Alfa Romeo Stelvio Speciale

Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR £34,000 est

WE SAY: WHO DOESN’T LOVE A RUN-OUT SPECIAL? GOLF MkVII GETS THE TREATMENT

This is a motorsport-infused runout special for the MkVII Golf GTI. But while rivals like Mini and Renault have a track record of pretty potent goodbye editions – no back seats, sticky tyres – the TCR is tamer, despite VW having form in hardcore hatches via the magnificent GTI Clubsport S.

It costs around £34,000, comes with five seats, three or five doors and its production isn’t limited. The power output is also sub-300bhp, a 286bhp 2.0-litre turbo driving the front wheels through a 7spd DSG paddleshifter only. No manual here.

You get VW’s diff-mimicking electronics up front, stronger brakes with perforated discs and the option of 20mm-lower adaptive suspension and a stiffer rear axle. The latter comes with an options pack that also ups the wheels an inch to 19s and removes the speed limiter, turning a 155mph car into a 162mph one. All TCRs boast 0–62mph in 5.6secs, which is the quickest time ever posted by a GTI. Providing some justification for the DSG if you were worried.

To drive, it’s certainly more Golf than touring car. It’s refined and polite, turns in sharply and reacts promptly, neatly tightening its line should you lift off the throttle, rather than giving you armfuls of lift-off oversteer. There’s a foolproof nature to its handling that makes it very easy to go very quickly – something wilder rivals can’t claim, especially in trickier weather. That safety-first attitude is exacerbated on track; the more you push, the more you’ll understeer. Despite its racecar name, this is a road car first.

A bloody good one, it must be said. Golfs have rarely been faster or sharper, and I prefer the lighter weight and more fun disposition of front-driven GTIs over the AWD R. “Rarely”, not “never”, you’ll note. As an absolute obsessive of the more focused Clubsport S, praise for the TCR comes tinged with disappointment the MkVII GTI’s last stand isn’t the car in its (proven) ultimate form. People like me, though, can delight in the fact low-mileage examples of the S command the same money.