Vauxhall‘s quest to bring low emissions without reducing performance has reached its pinnacle to date with the new Insignia Ecoflex.
The 2.0-litre diesel with CO2 emissions of 115g/km is available at 130hp or, as driven here, 160hp, giving it a power and efficiency combination unmatched by rivals.
The upper medium Insignia was revised late last year and the Ecoflex version, complete with stop/start, now has an official fuel consumption figure of 65.7mpg, compared with the non-Ecoflex 2.0 CDTi diesel’s 55.4mpg and 134g/km of CO2.
The bad news is that extra efficiency comes at an additional £925 on the P11D price, although that pays for changes including lowered chassis, eco tyres, improved airflow, tweaked gear ratios and a gearshift indicator.
Nestled comfortably in the 13% tax bracket, at least until the benefit-in-kind changes take effect in April, the Ecoflex version of the SE Satnav model tested here will save drivers in the higher 40% tax bracket £48 per month compared with the non-Ecoflex model. The lower emissions and better economy lead to a cost per mile of 61.4p, a clear 1p per mile better than the cheaper Insignia that doesn’t have the efficiency tweaks.
As is increasingly common with low-emitting cars, the Insignia is entirely normal to drive. It’s impressive that to reach the same ballpark on emissions, rivals have to offer much lower power outputs. The downside is that, on P11D at least, the Insignia looks expensive against any of its core rivals, even coming out almost £2000 above a VW Passat 2.0 TDI 170hp Sport, which offers 56.5p per mile.
Vauxhall has for now placed its upper medium contender near the front of the pack, but the initial P11D price isn’t among the most attractive and may put some off, which would be a shame.
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