Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer

Good looking and big-booted – the Insignia Tourer continues the fashion for estates more desirable than their saloon counterparts.

• Comfort

  Very nice. There's an element of ride improvement that happens on the Tourer not present in the saloon - and there's acres of space. Noise levels are kept well down and the car doesn't ride badly even on the optional (£475) 19-inch wheels - a sign of decently sorted suspension. 

  

• Performance

  The usual motors crop up in the Tourer: 2.0-litre diesel, 1.8 and 2.0-litre petrols, even a V6. But the one to watch out for is the perky little 1.6-litre turbo petrol that sits between the 1.8 and 2.0-litres. A bit confusing, yes, but the smaller capacity forced induction car is good for 62mph from rest in 8.7 seconds, 137mph top end and 178bhp. Better still, the 170lb ft of torque is available at useful levels.

  

• Cool

  Mid-sized Vauxhalls aren't cool. But the Insignia Sports Tourer cuts a fine dash - it might not be incredibly arresting, but it is sober and neat and actually looks better proportioned than the saloon. 

  

• Quality

  The old Vectra cliches are almost banished, but reliability has yet to be really tested so all that we can reliably tell you is that someone has tried very hard to make the Insignia feel sorted. Better cabin design, better quality materials (at least on the things you touch), better all-round effort. Can still feel a little middle-market if you have the fake-looking wood.  

  

• Handling

  The optional 19s cure some of the back-end vagueness of the standard 17s and they look much better, so spend the extra £500 if you can. Otherwise the Tourer is much as the Insignia saloon - tidy, handy, but won't be setting fire to your socks with the smaller-engined variants. Not quite as good as Ford's Mondeo, but not by much. 

  

• Practicality

  The boot on the Tourer is huge - 540 litres with the seats up. That's as big as the boxy-boxness of the old Vectra estate and only a smidge smaller than a Ford Mondeo. The aperture is tapered towards the roof, but for general use you'll need a van to better it with the seats down. 

  

• Running costs

  Score one for Vauxhall; the Tourer is very competitively priced, cheap to insure and easy to service. The 1.6-litre turbo gets 35.8mpg and better C02 than either smaller four-pot petrol engines.