Vauxhall is prepping a nipped, tucked and tweaked Insignia for release next year, complete with chassis upgrades and new engines. The car seen testing in our spy shots confirms there are detail changes to the lights front and rear, and a tweaked grille.
We’re sure the heavy-handed body surfacing applied to the rear door is not part of the facelift, though it does do a passable impression of a Mazda 5‘s, erm, contoured flanks.
The 2013 Vauxhall Insignia: tweaks above and below the surface
Most of the alterations you’ll see on the new car will be familiar from the facelifted Astra hatchback we saw earlier this year. However, changes won’t just be limited to a dash more chrome around the grille and different headlights.
In the new car, all engines will see a drop in consumption and CO2 output, and there are new motors waiting to enter the fray, including the 1.6-litre petrol four-cylinder that headlines the new Cascada soft-top line-up. Likely to be seen in 150bhp, 170bhp and 200bhp states of tune, it’ll form the backbone of the petrol Insignia range, beneath the flagship 170mph VXR Supersport variant.
That all arrives despite Vauxhall applying a raft of upgrades to the Insignia only last year, in the shape of efficiency-improving electric power steering, revised springs and damper rates, and extra refinement measures for the diesels.
When, and how much?
Prices aren’t expected to change from their current £20k-35k range, despite the upgrades. We expect to see the new Insignia launch late in 2013, in time to fight the all-new Ford Mondeo, before Vauxhall unveils its own fresh contender sometime in 2016.