Midsized wagon buyers, be glad Opel has decided to bring in the arrestingly handsome Insignia Sports Tourer.
Tested here in top-line Select CDTi diesel guise, it not only provides a viable alternative to the Volkswagen Passat and Ford Mondeo, but also gives more expensive premium Euros like the Volvo V60/V70 and Audi A4 a run for their money.
There’s also something here for disenfranchised Saab owners too.
But we don’t think the most expensive model is the best Insignia available, due to a noisy engine and hard ride.
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Holden ZC Vectra
Released: March 2003
Ended: December 2006
Family Tree: InsigniaUnlike the (for a time Australian-made) JR/JS Vectra, the fully imported ZC was only solf in four-door sedan and five-door hatchback guises, with the majority powered by a 108kW/203Nm 2.2-litre four-cylinder petrol engine.
Also available was a 155kW/300Nm 3.2-litre V6, with both offering either a five-speed manual or five-speed automatic gearbox, driving through the front wheels.
The three grades were CD, CDX and luxury CDXi, reflecting that of the AH Astra from mid-2004.
But high pricing and boxy styling kept buyers well away, just at the Japanese got their act together with the successful launch of the Honda Accord Euro, Mazda 6 and Subaru Mk4 Liberty/Outback.
After living in the shadow of these, as well as the VY/VZ/VE Commodore, the Vectra quietly gave way to the awful, and now-forgotten, Daewoo Leganza-based Holden Epica… but that’s another story altogether.
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