Volkswagen T-Roc R Drive

The T-Roc is the Golf sassier sibling, the middle ground between the hatch and the Tiguan; a crossover with street cred…and when the 'R' factor is added – the looks go up a notch. Sitting 20mm lower, the stance has more than a touch of hot wheels to it, and the 'R' specific front grill, rear spoiler, and diffuser add further muscle.

It may share a platform, but the T-Roc interior has an entirely different flavour; less of the golfs soft touch; instead, there's a more urban, more edgy, hard-faced style.

Speaking of hard-edged, the blue 'R' button on the steering wheel is the not-so-secret way to bring alive all 221kw… that's around 300 horsepower, complete with launch control to deliver 0-100 in 4.8 seconds. By way of reference, that matches the fastest ever Lamborghini Countach!

What it won't do is match the Golf R, due to slightly less power and 50 more kg to carry. It also doesn't boast the active rear diff, so there is no drift mode on tap. But there is some torque vectoring with adaptive chassis control. Thanks to 20 percent stiffer springs - it sits flat – and it's genuinely sporty drive – and the grip and drive through and out of corners is 100% hot hatch.