10th Nov 2012, 01:31

Unfortunately, the Opel Insignia here in Australia hasn't lost its camber sensitivity that has been commented on by many in the UK, i.e, pulling to the left when releasing the steering wheel in a straight line.

I had a Vauxhall Vectra in England back in 2004, and this car suffered from the camber sensitivity issue, too.

Whilst Opel are free to push their Insignia range as being prestige here in Australia, I don't see any prestige connotations myself, nor will I buying one sometime soon. The driving experience, whilst quick and refined, and far superior to the Vectra, lacks the handling sharpness and driver involvement of a Mazda 6 or Ford Mondeo.

In reality, the Insignia is a rival to Mazda 6, Ford Mondeo, Honda Accord, Hyundai i40 et al.

But what further sullies the case to buy, is the number of clutch and dual mass flywheel failures, brake issues, and an underbonnet fire documented on one example. Vauxhall's responses to such problems is still very, very coy, even dating back to Vectra handbrake failures.

Is this a case of more of the same, despite the Insignia being a demonstrably superior car than the Vectra?

You be the judge.