Vauxhall’s new Insignia consumes up to 18 per cent less fuel than the outgoing model thanks to powerful high-efficiency engines.
The new Insignia engine range features three- and four-cylinder units, beginning with a 1.4-litre (145hp) petrol engine and a 1.5-litre (122hp) diesel.
The three-cylinder engines are up to 50kg lighter than their predecessors in the outgoing model.
Above these are two 2.0-litre petrol engines with 200hp and 230hp, as well as a 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel, which will be introduced later this year.
The 2.0-litre petrol units are also the first Vauxhall engines with cylinder deactivation.
Unless the driver needs a lot of power, the variable camshaft control deactivates two cylinders, significantly reducing fuel consumption.
Buyers have the choice of a six-speed manual gearbox or an eight or nine-speed automatic.
To help improve fuel efficiency further a “full-face active shutter”, which is located around the front grille, opens and closes.
Insignia GSi
The new Insignia GSi features sporty Twinster four-wheel drive with torque vectoring.
In all-wheel drive mode, two clutches replace a conventional rear differential for improved cornering and traction.
Brembo four-piston brakes ensures the GSi can stop and an electro-hydraulic brake booster dispenses with the need for separate ABS/ESP modules, vacuum lines and vacuum pumps.
The vacuum is generated by an electric motor instead of the engine, generating pressure more quickly.
The Insignia GSi comes as standard with mechatronic FlexRide suspension, which adapts shock absorbers and steering in fractions of a second.
In addition, FlexRide changes the characteristic of the accelerator as well as the shift-points of the nine-speed automatic transmission.
The driver can choose between the driving modes ‘Standard’, ‘Tour’, ‘Sport’ and – exclusively for the GSi – ‘Competition’.
Advanced driver assistance
For the first time the Insignia features a new rear-view camera that improves rearward vision.
Optional rear cross traffic alerts, uses radar sensors to detect objects 90 degrees to the left or right behind the car, up to a distance of 20m away.
The driver is warned by acoustic signals, and on the display screen.
Other advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) include forward collision with automatic emergency braking and pedestrian detection, lane keep assist, side blind spot alert and adaptive cruise control with emergency braking.
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