Opel Insignia
Encyclopedia
The Opel Insignia is a large family car
Large family car
A large family car, also known as a D-segment car, is a European automobile classification which is larger than a small family car and smaller than an executive car. Multi-purpose vehicles based on a large family car design are often called large MPVs, while similarly-priced models from luxury car...

 engineered and produced by the German automaker Opel
Opel
Adam Opel AG, generally shortened to Opel, is a German automobile company founded by Adam Opel in 1862. Opel has been building automobiles since 1899, and became an Aktiengesellschaft in 1929...

. Production of the Insignia began in 2008 as a replacement for the Opel Vectra
Opel Vectra
The Opel Vectra is a large family car that was engineered and produced by Opel. In the United Kingdom, the car was sold under the Vauxhall marque as the Vauxhall Cavalier and later as the Vauxhall Vectra, from 1995 onwards...

. Opel launched the vehicle at the 2008 British International Motor Show
British International Motor Show
The British International Motor Show is an automobile show held biennially in the United Kingdom. It is recognised as an international show by the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles. The 2008 was the last event with no news of a return of the British International Motor Show...

 in London as the Vauxhall
Vauxhall Motors
Vauxhall Motors is a British automotive company owned by General Motors and headquartered in Luton. It was founded in 1857 as a pump and marine engine manufacturer, began manufacturing cars in 1903 and was acquired by GM in 1925. It has been the second-largest selling car brand in the UK for...

 Insignia
, reflecting the Vauxhall brand that is unique to the United Kingdom. The vehicle is marketed as the Opel Insignia throughout continental Europe
Continental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....

 and Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. The vehicle is known as the Buick Regal
Buick Regal
The Buick Regal is a mid-size car introduced by General Motors for the 1973 model year. North American production ended in 2004 and began again in 2011. For the 2011 model year, Buick re-introduced the Regal to the North American market, positioned as an upscale sport sedan...

in China and North America. In Chile, the vehicle will be marketed as the Chevrolet Vectra. The Insignia is the first production car to feature a dual-function frontal camera with traffic sign recognition
Traffic sign recognition
Traffic sign recognition is a technology by which a vehicle is able to recognise the traffic signs put on the road e.g. "speed limit" or "children" or "turn ahead". This is part of the features collectively called ADAS. The idea is to improve road safety by assisting the driver. It may happen that...

. The Insignia was voted 2009 European Car of the Year
European Car of the Year
The European Car of the Year award was established in 1964 by a collective of automobile magazines from different countries in Europe. The current organisers of the award are Auto , Autocar , Autopista , Autovisie , L'Automobile Magazine , Stern and Vi Bilägare .The voting jury consists of motoring...


Design

The Insignia offers 30 millimetres (1.2 in) more knee room than the Vectra. Both body variants have identical 4830 millimetres (190.2 in) length and share the same wheelbase
Wheelbase
In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels.- Road :In automobiles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the center of the front wheel and the center of the rear wheel...

 of 2737 millimetres (107.8 in).

OPC

In early 2009, Opel revealed the Insignia OPC, a high-performance variant of the Insignia. Like the preceding Vectra OPC
Opel Vectra
The Opel Vectra is a large family car that was engineered and produced by Opel. In the United Kingdom, the car was sold under the Vauxhall marque as the Vauxhall Cavalier and later as the Vauxhall Vectra, from 1995 onwards...

, it is powered by a 2.8 litre turbocharged V6. The updated engine makes 239 kW and 435 newton metres (320.8 ft·lbf). Of this 435, 400 newton metres (295 ft·lbf) is available from 2,000 rpm. It will be paired with a six-speed manual transmission / six-speed automatic transmission and Saab's (Haldex) active all-wheel drive system. Insignia OPC have upgraded version of McPherson front suspension called HiPerStrut which reduce torque steer. Also standard is an electronic limited slip differential
Limited slip differential
A limited slip differential is a type of differential gear arrangement that allows for some difference in angular velocity of the output shafts, but imposes a mechanical bound on the disparity...

 for the rear wheels and Opel's FlexRide adaptive suspension, which has three settings the driver may choose (OPC, Sport and Normal). An OPC version of the Insignia Sports Tourer wagon has also been unveiled and is currently on sale.

Engines

From launch, the Insignia was offered with 4 petrol engines - a 1.6litre, 1.8 litre, 2.0 Turbo and a 2.8 litre V6 with 256 hp - and 3 diesel engines (all derived from the Fiat/Opel JTD engine
JTD engine
JTD , an initialism for uniJet Turbo Diesel, is Fiat Group's term for its current common rail turbodiesel engine range. The MultiJet name is used in the second generation JTD common rail units. Most of the Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Lancia range has JTD engines...

) - all 2.0 litres with 109 hp, 128 hp and 158 hp. In 2009, a 1.6 litre Turbo petrol, the ecoFLEX diesel and the OPC were introduced.

From September 2010, the 2.0 CDTi Diesel was available with Adaptive 4x4 (4-wheel drive). A '2.0 BiTurbo' CDTI, with 190 hp, in development with Saab, was expected to begin production in 2010, but due to the sale of Saab, production was delayed, and is now expected to begin production early 2012, in 2WD and 4WD.

Six-speed manual
Manual transmission
A manual transmission, also known as a manual gearbox or standard transmission is a type of transmission used in motor vehicle applications...

 or automatic
Automatic transmission
An automatic transmission is one type of motor vehicle transmission that can automatically change gear ratios as the vehicle moves, freeing the driver from having to shift gears manually...

 transmissions are fitted throughout the range, although five-speed automatics are used on the 1.6 and 1.8 litre petrol engines as well as the base diesel.

Since on sale, all diesels have improved their emissions. In 2011, some engines gained Start/Stop
Start-stop system
In automobiles, a start-stop system or stop-start system automatically shuts down and restarts the internal combustion engine to reduce the amount of time the engine spends idling, thereby improving fuel economy and reducing emissions...

, with more engines expected to gain the technology in the future. Also, a 1.4 Turbo, with S/S as standard, went on sale. In August 2011 new engine came in sales: 1.4 Turbo, which replaces 1.8, and 2.0 Turbo with 250 PS and 400 Nm only with 4x4 which replace 2.0 Turbo with 220 PS. Except new engines, Insignia get for other engines Start/Stop system as standard.
Petrol engine
Model Engine Displacement Power Torque Note
1.4T S/S I4
Straight-4
The inline-four engine or straight-four engine is an internal combustion engine with all four cylinders mounted in a straight line, or plane along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the pistons driving a common crankshaft....

1,364 cc 103 kW @4,900-6000 rpm 200 newton metres (147.5 ft·lbf) @1850-4,900 rpm (2011-)
1.6
GM Family 1 engine
The Family 1 is a straight-4 piston engine that was developed by GM Powertrain, a subsidiary of Opel to replace low-displacement versions of GM Family II engine for use on mid-range cars from Opel.-C16XE:...

I4
Straight-4
The inline-four engine or straight-four engine is an internal combustion engine with all four cylinders mounted in a straight line, or plane along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the pistons driving a common crankshaft....

1,598 cc 85 kW @6,000 rpm 155 newton metres (114.3 ft·lbf) @4,000 rpm (2008-)
1.6T I4 1,598 cc 132 kW @5,500 rpm 230 newton metres (169.6 ft·lbf) @2,200-5500 rpm (2009-)
1.8 VVT
Variable valve timing
In internal combustion engines, variable valve timing , also known as Variable valve actuation , is a generalized term used to describe any mechanism or method that can alter the shape or timing of a valve lift event within an internal combustion engine...

I4 1,796 cc 103 kW @6,300 rpm 175 newton metres (129.1 ft·lbf) @3,800 rpm (2008-2011)
2.0T I4 1,998 cc 162 kW @5,300 rpm 350 newton metres (258.1 ft·lbf) @2,000-4000 rpm (2008-)
2.0T  4x4 I4 1,998 cc 162 kW @5,300 rpm 350 newton metres (258.1 ft·lbf) @2,000-4000 rpm (2008-2011)
2.0T  4x4 I4 1,998 cc 184 kW @5,300 rpm 400 newton metres (295 ft·lbf) @2,400-3600 rpm (2011-)
2.8T 4x4 V6 2,792 cc 191 kW @5,500 rpm 350 newton metres (258.1 ft·lbf) @1,900-4500 rpm (2008-)
2.8T 4x4 V6 2,792 cc 239 kW @5,500 rpm 435 newton metres (320.8 ft·lbf) @5,500 rpm OPC (2009-)
Diesel engine
Model Engine Displacement Power Torque Note
2.0 CDTI I4
Straight-4
The inline-four engine or straight-four engine is an internal combustion engine with all four cylinders mounted in a straight line, or plane along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the pistons driving a common crankshaft....

1,956 cc 81 kW @4,000 rpm 260 newton metres (191.8 ft·lbf) @1,750-2500 rpm N/A as a Vauxhall
2.0 CDTI I4 1,956 cc 96 kW @4,000 rpm 300 newton metres (221.3 ft·lbf) @1,750-2500 rpm
2.0 CDTI ecoFLEX I4 1,956 cc 96 kW @4,000 rpm 300 newton metres (221.3 ft·lbf) @1,750-2500 rpm
2.0 CDTI I4 1,956 cc 118 kW @4,000 rpm 350 newton metres (258.1 ft·lbf) @1,750-2500 rpm
2.0 CDTI ecoFLEX I4 1,956 cc 118 kW @4,000 rpm 350 newton metres (258.1 ft·lbf) @1,750-2500 rpm
2.0 CDTI 4x4 I4 1,956 cc 118 kW 350 newton metres (258.1 ft·lbf) @1,750-2500 rpm (2010-)

Vauxhall Insignia

Vauxhall Insignia is the United Kingdom-market version of the car; it is the first Vauxhall car to receive their new logo design, dispensing with the characteristic "V" grille that has adorned Vauxhall models since 1994. Vauxhall versions are produced in Exclusiv, S, SE, SRi, Elite and VXR specification levels.

It has been a popular choice with British buyers, being the nation's ninth best selling car in 2009 - its first full year on sale, outselling its direct competitor the Ford Mondeo
Ford Mondeo
The Mondeo was launched on 8 January 1993, and sales began on 22 March 1993. Available as a four-door saloon, a five-door hatchback, and a five-door estate, all models for the European market were produced at Ford's plant in the Belgian city of Genk...

 but just falling short of the sales achieved by the more upmarket BMW 3 Series
BMW 3 Series
The BMW 3 Series is a compact executive car manufactured by the German automaker BMW since May 1975. Successor to the BMW New Class, it has been produced in five different generations and in no less than five different body styles. It is BMW's best-selling model, accounting for around 30% of the...

.

Motorsport

The Thorney Motorsport team will run two Vauxhall Insignias in the 2012 British Touring Car Championship
2012 British Touring Car Championship season
The 2012 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship is a multi-event motor racing championship for sedan based touring car racing cars held across England and Scotland...

.

Awards

The Insignia has received 24 awards, including Best Executive Car in the UK and Slovenia, Best Family Car in Ireland twice and best car for fleet customers in the UK, Austria, Denmark and Portugal.
  • The Insignia was voted 2009 European Car of the Year
    European Car of the Year
    The European Car of the Year award was established in 1964 by a collective of automobile magazines from different countries in Europe. The current organisers of the award are Auto , Autocar , Autopista , Autovisie , L'Automobile Magazine , Stern and Vi Bilägare .The voting jury consists of motoring...

    .
  • The Insignia scored a 5-star rating in EuroNCAP
    EuroNCAP
    The European New Car Assessment Programme is a European car safety performance assessment programme based in Brussels and founded in 1997 by the Transport Research Laboratory for the UK Department for Transport and backed by several European governments.-History and activities:Euro NCAP is a...

    .

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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