Vauxhall Insignia VXR Sports Tourer unveiled
May 20, 2009 by George Skentzos
While in Germany, two very common sights initially came as a surprise to the FullThrottle team – that was the sheer volume of station wagons on the road and our first glimpse of the rather handsome Vauxhall Insignia.
On first impressions then it would seem Vauxhall has saved its best for last, today officially unveiling the new Insignia VXR Sports Tourer – the fastest Vauxhall estate ever.
It shares the same 2.8-litre V6 twin-scroll turbocharged ECOTEC engine with the VXR hatch and saloon, producing 239kW and peak torque of 400Nm.
This is combined with an Adaptive all-wheel-drive system and an electronic limited slip differential (eLSD), ensuring no power is wasted in the sprint from zero to 100km/h – taking just 6.0 seconds.
‘The Insignia VXR Sports Tourer will be a compelling alternative for buyers in the premium sector who may currently be considering an Audi S4 Avant or BMW 335i M Sport Touring,’ said Andy Gilson, Vauxhall’s Marketing Director. ‘We’ve already seen a swing to the Insignia from premium buyers who’d never before ticked the Vauxhall box on their wish list, and we expect to see the same buying pattern emerge with all versions of the Insignia VXR.’
The VXR Sports Tourer also benefits from the unique HiPerStrut system, which reduces torque-steer and maintains negative camber during cornering, thereby improving wet and dry grip levels.
Vauxhall engineers haven’t skimped on the brakes either, with a full complement of Brembo callipers front and rear ensuring optimum stopping power even in the most demanding situations.
Inside, the performance paraphernalia continues with front Recaro seats, VXR steering wheel and gearknob, as well as different instrument graphics, VXR sill plates and black headlining.
Despite its sports pedigree, the Insignia VXR Sports Tourer also offers genuine practicality with 540-litres of load space with the rear seats up, increasing to a maximum load volume of 1530-litres with the 40:60 split rear seats down.
Following in the no compromise spirit of the VXR, the Sports Tourer also offers an electronic tailgate as standard, which can be operated off the driver’s key fob, or via a rotary knob on the inside of the driver’s door.
For owners who frequently park in a garage with a low ceiling, the tailgate can be programmed to open at a lower, pre-set height.
Print it: 
In the words of Borat “Very nice”…
Too bad we won’t see this in oz
reminds me of a smaller commodore sports wagon, but nicer, pity we won’t see it down under.
why oh why wont holden hear the pleas of its loyal fans. WE WANT THE INSIGNIA !!!!!!!!!!!.
Attention Holden and HSV: Please bring this car to Australia!
It’s rather strange, but I have been in Europe for 3 months this year (Switzerland, France and Italy) and have only seen one Insignia, in the Eurocar car park at Charles de Gaulle airport.
God that thing looks great. I want one. Never have I actually wanted a Vauxhall until now. I’ll wait for the reviews but already I can see one sitting in my great big garage.
Looks better than the sedan version.
The sedan reminds me of the early 90’s Taurus, do i need to say more???
But this looks much better.
I also see TRD found someone to buy their left over exhausts….
Another example of A: a car we DESPERATELY want in Aus and B: that car companies have no idea of what cars we do, in fact, want!
Come on Holden, wheres the Insignia!?
Its petition time guys.
We need this really badly, and “me wanty”.
btw if Holden actually saw what the consumer wanted, and was to import this (and the sedan variant) where would it be on the Holden line up and estimated price?
Bredon: “..btw if Holden actually saw what the consumer wanted, and was to import this (and the sedan variant) where would it be on the Holden line up and estimated price?”
Well, as far as Holden is concerned, too high up and out of the way for them to bother.
But logically, since this car was meant to be replace the Vectra, the normal Insignia (non-VXR) lineup would sit in the same position as the Vectra before it; i.e. Mondeo competitor.
The VXR on the other hand…HSV would have more leeway to position it as a “premium” product; and probably will be priced accordingly too, considering homologation costs and what have you.
Theres no way Holden could get this even if they wanted it. GM is about to give Opel and Vauxhall away to the highest bidder, denying Holden of any half decent imports presumably forever. From here on its its the Commodore and Cruz. Get used to it fellow bloggers.
This is going to look real good with Lancia badges on it!!!!!!! :-)
But that GAZ badge just won’t suit!!
Looks nice for a Opel, but the large amounts of plastic “chrome” looks a bit cheap, but somehow Audi manages to make it look more luxurious on its A4/S4.
There is apossibility of the Insignia making it to Australia given that GM hold the rights to the design of the cars and everything associated with it such as the platform etc..
Yes its an Opel but mainly because of the badge/name and Fiat are only buying the name along with the Opel factory.
Therefore; just as GM are transferring production of the Astra/Corsa to Daewoo in Korea.. they can/could transfer production of the Insignia to another GM factory – maybe even Holden in Australia.
Who knows the robots that are being installed at Holden to build waht many believe to be the Cruze could infact be to build the Insignia instead. particularly as the Cruze is also being built in Korea
Looks like a great vehicle. Can’t see Holden Australia bringing it here when they can rebadge a cheaper Daewoo product. Shame. People are steadily moving to premium compact and midsize vehicles these days. Holden has missed the chance to position themselves as a premium player in this market.
looks like Cruze..boring…
Wheelnut, if FIAT do get the share of Opel they are after, GM global will have very slimm chance of using Insignia anywhere else but under the Opel Vauxhall banner. IF the Gaz concern get Opel, the GM will have nothing. It will be Name, Goodwill, intelectual and product that will be sold. So I wouldn’t be banking on seeing anything from Europe under the Holden badge in the foreseeable future. Yes the new line is to be flexible, but that just opens it up to doing hatch, sedan, wagon and whatever other variant of Delta11 platform Cruz off shoots they think they can sell.
What a stunning car… But more to the point, isn’t it amazing that they can magically bolt a couple of turbochargers on to the engine.. Something me as a Holden fan has been crying out for since the ever popular VL of the late 80’s. It was rumoured when the Torana Concept Car was put on show tat it would have twin turbo’s, but Holden is good at making promises and getting people intersted, only to settle for a less than perfect engine or gearbox package when the car fianlly goes into production. Please, Please bring this car into Oz!!!!!
No chance of seeing this in Australia – Holden will persist with their Daewoo rubbish instead, no doubt citing high costs and slim profit margin on products like the Insignia. But if Ford can bring in the Mondeo at a reasonable price and still turn a profit, there’s no reason why Holden can’t bring in the Insignia as well…
i believe HSV is trying to bring this model out here themselves, so they have a performanve turbo model to compete with fpv f6, lets hope if they do, they also bring out this wagon version as well!!
OSU811,
I would believe that but it can’t compete directly against the Typhoon.
Infact, there is nothing really for it to compete against here…
It’s more likely to bit against the R/S4…
AWD/Turbo or some form of Forced Induction = direct competition. The Audi Equiv to the F6 Falcon would be something on the A6 Platform.
You may get some people looking for a Hi-Po performance Wagon who look at either a Clubby or Insignia but otherwise, the F6 is a large family size car.
It’s like Holden trying to convince us the Insignia is a commodore and then pitting it against the Typhoon an then claiming a momentous victory…something I’m sure they will try to do, or they will just avoid the 550+ Nm of Torque eyeing them off in the Ford Corner and avoid the Falcon altogether which I thing will be the smartest option long term as they could steal some potential BMW/Audi Sales.. The differentiating factor will be the those who want a more refined Turbocharged European Car Vs a V8 Wagon…This is Australia remember ;)
Frontman – it all depends on the terms and conditions of sale not to mention the specific wording in the various clauses of the contract.. Remember what happened when VW and BMW were after Rolls Royce one bought the Factory the other bought the name.
However ; as I have said before if GM start building or even installing robots in another factory which will build the Insignia – they will be within their rights to continue building it; because whoever buys Opel will take ownership of the Opel name the factory and its tooling not the Holden factory and their tooling.. if that’s what happens
GM have already said future model Astras and Corsa [using the DeltaII platform] will be built in Korea – so they could also start building future model Insignias [using the Epsillion platform] in Australia. Yet the only thing that would change would be the name. Anything is possible
I don’t really like this. The front air dams with the silver surrounding them, look really wrong and out of place. The centre stack looks boring and cheap, ie. the grey colour and stuck on look about the layout. The rear end looks nice, though Audi much?
David; the Torana TT-36 did have twin turbos.. it had a 60 degree Direct Injection Alloytec V6 engine [similar to that used in a number of other GM cars such as Chevys and Caddies] which was capable of producing approximately 280Kw
Since then Holden Engineers have done a bit of development work on the engine and the new DITTO [Direct Injection Twin Turbo Optimised] engine which will feature in the new Commodore is expected to produce over 310kw.
I hope that when it is released that Holden also mate it to the same 6 speed gearbox from the Caddie which uses the same engine
Wonderfull car!!!! BRING IT HERE!!!!! Have it over BMW wagon anyday.