A hot version of the Vauxhall Insignia Grand sport might reach UK showrooms with as much as 500bhp from a boosted petrol V6, thanks to Australian maker Holden’s in-house HSV tuning arm. That would be a big uplift in power from the old Vauxhall Insignia VXR.
Sources inside GM suggest Holden special automobiles has been playing around with the new Insignia, extracting a lot more than 500bhp from a fettled V6 – potentially with the addition of a supercharger. However, as is the existing pattern for required induction as well as minimized fuel consumption, turbocharging may make a lot more sense for the production vehicle.
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While the new Insignia Grand sport is currently only offered with turbocharged four-cylinder engines, the range-topper will allegedly utilize a six-cylinder motor. The Australian market has a penchant for high-capacity petrol engines – as proven by the powerful VXR8 as well as Maloo pick-up. With the outgoing Vauxhall Insignia VXR boasting 321bhp from a turbo V6, brand bosses see area above that car, aiming the yet-to-be-named hot saloon squarely at the BMW M3 as well as Mercedes-AMG C 63 S.
Unlike its rivals, however, Vauxhall’s flagship will utilize an uprated version of the basic Grand Sport’s Twinster all-wheel-drive setup. This enables for the application of an ingenious torque vectoring system that utilizes the throttle rather than the brakes for sharper turn-in as well as less understeer. It’s likely that any type of quick Insignia will be mated the exact same eight-speed automatic gearbox as the present flagship 257bhp 2.0-litre Turbo 4×4.
Elsewhere, because of PSA Peugeot Citroen’s recent buyout of the Vauxhall brand, plans for a high-power Astra hot hatch have been put on hold. in spite of seeing success from the now defunct previous-generation Astra VXR, administration has made a decision to focus on mainstream engine as well as trim combinations before changing to a PSA-produced platform by 2025. The prospect of future tuned Astras hasn’t been written off completely, however.
Could a 500bhp Insignia difficulty the BMW M3? let us understand in the comments…