Presentation and test drive Opel Insignia 2018, aimed at the Premium segment

The new generation of the most representative model from Opel is about to land on our market. We’re talking about the Opel Insignia, which has been completely redesigned.

With this new edition of the German saloon, the brand with the lightning bolt aims to take on the most refined rivals in its segment head-on.

Exterior design

The redesigned Insignia is aimed directly at the toughest rivals in the segment. To go toe-to-toe with them, it comes armed with plenty of weapons. One of them is its design, featuring one of the best-resolved and most attractive bodies of recent years within the lightning bolt brand.

The Insignia’s saloon body is now called Grand Sport, and it offers, precisely, a large dose of sportiness. Its dimensions are focused even more on dynamism: it is longer (4.90 metres), wider (1.86 metres) and lower (1.45 metres), creating a very attractive look.

The front stands out above all for its large grille, topped by the large brand logo with two lightning bolt extensions that form it. The optical units are now smaller, integrating the daytime running lights through two parallel LED strips. The bumper is completed with mouldings at both ends which, in addition, house the fog lights.

The side view has great appeal thanks to its fluid and well-defined lines. The wheel arches are filled to perfection with alloy wheels up to 20 inches, while the glazed area offers good visibility. The roofline now drops more steeply, ending in a more sloping rear window and offering a greater sense of dynamism.

At the rear we find the now-classic hatch, which gives access to a large loading opening. Again we have longer rear lights that also use LED technology for some functions. The exhaust outlets remain visible and oval, similar to the previous generation.

Interior design

Once we step into the cabin of the Insignia Grand Sport, we quickly realise that the German brand has placed emphasis on increasing perceived quality wherever we look and touch. The dashboard has a style similar to the brand’s latest creations, though with expanded functions and very good build quality.

Most of the trim is padded, and only on the lower parts of the doors and dashboard will we find hard plastics which, nevertheless, are well fitted. The instrumentation is mixed, with a central screen and analogue gauges at the sides. It is very similar to the one fitted to the previous Insignia.

The large central screen serves as the control centre, complemented by a climate control with controls that in some cases are a little small, and some buttons beneath it that operate the audio systems. One of the biggest novelties of the new Insignia is the arrival of a colour Head-Up Display (HUD) which, in this model, is projected directly onto the windscreen.

The seats once again play a fundamental role in the Insignia’s cabin. With AGR certification, the most fully equipped versions can have up to 16-way adjustment, plus massage, ventilation and heating. Without doubt, these are seats in which the weight of the kilometres is felt very little.

Interior space is very good in both the front and rear rows, although it is true that some headroom has been lost, partly offset by the lower height of the second-row bench. The boot, meanwhile, offers 490 litres, a few less than before, but sufficient for the vehicle’s intended use.

Dynamics and engines

The new Insignia is built on a new platform called Epsilon 2, which brings a substantial increase in wheelbase, as well as a very notable reduction in weight, something that translates into better dynamics and more economical consumption. The body is, moreover, 9% stiffer than that of its predecessor.

The new generation of Insignia comes loaded with technology. Driver assistance systems are more abundant than ever, with features such as adaptive cruise control with Stop&Go function, a 360º camera parking assistant, the connected On Star assistant with expanded functions -restaurant or hotel booking, remote vehicle diagnostics- or Intelillux LED headlights with individually managed lighting modules.

Mechanically, the new Insignia comes with three diesel options and three petrol engines. All of them are four-cylinder units, specially optimised for this vehicle, with their performance refined to the maximum. On the diesel side we have the well-known 1.6 CDTI with 110 and 136 CV, with the 2.0 CDTI at 170 CV at the top of the range.

On the petrol side we have the new 1.5 Turbo with 140 and 165 CV, an engine especially recommended for its smoothness and performance. A thorough evolution of the 1.4 Turbo, the 1.5 improves its figures while keeping consumption in check. Above it, and at the top of the range, sits the 2.0 Turbo with 265 CV. Six-speed manual gearboxes and six- and eight-speed automatics are available, the latter being a first for the brand.

Another of the most notable novelties is the arrival of a vectoring all-wheel-drive system developed by specialist GKN. It is an all-wheel-drive system very similar to the one used by the Ford Focus RS, with two electronically controlled clutches. This system can independently manage the torque sent to each wheel, improving the dynamic performance of the whole.