2017 Vauxhall Insignia Grand Sport to be brand's flagship model

More spacious Insignia Grand Sport, due this December, will become a truly global model and sit above the Sports Tourer and Country Tourer in the Insignia line-up
by Autocar
7 November 2016

The Vauxhall Insignia Grand Sport will sit above two other all-new Insignia models in the brand's 2017 line-up as one of five new models to be launched.

The 2017 Vauxhall Insignia Grand Sport has been revealed

The Grand Sport hatchback will be joined by two estate models, the Insignia Sport Tourer and a more rugged Country Tourer that'll come with four-wheel-drive as standard. Autocar sampled a development version of that car's system earlier this year.

We'e also driven a prototype version of the 2017 Insignia Grand Sport, and early impressions suggest the new name will be accompanied by a more eager chassis set-up. The car won't make its official debut until this December, however.

Design

The new Insignia will be larger, lighter and more efficient than the current model; the biggest changes are a small elongation of the wheelbase and the shedding of around 150kg.

Our Verdict

Vauxhall Insignia 2009-2017

Vauxhall Insignia

The Vauxhall Insignia is only small details away from rivalling the class best

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It will be a truly global car, sold under the Vauxhall, Opel and Buick badges in Europe, the US and China. Here in Britain, it will remain a key rival to the Ford Mondeo.

Read our full review on the outgoing second generation Vauxhall Insignia

The new Insignia will have an evolutionary look, with only minor styling changes to bring it into line with the rest of the Vauxhall range. Although the spotted cars wear cladding that hides the majority of the styling, it's clear the new model has a new swooping roofline, which is higher and wider at the rear.

As well as increased rear space and easier access to the rear seats, thanks to the taller door openings, the second-generation Insignia will get a bigger and more useable boot. A new tailgate design with new tail-lights will help to make the boot deeper, wider and taller boot than before, with a 565-litre capacity, matching that of the Skoda Superb.

Engines and gearbox

The Insignia is based on a moderately updated version of GM’s familiar Epsilon 2 architecture. In European markets, the most important engine upgrades will be the debut of the new 1.6-litre CDTi diesel, which will replace today’s 2.0-litre CDTi unit.

General Motors (GM) will be targeting class-leading refinement for the diesel Insignias. The new 1.6-litre CDTi engine will be offered in a range of outputs, starting at 136bhp and rising to around 170bhp.

Today’s Insignia is already available with GM’s new 1.6 SIDI turbocharged petrol engine in 168bhp form. This engine will also be offered in two lower-powered versions of the new car.

The Insignia will be offered with a new eight-speed automatic transmission, which is expected to improve overall fuel economy by around 3% compared with the six-speed manual versions.

Hilton Holloway and Sam Sheehan

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Comments
41

Factczech

28 August 2015
Why are we in the UL fed this myth that there is such a car/brand called Vauxhall? The motoring press should be more responsible to its readership and question GM on the rebadged cars they are passing off as Vauxhall, like Ford or not they call their cars Ford wherever they are sold. Honda and Nissan too, and to a lesser extent Toyota who tries hard to sell younger people Toyotas called Scion.
By persisting with the name Vauxhall GM is duping the British public into the patriotic theme, but why don't we see the Vauxhall badge outside of the UK? Is GM ashamed to be associated with a UK name in their Global market? If so if it is not good enough abroad why should it be here? Look at Skoda for example, VW through and through but they allow the design to be led by Czechs, and they are sold in the global market as Skodas, not only in Czech.
Vauxhall is no more and the sooner we realise this the better.

scotty5

28 August 2015
Factczech wrote:

Why are we in the UL...

UL - United Lesser Antilles? Uruguayan Leeward Islands? I give up. Where's the UL?

Ski Kid

20 October 2015
The sales would probably halve in the Uk ,as the Opal name is very unappealing to the Uk customer, hence it was scrapped years ago when indeed Opal did have different models to Vauxhall, think it was the 70's.The only car made in the Uk is the Astra and I assume branded Opal for export.

Cé hé sin

27 October 2016
Wonder would they prefer Opel?

Boulle

20 October 2015
Vauxhall kind of still exist - GM still have manufacturing capacity in the UK making the Astra and Vivaro, although the Insignia is pure Opel. If you look at the data stamp inside the door it says Opel! Its just branding - Vauxhall is GM's UK trading name. Doesn't really matter.

Boulle

A34

19 April 2016
Slightly bigger. The question is: why? Is this for the US market? Do Russians like these? Does anyone other than deluded fleet managers buy these.

PS: shouldn't feed the trolls, I know, but probably FatCzech doesn't know about the great British love of screwing different name plates onto cars (Vanden Plas Allegro, Wolesley 1800, MG Metro etc etc)...

5wheels

27 October 2016
A34 wrote:

Slightly bigger. The question is: why? Is this for the US market? Do Russians like these? Does anyone other than deluded fleet managers buy these.

PS: shouldn't feed the trolls, I know, but probably FatCzech doesn't know about the great British love of screwing different name plates onto cars (Vanden Plas Allegro, Wolesley 1800, MG Metro etc etc)...

Dont make me laugh - I see maybe one insignia every 10,000 other makes. Opel is not popular here with this model - but the Astra sells very very well - especially to those chic Russian dolls :-)))

what's life without imagination

Him

28 August 2015
"Why are we in the UL fed this myth that there is such a car/brand called Vauxhall?" - I can assure you that there is a car/brand called Vauxhall, I've seen them, they're all shiny with wheels and everything.

"By persisting with the name Vauxhall GM is duping the British public..."- yup, cos it's a big secret and you're the first one who's spotted it.

Drivel.

concinnity

29 August 2015
Vauxhall, Opel and Buick badges. And Holden, Chevrolet, Cadillac as well, with minor adjustments this car will appear all over the world. Just like it's Mondeo , Passat, Camry, Accord, Sonata and Maxima competitors.

xxxx

30 August 2015
"By persisting with the name Vauxhall GM is duping the British public into the patriotic theme" does that mean LJR products should have a TaTa badge?? Especially the ones coming from the forthcoming 'overseas' factories!

typos1 - Just can’t respect opinion

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