New vs Old Vauxhall Insignia!

One of the most popular cars on the road has to be the Vauxhall Insignia, wherever you look there always seems to be one somewhere. Just last year, however, Vauxhall gave the Insignia a all new look  to keep it competitive amongst the market - but is it still as desirable as it was before it got it’s new look?

The new Insignia comes in three different styles - Grand Sport, Sports Tourer and Country Tourer. All of these options essentially replace the old car. For this review I’m going to mainly focus on the Grand Sport - I will likely mention the other models occasionally.

However, the Insignia is seeing decreasing sales due to the uprising in the SUV and Crossover market, so has it still got what it takes to win over the money of customers?

The new Insignia features a much nicer interior, both for the driver and for the passengers. Leg room in the rear of the car is far superior to the older model and even beats some of the Insignia’s closest rivals. There is enough space across the back to fit three adults, however it will still be a push, but kids should be very comfortable. Passengers will also enjoy the two USB charging ports which were featured on our Tech Line Nav model. 

When we had our test model, the Tech Line Nav was the second to the top of the range. However, since Vauxhall have added multiple more trim levels - in some ways making it much tougher to choose from the different models and styles. We still believe that the Tech Line Nav is a great option for anyone looking to pick up the Insignia - including great features like all round parking sensors and a great infotainment system including Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The infotainment system is a lot better than previous Insignia models - not noticeably lagging behind and very easy to use. The addition of Android Auto and Apple CarPlay means that even if you don’t like the included Sat Nav or infotainment system you have other options.

Owners of the old face lifted Insignia will be familiar with the dashboard - although it has been updated we can still see similarities in our Tech Line Nav model with the older style. This is no bad thing though - the screen in the middle of the two analog dials displays vital information nicely and allows the driver a great series of options for displaying information. However, if you are not keen on the dashboard on this model Vauxhall do also offer a fully digital drivers display which rivals the like of BMW and Audi’s Virtual Cockpit. We believe that Audi still offers a cleaner and overall better Virtual Cockpit - but this is to be expected on a car which is in a different league for price ranges. Even though we have not had the option to test this out ourselves, others have complimented it very highly. 

The OnStar system, although not available for much longer, is a very great addition - currently putting the Insignia above the rest in terms of creature comforts. OnStar offers services such as WiFi, SOS calling automatically when the vehicles airbags have been deployed and incredible 24/7 support from advisors which can do anything from sending directions to your sat nav to booking you a hotel room for the night. It will be sad when this gets disabled in Insignia’s and will be interesting to find out if Vauxhall are going to add anything else in the near future.

The new central console and Infotainment system makes the car feel a lot simpler of the inside, which is great, as the older Insignia had far too many buttons which at times could be hard to find your way around. With this being said, a touchscreen is defiantly not easy to use when driving around and the Insignia is no exception to this rule as you will have to take your eyes off the road to use the infotainment even to do the simplest thing like adding a new destination into the Sat Nav. 

On the outside the Insignia features a beautiful new light array, with LED indicators and daytime running LED’s. You can upgrade to Matrix LED headlights, however our car did not have this so I cannot advise for or against for this option. I would probably say that you should go for it as without it the non LED headlights do look a little out of place next too the daytime running LED’s and indicators. 

Round at the boot and the Grand Sport does not disappoint, although it is likely not to rival a full size SUV it is definitely competitive amongst its class and cars which are likely to be up against it. The Sports Tourer and Country Tourer will likely offer more space so if you are looking to always fill up the boot space these may be a better option for you. There is also a large load lip on the Insignia which could make it difficult for you too load heavy items in and out of the car. However, the Insignia redeems itself for this when you see how much stuff you can fit into the car when the seats are folded flat - another great feature. Obviously, however it would make a lot more sense to get one of the other two variants rather than the Grand Sport if you know that you are always going to be cramming stuff in to the boot of the car. 

Overall, I believe that Vauxhall have done a very good job at improving the Insignia for this next generation. They have certainly brought a lot of the much needed features which competitors have added into their cars - which made the old style car fall behind. Don’t be tricked into thinking that the Insignia is a bad car though, its still popular amongst many - and there can only be a few reasons for that. However, if you had the option or don’t mind spending the extra money on a newer model it’s totally worth it and will allow you to have a much greater and more up to date experience driving the Grand Sport, Sports Tourer and Country Tourer.

If you would like a review of the Country Tourer or Sports Tourer then definitely let me know and I will see if I can make it happen.