Ford Focus still edges it with its front-end bias and joie de vivre

Inside, it's a different story, as the cabin is an enormous improvement over the MkV. NOTE: The bumper stickers and christmas lights are magnets and are already gone! In handling terms the Golf is hugely improved but the Ford Focus still edges it with its front-end bias and joie de vivre. As the 'box acts like an automatic, it will always play on the engine's strengths and we managed astonishing cross-country times on wet roads. The standard seats are hard but comfortable, although there is little side support and keen drivers should specify the sports seats with bigger side bolsters. To my mind the new Golf is quite a fierce looking car, with a sort of tight-lipped grimace about it.

Ford Focus
Wolfsburg factory for two months), the MkVI model was launched in Iceland - go figure. Ford; at very high speeds the Golf's rear axle started to heave over long-wave bumps and thumped onto its bumpstops, which would never have been allowed in the Focus. Cash or Wells Fargo Cashier's Check - please have your driver's license and proof of insurance to test drive. It is predicted to be the UK's most popular engine choice and is offered in 108 and 138bhp guises. There are three UK trims: S, SE and GT. The Golf isn't the largest C-segment hatchback, but this 13ft 9in car is spacious inside and VW has worked at making the cabin practical. This cabin is nicer than the Passat's and the facia is nicer than the Mercedes C-class - no joke. The boot is large and rear wheelarch intrusion is limited.

Ford Focus
AutoCheck VIN report - this car does not seem 7 years old and runs beautifully - I have loved this car since the day I drove it off the VW lot! It's as if VW has thrown engineering at this car in a way that only Honda could match. Plus - don't forget that I have ALL records from the minute I bought it, and there has been NO engine work and only minor body! The economy is built on free thermal vent energy (hence the aluminium smelting plants), fish and cutting each other's hair. Kelly Blue Book lists this car at $6,090 (excellent) and $5,615 (good) and NADA lists it at $7,050.

It's worth mentioning (again) just how quiet it is, which makes long journeys much more relaxing. VW's board member for product development, Dr Ulrich Hackenburg. Rivals call this craftsmanship, VW just gets on and does it. SOHC and two valves per cyl; 101bhp at 5,600rpm and 109lb ft at 3,800rpm. Fuel consumption is good, too, and in our experience VW engines always beat their Urban mpg figures. We drove the two-litre diesel with 138bhp. The front bumper and back bumper pieces have both been replaced and there are cosmetic scratches on the driver's side of the car.

Not that the Golf is unsafe; a new electronic stability program intervenes on engine power and brakes if you get over-enthusiastic, and it works well. Transmissions include five- and six-speed manual 'boxes and the dual-clutch DSG with six or seven speeds. Volkswagen Golf MkVI [tech/spec] Price/availability: 13,000 to 21,000. Surfaces are softer and easier on the eye and the build quality is spectacularly good. Feel free to take it to your mechanic.

So while the North Atlantic threw everything but the cutlery drawer at us, we settled down to drive the new Golf on the wettest, roughest roads imaginable. The brakes are very classy: powerful, with a delightful pedal feel. The six-speed manual is faster and more economical, but such is the engine's flat torque curve that the DSG car feels faster than its figures.

It's virtually impossible to tell when the supercharger cuts out and the turbo cuts in, and the urgent push of the engine is smooth and linear. So that's the new Golf: you should be moderately excited. In ride-quality terms, the Golf is unsurpassed in its class.

Ford Focus