VW’s new masterpiece will remind you why you fell in love with driving in the first place WORK OF ART
Volkswagen sold one million cars in September this year – not bad for a manufacturer once up to their eyeballs in an emissions scandal.
Despite the bad press, drivers love their VW cars. Emissions apart, they continue to be reliable, technically good and with great performance and d handling.
In every part of the world, d, sales are up – even in America.
Into this market the company ny have, almost quietly, launched the he Arteon, a top- of-the-range gran an turismo capable of taking all the he family for a spin on a Sunday afterr - noon – remember those days?
This is the car your dad would have loved – big and spacious with room for him to stretch out in the driver’s seat.
This is the car the kids would have hated because they would never have been nearly there, so much was he enjoying the drive.
The Arteon is not everyone’s cup of tea – boy and girl racers, for example – but for those among us who crave something a bit more luxurious than a hot hatch, this is your car.
It offers al l the reliabil ity and luxury you want with VW performance.
It is wide and long, sweeping back to a coupe-like rear that gives it a nice sporty feel. It sits quite low on the ground and there is plenplenty of chrome for that premipremium look. I wawas driving the Elegance trim but the Arteon also comcomes in R- Line, which offeroffers an even sportier feel with 19in black alloys, gloss blackblac front air intakes and chrome-trimmed twin exhausts. Inside,In you can dependdeppe on black leatherleaath for that “sinksi into” feeling,feee piano blackbbla inserts, brushed aluu mini um desdesign cues and stainless steel footfootrest and pedals. ThThe ambient lighting – alwaalways a sign of an upmarket car – can be adjusted to blue, white or yellow. ThiThis car is full of tech too. ThesaThesat nav is accessed via the 8in colourco touchscreen and there’sthere’ DAB, Bluetooth, loads of connconnectivity for USB or aux-in, online access to a range of weather and news options, an SOS system and MirrorLinking with your phone. But what I liked best about this car was the smooth and relaxing drive. I took it down the Clyde Valley and it just swept around all those bends and corners. Of course, it helps when you have lane assist, driver alert, pedestrian monitoring, auto hold and hill hold as well as parking sensors. For just £750 more, my car had front, rear and side cameras. I t comes wi th a panoramic roof as an opt ion (£ 935) and the version I was driving wa s an automatic 2 . 0 - l it re d ie sel – the one VW reckon wil l be their b e s t s e l le r . It was smooth, fast and delightful. It had 150PS but you can also go for a more powerful model or even four- wheel dr ive. Volkswagen have all the bases covered on this car. They say 60 per cent of sales will be to fleet – but, really, why just let business drivers into the secret of this car? It’s for everyone.