Vauxhall Insignia Grand Sport (2017-2022) Review

If, like so most of us, you grew up being ferried around in your parents’ large family hatchback or saloon, and you’re now the parents, then the Insignia really should be for you. 

Yes, those premium alternatives are tempting, but you want all of that with fully-loaded specifications in a handsome, head-turning package, then the Insignia is well worth considering. Being a hatchback (some key rivals only being saloons) it’s hugely practical if you really can’t bring yourself to buying an estate version (Sports Tourer in Vauxhall’s parlance), and there’s good space in those rear seats.

Add a low emitting, economical, but usefully powerful 1.6-litre turbodiesel into that equation, in one of the middling, but comprehensively equipped, specifications and you might just find the Insignia shooting up your list of potential buys, and even reaching the top of it. 

The Vauxhall Insignia, and its Vectra and Cavalier have long diced with the Ford Mondeo (and Sierra before it) for buyer’s money. Add cars like the cut above Volkswagen Passat, Volvo S60 and Mazda 6 into the mix and there’s plenty of choice from its traditional rivals, but these days you can also add cars like the Skoda Superb and Peugeot 508. 

At a push you could even include used versions of the likes of the BMW 3 Series, Audi A4, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Jaguar XE. Many buyers will consider similar money SUVs as more practical alternatives, but height aside, they’re not, consume more fuel, emit more and aren’t as nice to drive, either.

You’ll not get in the Insignia and be blown away by the interior quality as you might something like an Audi A4 or Volkswagen Passat, but, likewise, neither are you likely to be disappointed.

The materials all feel of good quality, with all the touch points around the interior being soft, with the obvious exception of things like the door handles. Some of the piano black plastics around the centre console are a bit shiny, not in an indulgent expensive manner, but in a slightly cheap way, but all the switchgear works with a pleasingly weighted slickness which isn’t really that removed from the best of its premium rivals. 

Indeed, the only real issue inside is the big Vauxhall badge in front of you on the steering wheel, as however good the quality and finish inside feels, Vauxhall’s mainstream, and if we’re being cruel here, undesirable, image carries a lot of negative baggage with it. If you can see past that, and you should, then the Insignia is a neat, well-built driving environment to find yourself in.

Vauxhall’s product planners know a thing about specifying a car to appeal to those buyers where every penny counts in running costs, and in a bid to sway them out of the option box ticking necessity of those premium rivals they’ve thrown loads of standard equipment at the Insignia. 

It’s little surprise, then, that the first items to be listed in the Insignia’s specification relates to the infotainment. All come with a 7-inch touchscreen as standard, it having a seven speaker stereo system that, in all, can be connected to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. That negates the need for sat nav, but if you want fully integrated sat nav each trim has that option, but we’d not bother. 

DAB features in all, as does Bluetooth and USB connection, and if you’ve gone for that integrated Nav system, then you get Traffic Sign Recognition as standard, too. Elite Nav and GSI Nav benefit from a larger 8-inch touchscreen that adds voice control, an 8-inch colour screen in place of the conventional instruments and European 3D mapping as well as wireless charging for your smartphone – this a £160 option elsewhere in the range.

When it was introduced in 2017 Vauxhall made a lot of noise about how much bigger the new Insignia was, and it wasn’t wrong. That’s to the benefit of interior space, with the cabin being notably bigger than the premium rivals it hopes to take sales away from, particularly in relation to rear seat space, with shoulder and legroom notably better over such competition. 

That’s true even if you’ve got the driver and front passenger seat in their most pushed back position, the only failing in the Insignia’s rear seat space being headroom, which, thanks to the Insignia’s steeply raked rear styling does mean taller adults might find their heads touching the roof. 

There’s plenty of space for children, though, even if the third, middle seat is best left for occasional use, not least because (like all its rivals) there’s no Isofix child seat mounts for it, these reserved for the outermost rear seats. 

There’s a good-sized arm rest in the middle, while most models, with the exception of Design and Design Nav come with a useful 40/20/40 split-fold rear seatback, for longer loads – those Design models making do with a 60/40 fold. Combined with the huge hatchback opening for the boot, that offers a volume ranging from 490 litres with the seats in place, or 1450 litres with them folded – that is just 5 and 50 litres off the luggage space for a BMW 3 Series Touring (estate) – but a Skoda Superb, the class champion dwarfs the Insignia’s boot space, with 610 litres with the seats in position, and 1760 litres seats folded. 

There’s decent cubby space provision throughout the Insignia’s cabin, too, with all four doors getting door bins, there’s a large lidded centre cubby between the front seats, as well as a smaller pair of lidded recesses and a good-sized glovebox. 

The exterior dimensions of the Vauxhall Insignia Grand Sport are fairly large, making it a squeeze in the typical UK parking space. It measures 4906mm long and 2093mm wide (1863mm without mirrors), while it's 1455mm in height.

Vauxhall offers a range of engines including two decent 1.5-litre turbocharged petrols of 140 and 165PS, but, unsurprisingly given the Insignia’s traditional fleet customers, the bulk of the line-up comprises of turbodiesel choices. There are no hybrid powertrains like you’ll get with rivals like the Passat or Volvo S60, start-stop technology being about as advanced the Insignia’s concession to fuel savings currently is. 

There are two choices with the 1.6 Turbo D, a 110PS version that’s badged ecoTEC, but it’s no more economical than the same capacity 136PS version of the same engine, with both having exactly the same emissions figures, and sharing the same best WLTP combined consumption, which does rather suggest that you’ll want the greater power of the 136PS version. 

It’s the engine we’d pick in preference to any in the range, regardless, the 1.6-litre 136PS engine having enough power and good flexibility to make it the best all-rounder.

Throw in that excellent economy and it’s even more so, its CO2 emissions making it a fiscally wise choice, too, and one that doesn’t feel like you’re making any real sacrifices, in relation to performance, for. It reaches 62mph in 9.9 seconds, which is only 1.7 seconds slower than the 170PS 2.0 turbodiesel. That’s with the manual transmission, all engines offered with either a six-speed or eight-speed automatic, the slight penalty each brings in relation to economy, being worth it for the ease it brings. The manual, if you’re really watching the emissions, is a slick, easy shift though, so picking it isn’t a hardship, either.

Built to cruise up and down motorways, the Insignia does a convincing job when it comes to refinement. The engines are all nicely damped for sound, with only a hint of raucousness apparent if you rev the diesels hard, which you really don’t need to such is their low rev flexibility and easily gained pace. 

Wind noise is hushed too, while road noise is contained nicely on smoother surfaces, with some sounds transmitted into the cabin on rougher, textured surfaces, that becoming more apparent with the bigger wheeled models as you climb up the range.

The standard safety equipment on the Insignia really is commendable, with Vauxhall fitting all with driver, front passenger front airbags, a pair of side airbags and full-sized curtain airbags for the driver, front passenger and rear outer passengers.

There’s a pair of Isofix mounts in the rear seats, while the front passenger side airbag can be deactivated to allow a child seat to be carried. Pedestrian safety includes an active bonnet, which moves to help prevent injuries to pedestrians in an impact. There’s electronic stabilty control, traction control, cornering brake control, ABS, emergency brake assist, electronic brake force distribution and hill start assist. 

A range of Driver Assistance Packs are offered, Pack One coming as standard with all, it including forward collision alert with city emergency braking, Traffic sign recognition, a following distance indicator and lane departure warning with lane assist – this often a cost option. If you’ve chosen a Nav model you can up the Driver Assistance Pack to Pak Four, it including Lane Change Assist with blind spot alert, a rear view camera, rear cross traffic alert and front and rear parking distance sensors. 

Vauxhall doesn't have the strongest reliability record, performing pretty poorly in the annual HonestJohn.co.uk Satisfaction Index. Owners of the Vauxhall Insignia Grand Sport seem a pretty happy bunch, though, and we've heard of very few common issues.

The Insignia Grand Sport Designpr with the desirable 1.6-litre turbodiesel 136PS choice is insurance group 15E, with only the base petrol and the 110PS 1.6 turbodiesel bettering that. Pick SRI, SRI VX-Line Nav, Tech Line Nav and that increases to 16E, with Elite Nav bumping it up to 18E. The highest insurance rating is for the GSi Nav, at 28E, but all those are very competitive, and finding inexpensive insurance should be easy. 

Our favourite Vauxhall Insignia Grand Sport is also the cheapest to tax, the VED first year payment for the 1.6 turbodiesel being just £170 for the manual, or £210 for the automatic version. After that they attract a payment of £145 annually. 

The Vauxhall Insignia Grand Sport Design has a 7-inch multimedia display, Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay Android Auto, air conditioning and 17-inch alloy wheels with the Design Nav adding an integrated navigation. SRI gets, dual zone climate control, front fog lights, rain sensitive wipers, front and rear and parking sensors with the SRI Nav adding, yes you've guessed it, navigation...

The Insignia Grand Sport SRI VX-Line Nav adds dark headlining, a VX-Line steering wheel and the VX-Line styling pack while the Tech Line Nav comes with nav, dual zone climate control, auto dimming rear mirrors, rain sensitive wipers and front and rear parking sensors

The Vauxhall Insignia Grand Sport Elite Nav adds an 8-inch Navi Pro system, leather seat facings, wireless charger, heated front seats, 17/18/20-inch alloy wheels depending on engine choice, twin USB sockets and LED matrix headlights.

Go for the Vauxhall Insignia Grand Sport GSI Nav and this gets the 8-inch Navi Pro system, leather seat facings, wireless charger, heated front seats, 20-inch alloy wheels depending on engine choice, twin USB sockets and LED matrix headlights, FlexRide dampers, sports chassis, torque vectoring system, plus GSI exterior and interior styling.