Vauxhall’s VXR range has swelled with the addition of a heated-up Insignia. It’s set to directly replace the Vectra VXR – a very likeable sports saloon – and comes with a potent 2.8-litre V6 engine.
Thanks to a twin-scroll turbocharger it produces 321bhp and is good for 0-60mph in 5.8sec, with a limited 155mph top speed. It’s a 45bhp improvement over its Vectra predecessor, although that car enjoyed an unlimited top speed of 161mph. Without electronic interference the Insignia would no doubt top that.
Subscribe to evo magazine
Rather than being a warmed over repmobile, the VXR gets a bespoke four-wheel-drive chassis, which like most performance cars these days, comes ‘Nurburgring-proven’. It rides 10mm lower than an Insignia SRi and boasts an electronic limited-slip diff and High Performance Strut (or ‘HiPerStrut’) front suspension. The latter is unique to the car and has two purposes – cutting torque steer, and maintaining negative camber during cornering to boost grip levels.
There’s also revised dampers as well as Brembo brakes with vented and cross-drilled discs. They come wrapped in 19in alloys, with 20in lightweight forged wheels on the options list. Styling tweaks are broadly quite subtle, with new bumpers, twin mesh grilles and a rear spoiler joined by the usual VXR colour choices.
However, the aim was not to make the Insignia a ballsy, OTT VXR in the vein of its VXR8 big brother. ‘The Insignia VXR is not just about absolute power, but a combination of usable performance and chassis sophistication which is the match of premium rivals, such as Audi’s new S4,’ says Andy Gilson, Vauxhall’s Marketing Director.
There’ll be a five-door hatch and estate and a four-door saloon, with prices set to kick off around £27K – a rise of ten per cent over the outgoing Vectra VXR, but £8K less than its S4 rival. You can read about evo's long term Vauxhall Vextra VXR here.
