The new Insignia GSi is less powerful but more frugal

13th January 2020

Bob Murray

Brembo brakes and red calipers, check. Competition mode, check. All-wheel-drive and torque vectoring, for sure. Nine-speed automatic, you bet. Handling honed at the Nürburgring Nordschleife? Of course. Say hello to the new… Vauxhall Insignia. And like a lot of great sporty Vauxhalls in the past it gets those famous initials: GSi.

Vauxhall’s new flagship five-door – in Opel guise at least – has had its premiere at the Brussels Motor Show. The same car with Vauxhall badges and right-hand-drive will spearhead the launch of the new Insignia range when that goes on sale in the UK in February.

Top of the range GSi aside, the main news with the revised line-up is an all-new engine family that’s claimed to consume 18 per cent less fuel than the outgoing model, making it among the most economical cars in its class.

The new three- and four-cylinder turbocharged engines come in a range of capacities and both petrol and diesel forms. The entry model’s new three-pot motor, which weighs an incredible 50kg less than its predecessor, delivers 144bhp in 1.4-litre petrol form or 122bhp as a 1.5-litre oil-burner. The top four-cylinder 2.0-litre as fitted to the new GSi boasts 227bhp.

A 2.0-litre diesel is coming but the emphasis here is very much on the petrol motors. The four-cylinder unit is the first Vauxhall to come with cylinder deactivation. So unless you need maximum power, a lot of driving can be done on just two cylinders, further enhancing the new model’s economy credentials.

All the new engines are mated to low-friction gearboxes – six-speed manual and eight and nine-speed autos are available, depending on the engine. All models also get active front grille shutters that open and close automatically depending on temperature, allowing the car to warm up more quickly.

The result across the new Insignia range is CO2 emissions that start as low as 100g/km in the entry diesel manual, which also records 61mpg in the new WLTP fuel consumption test. The GSi model gets 34mpg.

The latest Insignias already look crisp and smart thanks to a recent styling update centred around the availability of IntelliLux LED headlights, with a camera-connected control unit constantly adjusting the 84 LED bulbs in each headlight to every traffic and weather situation.