Opel Insignia
Opel Insignia 2.0 CDTi Ecoflex and BaileyI tow a bailey olympus 464 behind my Vauxhall insignia hatchback 170bhp, the car performs very well and achieves 30 32 mpg on a motorway journey, slight struggle when pulling away on a hill, my only concern is the rear of my car literally sinks once the caravan is attached
Opel Insignia 2.0 CDTi aut. and CompassActually tow with a Insignia 4x4 Bi turbo with 198 bhp.
Car is at 99% tow limit and towball limit is low at 85kg.
Overall the twin turbo engine is a great power house to tow a twin axle caravan. The weight fully loaded is 1800kg and the car tows no problem on the motorway, country roads or uphill. Once up to speed the engine will tow in 6th gear no issues but does need to drop down a gear in a headwind or up a slight incline.
The 4x4 system is good on the grass and gravel and really helps pulling away in wet conditions. It definitely helps when pulling off a pitch in the wet on the grass!
Reversing isn't the strongest point of the 4x4 system and if reversing uphill in a tight space you can feel the system trying to work out where to send the power, so a motor mover is needed for the big caravan.
Overall this is a great alternative to a big 4x4 to tow and use as a day to day car without the caravan. Space in the rear and boot is sufficient for 2 weeks away worth of kit as well as the space in the caravan.
Opel Insignia 2.0 CDTi and Swiftthe Insignia 2.0 CDTI tow very well and is a lot cheaper to run than 4 x 4. 32 mpg towing and 50 to 65 solo
Opel Insignia Sports Tourer 2.0 CDTi aut. and BaileyHaving towed caravans now for over 20 years I find this car to be the best I've ever towed with.
We're now coming towards the end of our autumn tour from North Yorkshire to Cornwall via the Cotswolds, Dorset and Somerset. I read the tow car reviews before buying this car having previously towed with a 2.2L Honda CRV.
The best mpg I could achieve with the Honda was approx 25. I am now getting 30mpg+
The automatic gearbox is a joy on motorways and dual carriageways and has plenty of pulling power. The longer wheelbase makes it very stable.
Alright it's not a 4x4 and may struggle on wet grass, however the fuel economy and pulling experience is worth the compromise.
I feel that this car deserves much better press as a very competent tow car.
Opel Insignia 2.0 CDTi Ecoflex and SterlingInsignia 160 hp pulls wonderfully with the sterling Europa 500 ES, is rock solid on the curves and with quite strong sidewinds too! A great tow car for this caravan, I would strongly recommend this car for this weight of caravan
Opel Insignia Sports Tourer 2.0 CDTi aut. and SpriteThis is the best outfit I have ever driven. The combination of the car engine power and the lightweight caravan is fully complimented when using Cruise control with the automatic gearbox. It is a real pleasure to drive and can take you anywhere you want to go.
Opel Insignia 2.0 CDTi and CompassThis is the 4th towcar i have owned and by far the best. Although the van is slightly too heavy for the car (running at 95%) it pulls like a dream and is has steady has a rock. There are only two of us so we travel fairly light any heavy articles crate of Stella (other lagers are available) and Cadac travel with us in the car. The electronic hand brake and hill start assist on the car are fantastic just accelerate and off you go. Fuel consumption is good getting ave 32 mpg towing and ave 54 mpg solo. If you are looking for a family style towcar other than the 4 x 4 style i would certainly recomend the Vauxhall Insignia 2.0cdti 160 bhp
Opel Insignia 2.0 CDTi Ecoflex and BaileyCan use 6th gear, but is slugish unless maintaining speed. Towing Vigo no problems, probably because most weight in the middle of the van rather than in the front locker
Opel Insignia 2.0 CDTi Ecoflex and Baileythis is the second insigna I have used for towing ,first a Bailey Pegasus 540/5 now a Pegasus Rimini this car handles everything a real pleasure to tow with you need a 160bhp not a 130 but
Opel Insignia 2.0 CDTi and SterlingThis is how good an insignia is. Had a problem with gearbox jumping out of 2nd gear 4 days before holiday. Local garage could not get me in so had to book it into garage near were we where camping on holiday, traveled from portsmuth to brean sands somerset it pulled like a dream had to go up a hill in first due to lights at the bottom of hill but the car pulled like a dream would recommed this car to anyone who is looking for a good towing car (even without 2nd gear).
Opel Insignia 2.0 CDTi aut. and SwiftMy wife and I did 950 mile round trip from South Yorkshire to Cornwall and back and averaged 31.1mph.
Towing was easy and being an automatic fairly uneventful. I had no problems uphill and down dale, overtaking when needed with no problems.
This is the 1st automatic I have owned and towed with and I have to say it was much easier than manual and the returns I have had are satisfactory, Lovely car (despite some reviews elsewhere) and as far as I am concerned perfect for towing my caravan.
Opel Insignia 2.0 CDTi aut. and SpriteThe only fault I can make towards the car is being front wheel drive on grassy surfaces which every front wheel drive car has . Will not be going back to manual. Auto is brilliant . The car does everything I want it to do . Stable , pulls like a train .
Opel Insignia Sports Tourer 2.0 CDTi aut. and ElddisTowed well with this car . A little bit of snaking when there was too much weight ( awning ) in the back of the van but that was solved by making sure the weight was evenly distributed . Car then towed superb , plenty of power and overtaking up to 70 . Had an X5 before and this towed just aswell . Really great car for towing
Opel Insignia Sports Tourer 2.0 CDTi aut. and BaileyTows great & stability seems good as well. Holds top gear (6th) well & only changes down when it needs to & doesn't loose momentum as well as maintaining 60mph in 5th on steep hills. Best mpg on motorway was 31.4 & averaging 30mpg. really satisfied with this car.
Opel Insignia 1.8 and ElddisWe have been on a 1400 round trip to cornwall and on some of the hills I was down to 2nd gear fuel averaged 23.5 I would not recommend this car for towing even with our small van.
Opel Insignia 2.0 CDTi Ecoflex and Fleetwood2011 Vauxhall Insignia 2.0 cdti Sri 160. Pulling Fleetwood Colchester 520. I don't have a great deal of experience being new to caravaning but would just like to say that my outfit is very easy to drive, I have had not problems or issues at all with the car and would highly recommend the 160bhp diesel Insignia as a very good towing car, able to handle some difficult situations, strong winds, hills etc. the car seems to have been greatly overlooked by almost every review organisation. I purchased the car before the caravan so wasn't swayed by towing reviews and I'm glad I did it this way round.
Opel Insignia Sports Tourer 2.0 CDTi aut. and Sterlingtows supurb ,top gear on this auto box left to its own devices will slip in at 50mph ,using tiptronic mode at 46mph a lot better than the Vectra 150cdti autos ive had . my SRi model has the lower and stiffer suspension and handles well with the caravan on ,30mpg towing but hope to get more on a longer run this year
Opel Insignia 2.0 CDTi aut. and Standaard CaravanHave towed a 2008 Bailey Indiana with a Vauxhall Insignia CDTI SE 160 Auto for two years. As there are only two of us, and a small dog, the caravan is never fully loaded.
Having towed previously with manual Vetra B and C models with great success I decided that in my retirement years I would purchase an automatic car. Having had admirable service from my Vectras I turned my attention to the Insignia.
I did not think I would get a better towcar than my Vectra C 1.9 Elite hatchback - but was I wrong.
The Insignia feels so surefooted and safe, it tows on any type of road perfectly and at times I forget, momentarily, that I am towing a pretty large caravan.
Performance is very good particularly on motorways with good accceleration when overtaking and exceptionally good braking when required.
The outfit behaves very well even in windy weather, the ATC fitted to the caravan aids this, and with the car being an automatic I have never had a problem starting off on hills.
Being a pensioner I look closely at costs, I average 49mpg solo and 37mpg towing - all of this is done at resonable speeds as I don't like to get under anyones feet.
Having driven over the years vehicles ranging from Minis, armoured cars and tanks in the forces, many types of commercial vehicles including 44tonne articulated vehicles - I feel very safe and secure when towing my caravan with my Vauxhall Insignia.
Opel Insignia Sports Tourer 2.0 CDTi and ElddisPlenty of power from this Vauxhall / Opel insignia 160 hp on tap is enough to do a convincing job . Sixth gear needs speeds of 63mph else the revs are too low . I feel happier towing in 5th at a steady 60mph. Hard to fault this combination it returns 35mpg towing and 42-45 mpg solo . Downsides - wheels spin too easily on wet grass, gearing on 2nd gear isn't ideal find myself dropping into 1st on a rolling start won't pull in 2nd till 11mph . Oh yes the electronic handbrake is a pain when towing it feels slow to release? Although the hill start part is ok when you get used to it . I have also towed a coachman amara (1600kg loaded) the car did well with it plenty of power but I reckon it must have been close to 95 per cent match . I recommend the sports tourer over the hatchback the extra headroom in the rear & extra bootspace come in handy makes it a lot more practical
Opel Insignia 2.0 CDTi Ecoflex and Elddis2.0 diesel auto Pulling anEldis 462. Perfect combination for stress free towing, best match I have had in 35years towing.
Opel Insignia Sports Tourer 2.0 CDTi Ecoflex and SterlingActually the match is nearer 90% than the figures quoted by the website - small differences in quoted figures and the gross permissible train weight is 3936Kg. Yes it's over the recommended 85% but with the strong engine, it's an acceptable compromise.
Had my first two tows over Easter with this outfit, having changed from a Volvo v50 to this car. Took the outfit from Sheffield to Oxford and back (as well as collecting the van from storage and bringing it home for prep for the season.) Being a 160Bhp, it has loads of grunt for good towing and overtaking. It felt stable and the car was definitely in charge, not the 'van. I had to do a fair bit of gear changing as it is an Ecoflex which has 'taller' gears, but most of the motorway was done in 5th gear, occasionally 6th on downhill stretches. Didn't calculate the MPG but it seemed pretty good overall. Plenty of space in the car boot so great for packing lots of stuff into the car and keeping the 'van light. Only issues were that again because I live on a steep 12% hill with traffic lights and a bus route, there's alot of hill starts to be expected. Managed to hill start from the lights with only a slight wheel spin, but could have done with the revs kicking in earlier, Also had a bus coming down hill looking rather determined so had to stop for him - hill started again ok but with a minor wheel spin. Hill starting with a van on the back, and an electronic parking brake take some getting used to - I'd still prefer a real handbrake so I control getting the revs up before releasing the brake. With the electronic brake, you have to have a foot on the foot brake to release the electronic parking brake which is inconvenient when you need that foot to be revving the engine up. Hill start assist which stops you rolling back doesn't hold long enough. Answer is to minimise the times I bring the van home, and just work from storage instead.
Opel Insignia 2.0 CDTi and Swifti find the insignia an ideal tow car just slip into the cruise control and away she goes i have just toured in france for 8 weeks and did not encounter any problems except on loose shale i experiance a bit of wheel spin but otherwise perfect
Opel Insignia 2.0 CDTi Ecoflex and BaileyCar pulls the caravan well in the low gears. On the flat the car runs and feels better if your not in the 6 gear. Cruises at 60 mph but you are working the gears a bit to keep it at 60.
Opel Insignia 2.0 CDTi and Caravanfirst time out with the insignia,500mile round trip.,wat a tow car lots of power up hill dream on the motor way.cruse control set crused well set at 60mph.never felt like i was towing.32.5.mpg towing 6th gear most of the time carnt fault the car apart from reversing clutch smelt told this was common,going to have it checked at the dealers looking forward to next trip .
Opel Insignia Sports Tourer 2.0 CDTi and LunarShould be peice of cake pulling such a light van ,but sometimes seems to lack power when you need it most
Opel Insignia 1.8 and Baileythis car is no good for towing, dont bother.
Opel Insignia 2.0 CDTi and Lunar*It should have read 30 MPG*
Opel Insignia 2.0 CDTi and LunarI have only owned this car for 6 months and used it to tow on 2 seperate journeys, and I have to admit it is well on a par with my previous car which was a Citroen C5.
You really don't realise that there is a caravan behind you, it is that good, we live in South Wales and as you know the place has many hills, but the Insignia doesn't fret with that, those of you that know the area will realise how steep the hill is climbing out of Abergavenny back up the Heads of the Valleys route and she goes up there in 4th gear with no problem, Average M.P.H. is approx 31 towing the caravan and I get approx 57 on a motorway run without towing.
Opel Insignia 2.0 CDTi aut. and BaileyCar contained 2 adults and a small dog - caravan large enough without requiring an awning.
The 280 mile round trip was mainly motorway towing and the vehicle computer logged 37.1 mpg.
Car was not used whilst on site as public transport was available - (bus pass used).
Outfit was very stable and able to keep up to motorway speeds easily. Overtaking when required was uneventful and extra exceleration was available if needed.
The ride was very comfortable and at times you were not aware that a caravan was being towed.
Having towed similar sized caravans with a Vectra C for 5 years with no problems, I am very surprised that the Insignia is so much better, and being an automatic, so much nicer on the road.
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