There are certain stretches of road that seem to have been left untouched by the ravages of traffic. We all know one – today I drove via Tewkesbury to Eastnor Castle for the unveiling of the Range Rover Holland & Holland special edition. Yours for £180,000…

The GTI wasn’t the most eye-catching vehicle in the car-park but I can tell you that road from Tewkesbury towards Ledbury just makes you want to buy a set of string-backed leather driving gloves.

It just proved to me what I already knew – that the latest GTI is simply the best handling hot hatch out there. I’m not sure the extra 10bhp on offer from the Performance Pack made that much difference because the Golf just sits beautifully on the tarmac through a sweeping bend.

Until the Focus and Astra, the VW has sporting DNA that just comes with the course of time. The Ford and Vauxhall may be quicker but neither take a bend like a Golf GTI…