New Country Tourer coming

Opel, reckoning that the new Insignia can compete with the likes of Mercedes-Benz and Audi, has introduced the second generation of its Country Tourer. The range-topper for the Insignia will be available to order from June of this year and will be on sale in most markets by September. On the outside, it gets the expected black plastic cladding on the sides and the edges of the wheelarches, plus silver-coloured front and rear skid plates.

"We wanted our new Insignia Country Tourer to be robust in every respect while simultaneously displaying the typical elegant Opel philosophy of sculptural artistry and German precision," said Mark Adams, Vice President Design. "It has the presence of a true flagship, combining a sophisticated athletic shape enhanced by rugged off road detailing."

The Country Tourer rides 20mm higher than a standard Insignia Tourer, and uses a complex four-wheel-drive system to distribute power to all corners. Instead of a normal rear differential, the Country Tourer uses twin multi-plate clutches that can torque-vector engine power to each rear wheel as necessary. There's also the FlexRide chassis that can be toggled between 'Standard', 'Sport' or 'Tour' modes, depending on your mood, or just left in auto.

Inside, the cabin is essentially the same as that of the standard Insignia, but the boot is larger than that of the old Insignia Tourer, with a maximum seats-folded volume of 1,665 litres. The standard exterior roof rails can carry up to 100kg, too.

There are front seats approved of by the German Bad Back Association, heated seats and steering wheel, fully active IntelliLux LED headlights, adaptive cruise control with automatic emergency braking, Lane Keep Assist with automated steering correction and Rear Cross Traffic Alert. Opel's phone-based OnStar concierge service is also available, as is Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and on top of the normal options list there's an extended Opel Exclusive set of options, which includes an extra 15 colour choices. The Opel Exclusive experts can even reproduce any paint tone desired if provided with a sample or an image.

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