The outgoing Opel Insignia seemed to attract a reasonable following in the fleet and business sector but it did little to capture the imagination of others. Add to that dullness a system that controlled various functions, such as the heating, radio and 'phone that was less than intuitive and downright frustrating to use and the older Insignia was a car that was hard to love.
The styling of the new Insignia is a big improvement, with a coupe derived profile.
Lighter and longer than the car it replaces and a good deal smarter looking, the new Insignia has gone on sale with a keen opening price for the entry-level model of €27,350. So now that the pitch has been made it is time for the Insignia to try to make its mark because this is probably the last chance it has. The segment into which the Insignia fits is'nt exactly a boom one, with cars of this size constantly losing out to crossovers and the like.
Features on the new car include adpaptive LED lights, a dashboard head up display showing various key information on the lower part of the windscreen, a 360 degree camera, adaptive cruise control with automatic emergency braking, lane assist with automatic steering correction and an alert system that warns you about objects or people approaching the rear of the car when reversing.
The infotainment system and controls are said to have been improved and connectivity is provided through Apple Car Play and Android Auto.
A new 1.5-litre Turbo 140 hp unit (Tax Band B1) replaces the outgoing 1.4-litre Turbo unit, while the diesel choice includes Opel’s 1.6 ‘Whisper Diesel’ in both 110 and 136 hp outputs (Tax Bands A3 and A4 respectively), as well as the higher output 2.0-litre 170 hp diesel (Tax Band B2).
Both the 1.6 136 hp and 2.0-litre 170 hp units are available in both manual and automatic transmission. We will have a review of the Insignia shortly.
