Welcome back, GSi. It has been more than a decade now since the old Vectra (C generation) last wore that badge.
Back then, Vauxhall used it to mark out its fruitier model derivatives, until it was retired in favour of the more hardcore VXR series of vehicles.
But VXR is now experiencing something of a hiatus. Click through to the Vauxhall VXR website and all you’ll find is a list of models that are no longer on sale. So where do you look if you fancy a Vauxhall with a bit more pep?
Now, as before, to a trusty, thrusty GSi.
With VXR out of the picture – for now, at least – that revived model derivative will serve as Vauxhall’s performance sub-brand, offering buyers a griffin-badged alternative to Ford’s ST and Volkswagen’s GTI range of cars.
Rather than reintroduce GSi on the back of a hot hatchback, though, Vauxhall has chosen its flagship Insignia to return GSi to the performance car landscape. And it hasn’t done things by half measures, either.