Our TDI rides on optional 17 inch wheels with Bridgestone Potenza tyres, and this combination certainly complements the handling, but unfortunately not the ride. On this setup the Golf is much too stiff, and the damper control settings need more work for this tyre/wheel combination to match the comfort of the standard offering. Although the bulk of our trip will be on one of Britain’s busiest motorways, much of the connecting journey at our start and finish will be on A and B roads which offer undulating, tight curves and a variety of surfaces. Primarily well-surfaced bitumen, the back roads nonetheless provide a chance to see how the diesel Golf performs when the focus switches from highway speed to the give and take of the minor roads.

This is most usually amplified when you’re calling on the flexibility of the engine to cope with speed and attitude changes and suspension movement during speedy motoring along these glorious byways. Here is where the DSG transmission proves its worth. There are several versions of Direct Shift Auto transmissions around. There’s the VW version, plus efforts from Borg Warner and Getrag, and all are very worthy, differing only in refinements to the basic principles.

In the new Golf 6 Volkswagen seems to have truly perfected the marriage of a highly efficient diesel engine with its highly efficient twin clutch transmission. The massive torque produced by this strong two-litre engine, and the swift-shifting DSG means there is no area of the car’s performance where response and flexibility is lacking. The test car had a pair of ‘paddle shifters’ behind the steering wheel, but in this setup it really offered nothing more than gimmick value, because shifting with the gear lever was just fine and allowed exceptional control over shifts and ratio selection.

The most obvious changes in this latest Golf are the rather sensual surfaces which VW’s chief designer Walter de Silva has executed on the exterior. The new Version 6 is alternatively smoother and more sculptured, with some very neat styling tricks which give the overall body shape a sleek new look, whilst still providing better packaging efficiency inside the car.

The options on the test car were extensive and boosted the sale price, but they were very welcome, and seductively useful. The new navigation and audio package is (by Volkswagen standards) outstanding! The Wolfsburg engineers seemed, for a very long time, to be denying the existence of iPods and MP3 players, but the new setup is a great solution to bringing your music with you. Not only can you plug in an iPod using Apple’s proprietary connector, but there’s an Aux In socket as well, and a USB connection plus the option of plugging an SD card into the main radio unit.

The GPS is similar to most other original equipment types, but the traffic alert system used in Europe is its most appealing feature, warning not only with on-screen graphics, but verbal alerts as well. If you ignore the warnings, you still end up sitting in traffic, but you can’t say you weren’t told. Now to the really appealing aspect of this car. Without trying too hard, or adopting ridiculous economy-driving practices, our Golf returned average fuel economy of 5.2 L/100km! The Golf 6 TDI is a car you could confidently invest in for the long term, because ownership costs are further contained by once-a-year servicing (based on an average 20,000km a year), in addition to the frugal 140PS (103kW) diesel engine.

Our journey from the Midlands to the Lakes District took us through some of Britain’s most picturesque countryside, with rolling hills, pastoral tranquility and bucolic farms and forests with an abundance of animal life. From the Keep at Warwick Castle, to the placid waters of Lake Windermere, this test drive was enjoyable as much for the visual splendor, as the comfortable cruising provided by Golf 6 – easily the best of the breed.