Vauxhall Insignia Grand Sport Review and Prices

Getting yourself comfortable in the driver’s seat shouldn’t be a problem because every Vauxhall Insignia Grand Sport comes with a height adjustable driver’s seat and a steering wheel that moves for height and reach. The seats have even been approved by an independent committee of German back experts, so you shouldn’t have anything to complain about on long journeys. You get an extendable seat base too, for a little extra upper-leg support.

That said, shorter front passengers will be forced to stare blankly at the swooping dashboard, because the front passenger seat isn’t height adjustable as standard. Tech Line Nav and Elite Nav models do add height adjustment for the passenger seat and give your driver’s seat four-way lumbar adjustment, for a little extra support on long trips.

Rear passenger space suffers from the Vauxhall Insignia Grand Sport’s sloping roofline, which means tall teenagers might find their heads scuffing on the roof – they’ll be better off in the higher-roofed Sports Tourer estate. It’s also a shame that basic models do without a rear armrest. You can’t complain about much else, though, because leg and knee room are very generous indeed, plus Tech Line Nav and Elite Nav models have heated outer rear seats.

With three in the back, your middle passenger will feel a little perched but long journeys shouldn’t be too much of a pain in the back because there’s plenty of space for everyone’s feet in the Vauxhall’s generous footwells.

Fitting a child seat is easy because you get plenty of space to manoeuvre behind the front seat and the Isofix points are clearly marked and easy to line the seat base up with. They come with handy flip-down covers instead of the annoying removable caps you’ll find in many alternatives, too.

There’s also plenty of interior storage. The front door bins are big enough to hold two medium and one large bottle each and the cubby under the front-centre armrest is big enough to take a bottle of water – it’s just one of three cubbies on the centre console alone. The glovebox isn’t as big as you might expect, though, because some of its space is taken up by the fusebox.

You also get three USB charging points and you can have a wireless phone-charging slot fitted in the front for a little extra. Unfortunately, the slot’s too small to hold most modern smartphones, especially if you have a protective case fitted.

There’s a folding armrest fitted between the outer back seats, but the two built-in cupholders are placed in exactly the spot you’d comfortable rest your elbow which is pretty annoying. The rear door bins aren’t quite as large as those in the front, but there’s still space for a 500ml bottle.

The Vauxhall Insignia Grand Sport’s 490-litre boot is between 10% and 27% smaller than you’ll find in the Ford Mondeo, Volkswagen Passat and mammoth Skoda Superb. The large opening left by the Vauxhall’s hatchback boot lid means it is easier to load than a saloon with a small boot opening, such as the Passat, but the Insignia’s high load lip and the uneven boot shape count against it. There’s still space to carry one large and one small suitcase, a few soft bags and a set of golf clubs.

There’s space under the parcel shelf for a baby buggy to sit on its side, and a large cardboard box will fit if you remove the huge load cover. Unfortunately, there’s nowhere to store it under the boot floor, but you do get a few hooks to hold your shopping bags nice and securely.

If you need extra space, the back seats fold 60:40 to offer up a maximum capacity of 1,450 litres – a substantial 310 litres less than a Skoda Superb but still enough space to carry a bike with both wheels attached.More practical seats that split 40:20:40 are an option but as they come as part of a pricey optional pack – which does include electrically adjustable Nappa leather seats.

The central seat folds down using a fabric tether, but you can fold all the seats down together automatically using two neat switches by the boot opening. This is usually the preserve of much more expensive saloons and means you needn’t lean forward to flip the seats down – perfect if the rear bumper’s a bit mucky.