooth (£220).

The Insignia Sports Tourer is really practical and comfortable. Legroom and headroom are generous for four adults to travel in comfort. It’s not the class leader the old Vectra was in terms of boot space, but it still provides a competitive 540-litres of luggage space with the rear seats in place, which can be boosted to 1,530-litres with them folded down. Sadly the ES version doesn’t include the electric tailgate available on higher-spec cars.

EuroNCAP awarded the Insignia the maximum five-star rating in its crash-tests. Adult occupant safety scored five-stars, child occupant safety scored four-stars and pedestrian safety scored two-stars. All Insignias come fitted with six airbags, ISOfix child seat mounting points, anti-lock brakes, and stability and traction control systems.

The Insignia is built to a higher standard than its predecessor, the Vectra. While the Insignia is stylish and quality materials are used throughout, Vauxhall have a mediocre reputation for reliability. In the 2011 JD Power Survey, Insignia owners rated the car's reliability as below average.

Anti-theft measures include an alarm and engine immobiliser.

The Insignia Sports Tourer comes with Vauxhall’s 100,000 mile warranty and 20,000 mile regular service intervals.

The Sports Tourer is an attractive package and comes well equipped and competitively priced at £19,350. You should shop around for deals, both at main dealers and the big car supermarkets if buying new. As a used buy, the best ones will be available through the Vauxhall Network Q approved car scheme and will save you thousands on the new price, making it even better value for money.

Running costs are reasonable for this petrol version. Insurance is in group 16 and Road Tax is in VED band I. Fuel economy is mediocre with the Insignia returning 36.2mpg on the combined cycle. The diesel versions offer better economy and will probably be more popular as a second hand buy, especially in higher-spec trim.