Opel / Vauxhall Insignia Photos from London Show

One of the key debuts at this year’s British Motor Show in London was the all-new Opel - Vauxhall Insignia that was present in both sedan and hatchback forms. Seeing the new Insignia makes the outgoing Vectra look even more boring that we thought. If anything else, Opel’s design team hit the spot with the new mid-size model. Hopefully the company’s engineers will have performed the same magic to the car’s driving dynamics. –High res photos from the show after the jump

New Opel Insignia Drops in on London – Literally…

As part of a promotional event, Opel’s UK subsidiary Vauxhall unveiled the all-new Insignia to Londoners for the first time by suspending its mid-size sedan on a crane high above Potters Fields Park that sits alongside the Thames, beside Tower Bridge and City Hall in Central London. More than 300 guests were on hand to watch the new Insignia plunge 45 meters to earth in just six seconds.

Alain Visser, Chief Marketing Officer for GM Europe, who drove the Insignia onto the stage after it landed safely on the ground, said: “We wanted to highlight the attention to detail and high focus on precision that went into developing the new Vauxhall Insignia. Just like the Insignia, this event had to be meticulously coordinated – right down to the last minute details”. -Continued

The Insignia will make its debut tomorrow, July 22, at the British International Motor Show, where Vauxhall will announce the vehicle’s price in the UK. Sales begin immediately in the UK market for both the hatchback and notchback versions.

Vauxhall Corsa VXR Arctic Edition with 207Hp

At the forthcoming British International Motor Show on July 22, Vauxhall will reveal a limited edition version of the Corsa VXR -known as the Opel Corsa OPC in continental Europe. Only 500 Corsa VXR Arctic Editions will be sold in the UK, and each will sport unique Glacier White paintwork combined with dark tinted rear windows and a black-painted roof and door mirrors, new black 18-inch V-spoke alloy wheels wrapped in ultra-low profile 225/35 tires and a Remus Sports exhaust. -Continued

Thanks to the Arctic Edition’s Remus Sports exhaust, the VXR’s 1.6-liter turbocharged engine’s output is raised to 207Hp, up by 15Hp compared to the basic version. Vauxhall hasn’t announced performance figures, but don’t expect any significant differences to the stock VXR’s 0-60mph (96km/h) time of 6.8 sec and 140mph (225km/h) top speed. The VXR Artic Edition is priced at £16,995 ($34,000), or £995 more than the standard Corsa VXR.

First Official Pics of Opel Insignia’s Interior

These are the very first official shots of the soon-to-be-launched Opel Insignia’s interior, or to be precise, the UK market Insignia that bears the Vauxhall logo. While we had the chance to get a glimpse of the mid-size sedan’s interior in a series of leaked (low-res) images back in April, these official pictures from Vauxhall allow us to see the cabin in high-resolution detail.

The Insignia, which could come to the States as a Saturn, features a relatively sporty wrap around interior design that has nothing in common with the Vectra’s ultra conservative cabin. Highlights include chronometer-inspired instruments and a unique instrument cluster lighting which is illuminated white, but on pressing the ‘Sport’ button, the lighting turns red to match the surrounding illumination. -Continued

“This is a paradigm shift for Vauxhall,” says John Puskar, Executive Director of Interior Design at GM Europe. “We wanted to create interior environments for all our future vehicles that are warm, inviting and sporty. The Insignia is the first evidence of this philosophy.”

“Every detail was meticulously thought through,” says Jochen Werner, Insignia’s Assistant Chief Interior Designer. “We even tipped the infotainment centre at a 30 degree angle to allow the centre console to flow and give the car’s cabin a greater feeling of spaciousness.”

Along with the official high-res interior pics, Vauxhall also released new exterior images of the Insignia in a lusty black colour.

World’s Biggest Collection of Classic Vauxhalls Open to the Public for a Day

Coinciding with the celebrations of 10 million Astra sales since the model first appeared in 1980 (Opel called the Astra then Kadett), Vauxhall will open the doors of its Heritage Centre to the public for a day, on Sunday, June 8. The world’s biggest private collection of classic Vauxhalls includes the company’s very first model in 1903 through to ‘modern’ classics such as the last ever Monaro. The Heritage centre also features special cars like the 4S rally car and an ex-BTCC racer.

Vauxhall VXR8 Gets New 425Hp LS3 6.2L V8

Like its Australian counterpart, the Holden Commodore based HSV Clubsport R8, the UK market Vauxhall VXR8 is being enhanced with GM’s new and more powerful LS3 engine. The new V8 engine’s capacity grows from 6.0-liters to 6.2-liters and thanks to various improvements over the outgoing LS2 unit, power is up by 14 PS to 431 PS (317kw or 425 Hp) at 6,000rpm.

With the new LS3 the automatic VXR8 goes from 0 to 60 mph (96 km/h) in 4.9 sec, a 0.1 sec improvement over the LS2 model. Moreover, in-gear acceleration for manual models has also improved with 50-70mph in 3rd gear dropping from 2.8 to 2.6 sec while 30-50mph in 2nd gear drops from 2.0 to 1.9 sec. -Continued

Vauxhall supports that, despite the VXR8’s enhanced performance credentials, its LS3 produces the same emissions and fuel consumption as the outgoing LS2 unit. In addition, the VXR8 automatic receives a transmission oil cooler as standard.

The LS3 VXR8 is also offered with all-new body colour - Heron White – at no extra cost, as well as the option of factory-fit 20-inch rims for the first time on this model. Prices for both manual and automatic versions of the LS3-powered VXR8, which are on sale in the UK now, rise by £485 to £35,695.

Vauxhall Tigra Sport Rouge Special Edition

The Sport Rouge is Vauxhall’s equivalent of the Opel Tigra Illusion that was unveiled at the Geneva Show last March. The special edition’s most prominent feature is of course its roof which is now covered in a Bordeaux Red coloured fabric giving a soft top illusion to the hard top roadster.

This edition is available in four body colors - Metro Blue, Star Silver, Flame Red or Black Sapphire - and comes as standard with central locking, electrically adjustable door mirrors, CD player and steering wheel mounted controls. Also standard are 16” alloy wheels, an aux-in MP3 player jack and Sports seats. -Continued

Offered with a choice of three engines – 1.4 liter and 1.8 liter petrols, and a 1.3 turbo diesel, the Tigra Sport Rouge is available for order in the UK with prices range from £15,705 to £17,195.

Vauxhall Astra VXR 255Hp Nurburgring Edition

What the Opel Astra OPC or, as it’s called in the UK, the Vauxhall Astra VXR, lacks in finesse and overall capabilities compared to its main rival, the VW Golf GTi, it more than compensates with its hardcore character. And while here in the U.S. we get “stuck” with the Saturn Astra 1.8, in the UK, buyers can now opt for a limited production version of the top-notch 3door Astra dubbed “Nürburgring Edition”.

Named after the car’s spiritual home, where much of its pre-production development was carried out, the Astra VXR Nürburgring Edition comes with an exclusive all-white paint finish and lightweight white 18-inch alloy wheels wrapped in Dunlop tyres. Other exterior features include dark tinted windows, carbon fibre effect mirrors and B-Pillars and distinctive chequered flag body graphics.

The Nürburgring Edition theme continues inside, with carbon fibre detailing on the door trims and fascia, bespoke leather seats with the Nürburgring circuit graphic embossed into the Recaro front seat backrests and an individually numbered plaque showing each car’s build number. -Continued

Mechanically-wise, all UK-specification cars will come with a Remus Sports Exhaust, developed with Vauxhall’s BTCC race team, Triple-Eight Race Engineering, which provides a power increase of up to 15 Hp. The standard car’s turbocharged 2.0-liter engine produces 240 Hp in factory tune, giving it the ability to accelerate from 0-60mph (96 km/h) in 6.2 sec and on to an electronically-limited top speed of 155mph or 250 km/h.

Sales of the limited edition Astra VXR Nürburgring Edition have begun in the UK priced at £21,295 on-the-road.