Opel has officially introduced the Insignia Country Tourer to Ireland. With prices starting at €35,495 for the front-wheel drive version, it's the first prong in a new plan by Opel to increase the number of SUV and crossover vehicles it offers. Currently, the only other SUV in Opel's range is the diminutive Mokka, but that will change in pretty short order with crossover-style replacements for the Meriva and Zafira in the works, as well as a new Antara.
For now, the Country Tourer is the biggest SUV Opel can provide and it's a natural rival to the likes of the Audi A4 allroad or Subaru Outback. Based on the Insignia Sports Tourer estate it has the familiar 2.0-litre 163hp diesel engine driving either the front or all four wheels through either a six-speed manual or automatic gearbox.
If you go for the four-wheel drive version (and surely that's the whole point...) then you get a clever Haldex system controlled by clutches, which allows the Country Tourer to be front-wheel drive most of the time, diverting power to the rear wheels when it detects that things are getting slippery. The system can split the engine's power up to 100 per cent between the front and rear axles and can also torque-vector (i.e. shunt power from side to side) between the rear wheels thanks to its eLSD (electronically controlled limited slip differential). Opel claims that the system can react so fast that you'll never notice it intervening.
Impressively, the front-wheel drive version with stop-start clocks in at a CO2 emissions rating of just 119g/km, with official fuel consumption of 4.5 litres per 100km.
You'll be able to tell it apart from humbler Insignias thanks to its extra ride height, body cladding, wheel arch extensions and underbody protection.
Anything else?
Opel reckons that the Insignia Country Tourer has an impressive level of standard equipment, including Opel's infotainment system, IntelliLink, which comes with Bluetooth and voice recognition, an eight-inch touch screen centre console and eight-inch driver display cluster screen. Bi-Xenon Adaptive Forward Lighting (AFL+) and parking sensors also come as standard. Meanwhile, the FlexRide chassis system (which uses electronically-controlled magneteorheological dampers) provides "improved handling and stability in all conditions and terrains."