Vauxhall VXR Insignia may be HSV – First Look
July 8, 2009 by George Skentzos
Holden Special Vehicles hasn’t been shy, previously, in suggesting that this car could come to Australia wearing a HSV badge in place of the Vauxhall/Opel badge.
By Mandy Parry-Jones, Goodwood, England
In fact HSV Managing Director Phil Harding told CarAdvice last year that this was one of the cars he was seriously considering as an addition to the HSV range.
Tucked away in a far corner of the Supercar enclosure at the 2009 Goodwood Festival of Speed was a very important car making its public debut in the UK – the Vauxhall/Opel Insignia VXR.
Perhaps this was a telling sign that Goodwood is much bigger than the public debut of a street car, or maybe it was a telling sign that Vauxhall/Opel is lying low while a decision is made as to ownership of the company.
Other companies such as Audi, Toyota, Mercedes Benz, Mazda and Alfa Romeo had their own large feature stands in the main exhibition area but not GM.
While Goodwood echoed with the sound of screeching tyres and the roar of engines, not too far away in Luton, Vauxhall workers wondered about their future as Canadian company Magna continued talks with GM on a buyout.
Vauxhall’s Insignia VXR is due to become public property just after Goodwood and this was the first time it had been seen in motion as it tackled the Goodwood hillclimb in demonstration runs twice a day.
Recently Vauxhall in the UK said that it already had an order book with 15,000 names listed for the Insignia VXR out of a total of 30,000 due for production in its first year.
Firmly set in its sights are the likes of BMW’s M3 and the Audi S4, a difficult couple to shoot down but the Insignia VXR just may be able to aim that high.
With a sub six second 0-60mph speed provided through the muscle of its 325bhp Insignia engine and forced to the ground through a sophisticated four-wheel-drive chassis, this car should have a good go at taking the fight to the loftier BMW M3 and Audi S4 even if only in terms of performance and not chic badging.
Vauxhall’s 2.8 litre V6 Turbo ECOTEC spits out its power through the use of a micro-alloy forged steel crank, a 60-degree cylinder angle, a single, twin-scroll turbocharger and variable value timing – it is a sophisticated powerplant.
It can easily top 240km/h and while we were not able to drive the vehicle it nevertheless was impressive at Goodwood, not such a given when surrounded by such lofty company.
As it is based on the 2009 European Car of the Year, the Insignia VXR has a very good working platform on which the company has mounted its 4X4 technology and refined it with extensive testing at Nurburgring in Germany.
Highlights of this package are a ‘HiPerStrut’ – GM talk for high performance struts – front suspension system with an adaptive 4X4 system that incorporates an electronic Limited Slip Differential (eLSD) and a 10 millimetre reduction in ride height over the Insignia SRi.
The HiPerStrut system is unique to the VXR and serves to reduce torque-steer and maintain negative camber during cornering, thus improving ultimate grip levels in wet or dry conditions.
Standard 19-inch alloy wheels, 20-inch lightweight forged alloys with bespoke tyres are also available; do little to hide the impressive Brembo brakes with colour-keyed callipers and vented/cross-drilled discs.
Looking over the car at Goodwood, where it was shoehorned under a canopy was difficult, made all the more so as it was surrounded by some of the most outstanding supercar designs on the planet.
But when separated away from the Bugattis, the McLarens, and the Pagani Zondas sharing the paddock, you can see a design that shows finesse, there is hint of tearaway lurking under the guise of a softly shaped sedan.
Its plain bonnet and main grille are underscored by a deep bumper with twin mesh grilles and scoops flanking each side. From the back the rear spoiler and dual chrome exhausts signal its fiery intentions.
There is a touch of Alfa Romeo styling to the rear but the front shows definite and clear GM roots that said, the two meet beautifully creating a low purposeful sports design that is individual enough to stand out but not so quirky that it disenfranchises the masses.
Inside the stylishly simple, spaceship inspired Recaro front seats are figure hugging and sit you perfectly behind the two-tone steering wheel.
Just a personal observation but the centre console seemed a little too cluttered however, the rest of the interior had nice touches but appeared quite dark, lifted only by the touches of silver. It was a hot day and it was hot inside.
Vauxhall/Opel is planning to cover all angles with the Insignia VXR by introducing hatch, sedan and sports tourer (read station wagon) versions.
The sports tourer version is the fastest station wagon that Vauxhall has ever put its name to and is the first to incorporate Adaptive 4X4 and an eLSD.
Well Mr Harding just when will these start wearing the HSV badge down under?
All VXRs are available with a colour palette comprising Arden Blue, Power Red, Carbon Flash Black, Silver Lake, Olympic White and Technical Grey.
Print it: 
Do want.
sigh never coming here
Awesome looking in black
AWD + turbo V6 = Subaru needs to step up. turbo 3.8 H6 :)
put that thing away!!….wheelnut
very nice car, what can we do is only look and dream…
looks alright, back looks a bit weird. but still good looking
Dear Holden,
As a true blue, dinky-di Aussie performance car fan, I don’t want to see this “Nurburger-ring honed”, hi-po AWD Euro trash down here. That’d be taking the Ford way out. What I really, really, really want is an ultimate edition all-ozzie Epica with $3000 worth of sports extras like 17″ wheels, spoiler and ipod connectivity. Ya know. Something that really screams “Holden”.
Your’s truely,
Daew–Err.. True Blue Holden Fan.
Holden concept is “get rid of german and bring all Korean”…
Holden you are almost there , only comemdore…
Interior looks great, wagon shape looks fantastic, and great specs, great car overall hopefully hsv will bring it here!!
OSU811
H.S.V or Holden wont be “bring it here” because Opel wont be apart of G.M anymore.
The Insignia wagon looks a little like the Honda Accord (Euro) Wagon at the back. If it comes here I bet may buyers will rip off the Holden badges and replace them with Open ones, with the poms putting on Vauxhall badges.
………………..NO your right Holden, the daewoo products are much better.
hahahahahahaha
Sweet…
(IMHO…)Back of sedan looks a little like a Mazda 6, and back of wagon looks a little like Audi. (Both good)
I haven’t made my mind up about the vertical air intake ports on the front though.
I’ve been thinking. There wouldnt be many people willing to pay the premium these cars (Opel’s) demand over the Daewoo’s as they would all say that “im not paying that much for a Holden”. Maybe enthusiats from these sort of sites would be intersted, but then again that wouldnt be a viable number of sales. Still awesome looking car. Might just import one if the price is rigth.
Whats with the bluey tint on the front window. I know that some cars have glazing to stop sun glare, but that looks odd??
I hope the new owners of Opel will bring the brand here. I don’t see much hope of the Insignia being badged as a Holden. The price would probably be similar to many other European offerings like the Citroen C5 and Renault Laguna. So for Holden that would be in Commodore territory, in terms of pricing and they wouldn’t do that after the failed attempt with the last Vectra.
Shame, its such a niiice car…
The first Vauxhall that I’ve actually wanted. Now, do I need a mid-sized estate? I already have two, do I need another? I sure hope so! It just looks wonderful and I bet it’s impressive to drive as well.
N.I.C.E
WOW! that is awesome! Love it :D
Kirium what are you on about. The Epica is about as aussie as a hyundai gets, dont be fooled by the holden badge its pretty much just a daweeo with tuned suspension.
Nice cars but Holden buyers wouldn’t pay the ask so no point really.BMW AUDI ETC buyers wouldn’t buy them because they are Holdens.
Geez Astra/Vectra sold at a premium price in their class and were under sold year in and out although very good cars.
Euro cost needs a premium badge to go with it otherwise majority of punters won’t pay the extra and hence Korean sourced small cars from GM factory in Korea.
Just who in the UK is going to buy this?
No one here is buying new cars, let alone a thirsty 2.8 petrol engine. With the high cost of fuel here (double that of AU prices) and high yearly road tax.
Loverely car though.
Aleks, read it again. Kirium was being sarcastic, it was a joke and quite a funny one too. He was joking that rather than bring something properly good here, like Ford has done, they bring something that really characterises Holden like an Epica with $3000 worth of sport options that Holden probably assume will bring it into line with the Insignia.
I think its quite ironic that the engine makes a sound equal to the way the car looks… that is:
pppphhhhwwwwooooaaaarrrrr…. pppphhhhwwwwooooaaaarrrr….
There is still a possibility of the Insignia [partiuclarly the VXR AWD version] making it to Australia because HSV are looking at adding to their line up; some at HSV admit that they need a 6 sylinder sedan to try and take on the F6.
Given that the current V6 in the Commodore isn’t that good when turbo or supercharged as proven with the CV6 Monaro; The VX-R Insignia would be an ideal car to do that as its Direct Injection Twin Turbo Optimised [DITTO] engine is more balanced and more refined
The other option is for it to come here as a full on Opel and either have dedicated showrooms or share space at selected Holden Dealerships – because there is nothing like this in the Holden line up therefore it’s not going to take sales away from the Commodore or any other model
The normal practice is to show the cars price in the said country AND also in AUS $
This way as the exchange rate changes the AUS value will of course change up/down but its released country price [GBP/Euro] stays the same.
Its normal to show BOTH prices, please do it C/A
Cheers
F-0
Almost Audi like?
DO WANT!
Looks to be to good of a car to be a Holden, they don`t deserve it.
Alex my bad lol Its quite funny now that I read it.
Wheelnut you have a point. Once Opel is purchased then there is nothing to say a startup company like Opel-Direct couldn’t happen. I wouldn’t matter then if it did compete with Holden because it would be treated as a separate company.
What a line up, Corsa, Astra, Insignia, Now that would be interesting….
According to recent reports the most likely outcome will be that GM sells Opel toe the consortium between Canadian based automotive components manufacturer Magna and the Russian bank – mainly because GM would rather retain a 20% share in the company than to lose it all together
If this happens then GM and its subsidiaries like Chev and Holden/HSV will still have access to Opel products including the Corsa and Insignia
For $63K I would get an Evo X which has better resale value, better looking, and I assume it drives better too.
You’re all forgetting that HSV is a separate company to Holden. With a relatively senior contact at Holden I know that HSV are doing a business case for the Insignia VXR. If that stacks up then it’s irrelevant that Opel is no longer in the GM family, they would still bring the VXR here. I” not sure how would it stack up though…at $65k there’s a lot of competition, and sales would be pretty low.
Look up ^^ There’s already an Alex here.
HSV wont bring this car here because Opel will not be owned by GM anymore. HSV stands for HOLDEN Special Vehicles doesnt it? So only Commodes can be used.
Wheelnut you not serious are you? The supercharged V6 that was in the Monaro CV6 was the same that was in all the other commodore’s of the time. It was the old 3.8litre Buick ECOTEC engine.
The V6 that is in the Insignia is a version of the relatively new GM HFV6 as featured in many GM cars at the moment. The HFV6 comes in 3 varieties 2.8, 3.2 and 3.6 the latter which we have in the Commodore. All of which are built in Australia.
So with the numbers this VXR has and what Saab and Alfa Romeo have done with the HFV6 I would say it has quite a bit of potential.
Not to mention the version Cadillac have in the US which is DI.
Just though that people might be interested in this – it’s the conclusion of a review on Autocar.co.uk:
Should I buy one?
Yes. Against other cars of its size, equipment and capability, the Insignia VXR is a spectacular bargain. Entry price for a saloon or hatchback is a paltry £30,995, or £32,320 for an estate.
The car is so well equipped that it is only possible to add three options: 20-inch wheels at £1100, a leather pack at £1300 and on-board navigation for £815.
The lack of a big name is a declining problem: the sheer presence of this go-faster Insignia, together the spreading realisation that VXR cars do what is claimed for them, helps a lot.
The car’s bulk is reduced in the driver’s mind by its poise and controllability. But the true no-brainer is this VXR’s value for money.
A car with this ability and equipment would cost between £50,000 and £60,000 in a BMW/Merc/Audi line-up. Save £25k, and concede absolutely nothing.
Could be a possible worth upgrade over my Mazda MPS6.
I think they will need to price this around the luxury car limit ($57k) or will be going up against many buyers who value prestige per dollar more than performence per dollar.
(ha ha ha Spam word Toast :-))
Uncle Tom doesn’t have the coin to bring in a stand alone model for HSV, the set up costs for HSV and the Dealerships would far outweigh the returns from the sales numbers of these cars. As a dealership you would be looking at the requirements of special tools and computers for the probable sale of (being generous) 10 cars a month… Not the numbers for a good business case unless they are going to have HUGE margins which would then price them out of the ball park.
Nice car, as long as Vauxhall / Opel has finally learnt how to make them handle they should go quite well but I doubt they will be here.
“A car with this ability and equipment would cost between £50,000 and £60,000 in a BMW/Merc/Audi line-up. Save £25k, and concede absolutely nothing.”
Hmm… BMW M3 is sub five seconds. My wife’s 335i with M sport package is £38K in the UK, and that is 0-60mph in 5.3 seconds with DCT. The article states the Insignia is “sub six second”. Sorry, I’d take the 335i Coupe or Sedan.
I have recently decided too upgrade my current car too either a LS3 Senator or the upcoming F6E (when it is built) sometime in the next year. However now I have seen pictures of the VXR in black I am definitely going too hold off and see if this car ever makes it too Oz, so I can compare one too the other cars. It looks fabulous in those pics. I stand too lose alot of money on any purchase of a senator or F6E anyway, so before signing away a stack of money again (I lost alot on my current car), I would like too find out if the VXR is any good in handling and performance as the looks and price are in my ballpark!
I forgot. One other car in the mix is definitely the 135i. Looks a bit odd, but what a little rocket. I would be mad too ignore it.
John, just a little heads up, with the current climate anything you buy from here on in you will lose a substantial amount of money. The ONLY vehicle out there that has anything close to resale is an F250 4×4 7.3l dual cab! Everything else is just pure depreciation so buy with the heart, the head will only do you wrong.
Frontman is right a friend of mine paid approx $90K for her Ford F-250 Dual Cab Diesel which she had for about 4-5 years and when she upgraded to a Chevy Silverado Dual Cab [which in terms of size; makes the F-250 look like a normal ute] she got $70k for it as a trade in.
Limited Slip – you do realise that the HSV Astra VX-R 3 Door Coupe is built by Opel and not Holden don’t you? I mean it still has the Opel logo on the steering wheel the speedometer and on various parts of the engine
Thanks Mick; you just re-iterated what I said.. I said that the Buick based engine in the VT commodores wasn’t really suited to enhancement such as supercharging.. it wasn’t really balanced well enough Whereas the new V6 in the Insignia is as its much more refined
Particularly the DITTO version which is expected to be featured in the upcoming Commodore so Holden will finally have something which will be a closer rival to the XR6 not to mention a new car to possibly challenge the F6
Remember the TT-36 Torana Concept had a DITTO V6 Engine which produced close to 300kw
Frontman a HSV dealer would sell 10 HSV’s per month (total). If they sold 5 Insignia’s per month they’re be over the moon!
Hope hsv does bring this over, but tart up the engine abit, more boost, maybe stroke it to 3.0ltrs? Seems hsv wanna levlel the playing field a lil bit with fpvs F6? Im not saying it will be a hardcore as the F6, but itl be interesting to see what it goes like. Could this be the new gen torana??
Hope ford AUS do something like this with the new focus that they will be building here as of next year ithink it is. Would be nice to see, make more local jobs to, which is always a good thing =] Just no V6, XR6 Turbo baby lol, but doubt itd fit =[
If HSV do get their hand son this, Australia will rejoice, and we may finally see more people flock to the Red Lion (even though this really isnt a lion). But then again this might steal sales away from the other HSV products, as more people look to downsize.