Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer (2008 – 2017) Review

Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer (2008 – 2017) At A Glance

3/5

+Practical load area. Family-friendly. Broad range of engines.

-Engines can get noisy. Not as good to drive as other estates. Interior feels dated compared to recent rivals.

Insurance Groups are between 15–38
On average it achieves 79% of the official MPG figure

Since the Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer was launched in 2008 every rival manufacturer has come out with something new, so it’s a surprise it still stacks up at all. It’s a perfectly capable, practical estate car, but the sizeable load area and wide range of engines can’t hide a less-than impressive cabin and sometimes poor refinement.

Load capacity is 540 litres to the luggage cover with the rear seats up, which is on par with the Ford Mondeo Estate. The load deck is flat and fairly low, which makes loading large, bulky items reasonably easy. Folding the rear seats down is simple and expands capacity to 1530 litres, with a space under the load floor to keep the retractable load cover neatly out of the way.

Up front the Insignia is better now than it used to be. In 2013 the centre stack was revised, with new infotainment and a more rational, less cluttered arrangement, using fewer buttons. It’s much more user-friendly than the messy, confusing design in earlier Insignia models, but material quality still lags behind Volkswagen and Ford.

It’s the same story with the handling. The Insignia’s steering isn’t as pleasantly weighted or as precise as a Mondeo, while the Passat is leagues ahead when it comes to refinement and ride quality. That’s not to say the Insignia is bad – it’s relaxed on a long journey and the engines are subdued unless pushed hard – but it doesn’t stack up against recent competitors.

The engine range is confusingly broad, with dozens of combinations of capacity, output, transmission and trim levels. Power outputs range from 136PS in the entry-level diesel to 325PS in the mad, all-wheel drive VXR Supersports variant. Most people will be happiest with the 170PS 2.0 CDTi diesel, which has official economy of up to 62.8mpg and emissions of as low as 119g/km.

As a comfortable estate car the Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer does its job perfectly well – but there is no escaping the fact it was introduced back in 2008. It’s practical and spacious enough for a family, but so are more recent, better made and more refined rivals like the Mazda6, Volkswagen Passat and Ford Mondeo.

Road Test of 2009 Vauxhall Insignia Ecoflex

Road Test of 2013 Vauxhall Insigna facelift

Road Test of 2014 Vauxhall Insignai Country Tourer

Real MPG average for a Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer (2008 – 2017)

RealMPG

Real MPG was created following thousands of readers telling us that their cars could not match the official figures.

Real MPG gives real world data from drivers like you to show how much fuel a vehicle really uses.

Average performance

79%

Real MPG

25–62 mpg

MPGs submitted

367

Diesel or petrol? If you're unsure whether to go for a petrol or diesel (or even an electric model if it's available), then you need our Petrol or Diesel? calculator. It does the maths on petrols, diesels and electric cars to show which is best suited to you.

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Ask Honest John

Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer brake problems

"I bought a used Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer (2011 model) with 53k on clock in December 2015. For six months, I took the car back every month with brake concerns over a judder. That was until the summer when two new tyres seemed to fix the problem. Now we are being told that the brake discs are lipped and pads worn 90 per cent. I was previously told that the pads were replaced at 40,000 miles and we will have to foot the bill. Is the garage trying to fob us off? "
By 53k miles the brake discs and pads could need replacing. These are both wearing components. The fact that the pads were replaced at 40k mile does not mean that both discs and pads would not need replacing at 53k.
Answered by Honest John

Which used estate car?

"We have two kids and a dog, so need a big estate. Have thought about the Mondeo, Insignia, Passat or Volvo V70. We have between £10-12K to spend and are edging towards a mondeo What is the best model, age, mileage, spec combination for this kind of price ? Will be doing at least 15k miles per year and will run for 4-6 years approx."
Mondeo 2.0TDCI 140 Zetec estate.
Answered by Honest John

what rates of break wear are reasonable on a vauxhall insignia

"Car serviced in Oct 2011 with front pads reported as 25% worn rear pads 10% worn. This was at 15,763 miles. Now at 22,658miles front pads are 70%worn and rear needs new discs and pads. Is this reasonable."
It can happen. The front pads clean overnight corrosion off the discs, but since 95% of braking is on the front, the rear pads are not as effective in cleaning off corrosion. That's why corrosion eats into rear discs first.
Answered by Honest John

Which estate car would you recommend instead of a Vauxhall Insignia?

"We are considering buying a new Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer estate but the only diesel is currently 2.0 litres. Due to price differences between petrol and diesel, would it be better to look at another make and if so what would be your recommendation?"
An Astra Sports Tourer actually makes more sense because it is far more practically designed with a better-shaped load area, and you can get it with the excellent 1.4T 140PS engine. If going diesel, then the best engines are currently the 1.6DCI 130 in the Renault Megane Sport Tourer, or the 1.6 diesels in the Hyundai i30 Tourer and forthcoming new KIA cee'd SW. If you want a bigger car, the Mondeo 2.0TDCI is best.
Answered by Honest John
More Questions

What does a Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer (2008 – 2017) cost?