Green Insignia estate blossoms

Those who enjoy a healthy dose of frugality with their enormous boots will enjoy this, the Vauxhall Insignia ecoFLEX Sports Tourer. It's the third and last of the Insignia body styles to get the ecoFLEX treatment following the saloon and hatchback, and means that estate buyers can reap the benefits of sub-140g/km CO₂ emissions and lower fuel consumption.

Its official stats are: 139g/km of CO₂ and 53.7mpg from a 158bhp 2.0-litre CDTi diesel engine, giving it a theoretical range of 823 miles from a tank. That's a lot of service station avoidance. The 0-62mph benchmark is accomplished in 9.3 seconds, so it's hardly slow, and it tops out at 134mph.

Like the saloon and hatchcabk versions, its fuel miserliness is achieved by revised gearing, a pair of under-body spoilers to make it cut through the air more easily, a closed front grille for the same reason, and a dropped ride height - again to make it more slippery. Those things, combined with low rolling resistance tyres, make the ecoFLEX 6.6mpg better off than the regular 2.0-litre CDTi model.

You'll pay a £500 premium for those green privileges over the standard car though, so your mileage will determine whether it makes economic sense. It's on sale now.

Mark Nichol