Actually, slog is the wrong word. In this machine, I was looking forward to a night-time blast up the west coast. But it turned out L6 VWW wasn't required to go further than Stansted airport, as a near-identical R32 had already been sourced and dispatched north.

Still, I discovered a lot about the R32 on Scotland's quick and empty roads. This is a seriously fast cross-country car in the real world of wet, slippery, pock-marked surfaces. But I would have preferred the Subaru or Mitsubishi's full-time 4x4 drivetrains to the Golf's part-time system, which only pushes torque backwards when it detects slippage at the front - which means you have to be pushing very hard to get the advantages of four-wheel drive. In these conditions, a more permanent front-back share inspires more confidence.

The car's overlight steering was also thrown into sharp focus on the fast Scottish secondaries.

One other discovery. Crossing the spectacular and undulating Rannoch Moor road, the R32 also betrayed the limitations of its body control. For the UK, more work is needed in this department. Anybody on the case?