Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer Range : SIGN OF THE TIMES

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Vauxhall has done a thorough job of converting its Insignia to Sports Tourer estate form. Steve Walker reports.

Families now have a wealth of choice at their disposal when choosing a new car but the estate models that used to be a default choice shouldn't be overlooked. Vauxhall's Insignia Sports Tourer has the quality, the looks and the practicality to prove a great addition to the household.

Many predicted that MPVs and 4x4s would be the death of the estate car. There's no doubt that they dragged it into an alleyway and roughed it up a bit but they failed to finish the job and the estate has come out fighting. With a smaller section of the market to compete over, the top estate products got their acts together. They're now more keenly differentiated from the saloons and hatchbacks that spawned them with sleeker styling and more innovative and practical load areas. If you'd written the estate off as an outmoded product, now might be the time to give the modern take on the genre another chance and there's no better place to start that Vauxhall's Insignia Sports Tourer. Making a medium range estate car used to be comparatively easy. Take the medium range hatch or saloon you've already got and foist an extended rear end upon it, much as you would a conservatory on a suburban semi. Back then, estates were bought by people wanting a medium range family car but who had a dog. Today, buyers with similar requirements have a whole host of MPVs and Compact 4x4s to mull over as well. It's forced the estate manufacturers into a rethink. Vauxhall's Insignia Sports Tourer has a series of tricks up its sleeves designed to give it an edge with a certain sort of customer but are these tweaks convincing enough? The Insignia is available with a good spread of engines and Sports Tourer customers have the full range at their disposal. The line-up spans from a modest 138bhp 1.8-litre petrol unit to the mighty 2.8-litre V6 turbo engine which has 256bhp of punch - or over 320bhp in VXR guise. The most exciting engines sit between these extremes. Units like the 178bhp 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol unit that offers a fine compromise between pace and efficiency. Then there's the 2.0-litre CDTi diesel options with outputs of 128bhp, 158bhp or 187bhp, the latter achieved with the aid of twin turbochargers.

"Style is a significant weapon in the estate car's armouryâ€¦."

The way a particular Insignia drives will be determined by more than merely the engine plumbed into its nose. Vauxhall offer customers the options of upgrading from front-wheel-drive to All-wheel-drive courtesy of the adaptive 4x4 system and of specifying the FlexRide chassis that features electronically controlled damping. A FlexRide-equipped Sports Tourer can be placed in Sport or Tour modes. In the Sport setting, steering and throttle response are sharpened, as are the suspension settings for a more dynamic driving experience. Style is a significant weapon in the estate car's armoury. In the war against chunky compact 4x4s and frumpy MPVs, the sleek, road-hugging lines of a well-conceived estate can have a major impact on its fortunes. The Insignia Sports Tourer definitely looks the part. Taking the core styling features of the Insignia such as the raised grille and the cutaway sections down the flanks, the designers have expertly integrated the extended rear end. With its long roofline falling away towards the rear and the tailgate wrapping around the car's corners, the Sports Tourer is a classy visual proposition. The elegant lines don't come at the expense of space inside either. A 540-litre load compartment can be extended to 1,510 litres with the seats properly folded. That's significantly down on the 1,850 litres of the old Vectra estate, but then that car sat on its own extended platform, something GM couldn't afford to do again with this Insignia. Mere space isn't enough anyway in this kind of car: it's got to be usable. Vauxhall set out to ensure that the Sports Tourer fits the bill by introducing a series of features unique to this estate version. Self levelling rear suspension is standard on all models dropping the loading height to a more convenient level. Then there's Vauxhall's FlexOrganizer system that can be used to secure cargo in a series of rail-mounted nets and dividers. There's even an optional powered tailgate that opens to a programmed height to avoid clouting the ceiling of your garage or the local multi-storey car park. General build quality in the Insignia follows the exterior's premium themes and really is a massive leap forward for Vauxhall. The materials and design in the cabin are amongst the best in the medium range segment. For most private buyers, the entry-level point to Insignia Sport Tourer motoring will be at Exclusiv level where there's a decent quota of standard equipment that runs to ABS brakes and ESP stability control, automatic headlamps, electric adjustment of the driver's seat height and lumber support, single-zone air conditioned climate control front, side and curtain airbags and even cruise control. Above this level sit SE, Elite and sporty SRi variants. The Insignia has daytime running lamps, the must-have automotive feature of the moment, and uses an improved version of AFL, Vauxhall's Adaptive Forward Lighting system that allows the headlamps to swivel with the car, better illuminating corners. A clever Front Camera System is also offered with a Traffic Sign Recognition function that reads speed limit and no-passing signs and displays them on the instrument panel. There's also Lane Departure Warning which alerts dozy drivers when they unintentionally veer out of their lane. All Insignia's will be fitted with a SmartBeam High-beam Headlamp Assist Technology, which automatically switches the full beam on and off depending on light and traffic conditions. Vauxhall is proud to point out that the Insignia Sport Tourer is the most aerodynamic estate car it has ever made. The modest drag coefficient of 0.30 has a big positive impact on efficiency. Buyers intent on minimising their running costs will warm to the ecoFLEX model which brings together a number of special features designed to deliver the lowest possible emissions and fuel consumption. Running costs are a major concern in the Insignia's target market and the diesel models in particular should deliver the goods. Thanks to the large 70-litre tank, the CDTi variants boast a range of approximately 750 miles, based on their fuel consumption figures - expect 48.7mpg on the combined cycle. All versions come with a maintenance-free diesel particulate filter as standard and as you'd expect, meet Euro 5 emission levels. Go for a petrol model and you can expect an OK 36.2mpg on the combined cycle from the 1.8-litre ECOTEC but the 2.0 and 2.8V6 models manage very average returns of 31.7 and 29.4mpg. Go for 4WD and you can expect it to have a small negative impact on both fuel consumption and performance but it's nothing really to worry about. The estate car's task has never been a tougher one with the sector of the market it once had to itself now swarming with compact 4x4 and MPV rivals. The solution, as employed by Vauxhall with its Insignia Sports Tourer, is to concentrate on sleek styling, a polished driving experience and a premium feel. The Insignia Sports Tourer is a desirable product. The question is whether enough people will desire it over the numerous alternatives available to the family with this kind of money to spend. If you're after a genuine all-rounder that's comfortable and entertaining on the road, has a decent carrying capacity and looks that can turn heads, it should make a sound choice.

Facts At A Glance
CAR: Vauxhall Insignia Sport Tourer range
PRICES: £18,455-£32,230 - on the road
INSURANCE GROUPS: 7-15
CO2 EMISSIONS: 136-274g/km
PERFORMANCE: [1.8] 0-60mph 10.9s / Max Speed 128mph
FUEL CONSUMPTION: [2.0 CDTi 120] (urban) 37.2mpg / (extra urban) 58.9mpg / (combined) 48.7mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: twin front, side and curtain airbags, ABS, ESP
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: length/width/height 4830/1856/1498mm