We’ll see the new Vauxhall Insignia VXR for real later this week – but here’s a little sneak preview to give you an idea of what slotting a turbocharged 320bhp V6 into the workaday Insignia does for performance.
Our man in the bushes at the Nurburgring caught this metallic blue Opel Insignia OPC prototype testing prior to launch this summer. It’s the saloon version, although you can order your nutter-spec VXR in any of the Insignia’s three bodystyles. See it in action around the Nordschleife in our scoop video below.
Sending 320bhp through the front axle wasn’t an option open to anyone without shares in Pirelli, so the GM family four-wheel drive system is employed to tame the thrust. Expect the 0-60mph sprint to take comfortably less than 6.0sec.
Will the Insignia VXR be a hit? Depends who you ask. On the evidence of our spy video, it’ll be a hoot as a sort-of quasi BMW M3 on the cheap. But realists have a point that it’s hardly a car tuned to our times – in some ways it’s a poignant reminder where financially stricken GM went wrong with its product strategy.