Well, how about this!? – A sizeable and very sporting family saloon that’s £10k cheaper than all those ‘premium’ marques

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Although the Insignia does not feel exactly quite as ‘tight’ as some of those, it has everything available in all other respects from the engineering point-of-view, including a wizard, 9-speed automatic gearbox.

The test car’s 2-litre engine produces 197bhp and 258lb/ft of torque is on tap from 1500 to 4000rpm. This means that, taking off from a standstill, you hit 62mph in just 7.2 seconds with a most satisfactory exhaust growl as the gearbox races through the first three gears.

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Then you’re on the motorway at 70mph and the rev-counter has hardly moved from nothing to a mere 1500 rpm. That’s less than half of the SRi’s claimed top speed.

I was not able to do as many miles as usual on motorways in this car, so the overall indicated fuel consumption of 33.1 mpg would probably have improved to mid- or even high-thirties, had I done my usual routes. (In fact, the WLTP combined figures suggest this at 33.1 to 37.7 mpg.) on shorter trips up to around ten miles, I was getting 24/25 mpg.

The car was always comfortable to ride in and coped with all our bad roads as well as any. The steering was excellent, with just about the right weight and precision. The brakes ventilated disc at the front and solid discs at the rear were well up to the job, including my usual emergency stop practice.

For awkward parking situations, both front and back have parking sensors.
Night-time and winter driving in the VX-Line range are assisted by Vauxhall’s Sight and Light pack that includes Automatic Light Control with Tunnel Detection, plus High beam Assist; I recall being very impressed with this several years ago on the system’s launch in the Astra.

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There’s a touch of luxury for the driver, whose seat has its own massage functions.

The car can take three passengers in the back and there’s a capacious boot that’s very easily extendable with Vauxhall’s one-touch seat-folding system.

Infotainment: well up to expectations here, too: there’s an 8-inch colour screen (OK, some cars have bigger ones), and the sat-Nav includes Europe, while connectivity is well catered for. Audio sound is Bose and there are five front speakers and two rear speakers.

The test car was priced at £34,965 — for a car that has so much practicality with a handsome exterior and interior design, along with plenty of fun for the driver, it is outstanding value.