First ride: Vauxhall Insignia GSi – is it a true driver's car?

There are mild body changes: chrome lower front air intakes, discreet sill extensions plus a boot spoiler that really works, at least in Germany where the 2.0-litre 207bhp twin-turbo diesel version (our test car) can crack 145mph flat out, and the 256bhp 2.0-litre petrol turbo alternative can touch 155mph. The petrol model (0-60mph in 6.9sec) is marginally faster-accelerating than the diesel (7.3sec). In a straight line, both GSi models are slightly slower than their predecessors but can lap the Nürburgring 12sec faster – hard evidence that the latest GSi’s most important improvements are under the skin. “If a car works well at the ’Ring, it’ll work elsewhere in Europe,” says Strycek.

The fastest ever Nürburgring lap times

The GSi gets special Sachs electronically controlled adaptive dampers with GSi-only settings labelled Standard, Tour (softer) or Sport (stiffer). It has special GSi spring rates – around 40% stiffer than standard – plus anti-roll bars that dial out most of the understeer built into the standard car. The electric power steering has been modified to give a more precise response to inputs, even a nano- degree away from the straight-ahead.

“If you turn slightly and the car doesn’t do exactly what you want, then forget it,” declares Strycek. “This is one place where there’s no room for compromise.”

The standard four-wheel-drive system incorporates a GSi-spec twin- clutch rear-drive module that allows torque to be directed wherever the car’s sensor network calculates it’s most needed, but especially to the outside rear wheel when the car is cornering hard, to help it maintain its line. The standard wheels are 20in alloys wearing Michelin Pilot Sport 4-Ss, deemed the ideal choice by Strycek and his henchmen, and huge Brembo discs, unique to the GSi, peep through the wheels’ shapely spokes.

I’m first to drive. Instantly obvious are the greater steering precision and firmer ride rates. We start in Standard but soon progress to Sport because it’s still reasonably supple and adds handy body control. There’s also a quality of effortless, built-in stability that comes from sitting low in a car with wide tracks and a long wheelbase. You feel the chassis’ better body-roll control, too, delivered free of the annoying roll-rock (German engineers call it ‘nicken’) that affects the composure of many firmly suspended cars.

The accuracy at high grip levels is important. This isn’t a small car, and these roads are narrow, but we’re able to split our legal lane almost with geometric accuracy.

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Strycek drives, much better and much faster, making more of the car’s and tyres’ surprisingly neutral grip near the limit and demonstrating both his prowess as a wheelman and his extreme familiarity with (what I now know is) a fine, stable, well-balanced chassis. We each drive again. Miles disappear under our wheels and the car just laps it up.