First drive: Vauxhall Insignia Country Tourer 2.0 CDTi 163

Vauxhall has found many admirers of its revised Insignia since the upper-medium challenger was introduced at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September.

Currently the best-selling car in its class, the Insignia has been praised for its fuel economy and performance, factors that have helped sales of the model rise 60% over the past 12 months.

A good time, then, to introduce a stablemate to the Insignia, and look to gain more customers in areas outside the standard car’s core target market.

Enter the Insignia Country Tourer.

Designed to add a soft-roader to the range, the Country Tourer has a higher ground clearance than the standard car, as well as what the Luton-based manufacturer is calling ‘tougher styling’.

Some might think this latter element means plastic body panels aplenty, but on the Country Tourer styling changes have been made subtly from the standard Insignia, with add-ons restricted to the side sills, wheel arches and lower body sections.

The Country Tourer is expected to account for 5% of Insigina sales and will challenge the likes of Audi’s A6 Allroad and Volkswagen’s Passat Alltrack.

The key factor in the battle with those two models will be on price, which Vauxhall says it can better by as much as £5,000 and £2,400 respectively.

Skoda Octavia Scout and Volvo XC70 customers will also be targeted with the new model.

Powering the Country Tourer will be two variants of Vauxhall’s 2.0-litre CDTi engine, with drivers getting the choice of 163hp and 195hp outputs. The lower-powered unit is  available with manual and automatic gearbox options, while the 195hp version is automatic-only.

Vauxhall says the core model (accounting for 90% of all Country Tourer sales) will be the 163hp variant, which offers decent performance.

With 258lb-ft of torque available, this version has a 0-62mph time of 10.9 seconds (11.4 seconds for the auto), respectable considering the car’s 1,843kg kerbweight.

More importantly for fleets, the Country Tourer has an official combined fuel economy figure of 50.4mpg, while CO2 emissions are recorded at 147g/km (44.1mpg and 169g/km for the 163hp automatic).

The addition of 4x4 capability to an Insignia might not seem the most natural fit, but the company believes that its adaptive drive system, together with a refined chassis for time spent away from the main road, will appeal to an untapped area of the market.

The Country Tourer’s all-wheel-drive system incorporates a Haldex clutch and electronic limited-slip differential to improve traction on all surfaces.

The system can vary torque distribution between the front and rear axles, and between individual wheels on the rear.

An impressive array of sensors monitor yaw rate, acceleration, steering angle, wheel speed, throttle pedal position, and engine speed and torque to give the driver the optimal chassis setup.

Of even more interest to fleet customers may be the news that a two-wheel drive version of the car has been confirmed and is set to arrive in early 2014.

Powered by the 163hp engine, it will be available as a manual only, and offer CO2 emissions of just 119g/km.

Vauxhall says from the 900-odd Country Tourer units to be sold in 2014, around 400 are expected to be the two-wheel-drive version.

Moving inside the car, Country Tourer drivers will experience a redesigned centre console layout, with a reduction in the number of buttons and dials in front of them.

This added simplicity will be welcomed by drivers, as will the eight-inch colour touchscreen – complete with touchpad – to control audio, media and navigation systems.

For the car’s assessment, we selected the 163hp automatic, which offers smooth gearchanges in both automatic and semi-automatic modes.

The car did, at times, feel like it was labouring in first and second gear, but soon settled, and was relatively quiet on both town and rural routes.

Steering offers good feedback, and is responsive to inputs at low and higher speeds.

The decent ride and handling set-up offered in the standard Insignia has transferred to the Country Tourer, making for a comfortable driving experience in vastly-improved surroundings.

Putting the car’s ‘off-road’ credentials to the test on some muddy tracks, the Country Tourer impressed, and gave a great deal of confidence that it would be able to traverse much tougher terrain, if required.