Vauxhall unleashes hottest estate yet

This is the brand new Vauxhall Insignia VXR Sports Tourer, an estate that's by some margin the fastest ever to wear the Griffin badge. The 'super estate' isn't a new concept, with the German premium makers already quite adept at it thanks to offerings like the Audi S4 Avant, BMW M5 Touring and Mercedes C63 AMG Estate.

This is Vauxhall's crack at that lucrative market, and although there are no prices yet, it should undercut the competition significantly while giving them a good run for their money in terms of pace, space and quality. Powered by a 2.8-litre, 321bhp turbocharged V6 petrol engine, the VXR Tourer is capable of cracking the dash to 60mph in six seconds flat, and tops out at 155mph.

It was tested at the Nurburgring, the stomping ground of any performance car worth its salt. Vauxhall has given it four-wheel drive and a fancy front suspension setup called 'HiPerStrut' to eliminate torque steer and understeer; the nasty conditions that blighted the Vectra VXR on the track. It also gets an adaptive chassis with settings for either greater comfort or more feel and sportiness.

It looks the part too, thanks to a range of VXR-themed decoration inside and out, including an aggressive body kit, 19- or 20-inch wheels, lowered suspension and colour-coded Brembo brake callipers. Inside, deep bucket seats and a plethora of VXR badges will remind you what you're in when you're stuck in a traffic jam on the way back from work.

It's not all high-performance though, because the VXR Tourer should handle the day-to-day stuff with aplomb too, thanks to useful features like a massive 1,530 litres of luggage capacity (100 litres more than the Audi S4 Avant), and a clever electric tailgate that can be programmed to open at a lower height, thus preventing a crunching garage roof catastrophe.

Prices will be announced in the Summer before the car goes on sale at the end of this year.

Mark Nichol