The test drive.

I should let you know that I've driven a lot of cars. I even worked at an airport for 5 months valet parking, and the stories I have from that could fill their own blog. My current, a Jaguar X-Type is my 15th car since 1987, which doesn't include 3 or 4 of my parents' cars, 2 of my wife's and dozens of hire cars that I've regularly driven.

So I know what I like, and really don't need to test drive 10 different varients to compare the nuances.

I called a couple of the dealers in my area to check that they had a suitable car to test. I may not have chosen all my options at this stage, but I did know that I wanted to drive a 2.0 TSI GT 210 with a manual 'box. Colbornes at Guildford had a relevant demonstrator, so I booked the test.

As always, I couldn't help but smile when the guy brought the car around. It was a Rising Blue example and looked great. The dealer drove us off the forecourt to a local garage - Suzi sat in the back (really not keen at all due to the blackness of everything and the small windows) me as passenger. Then I got a go. Guildford turned out to be the perfect place for a test drive, as I got to drive on roads the I know well, on a mixture of narrow back roads, moderate A roads and a couple of miles of dual carriageway.

The car is fast. I owned a Corrado VR6 with 197bhp prior to my Jag, which is the 3.0 sport with 231bhp. But the Scirocco is in another league. The performance figures don't show it, but I suspect its the delivery of the power from the Turboed engine, and the traction, and of course, the fact that everything is new and modern.

The test route was obviously the dealers standard one, about 8 to 10 miles I'd guess. Most of it passed in a blur, my over-riding feeling being that it was everything I hoped it would be, and that it would take a bit of getting used to to get the best out of it. I tried the three suspension settings, and to be honest, couldn't really tell the difference - the ride was fairly harsh and crashy on the poorly repaired Surrey back roads - but the car was fitted with optional 19" wheels that I won't be having.

The Dealer said no more than 10 words through the whole experience, but that was probably what I would have wanted. I've requested a quote, telling him that my order would go to the dealer that gave me the best price. So we'll see.