First Drive: Volkswagen Golf 2.0 TDI GTD 5dr

What's this, then?

Something of a niche within a niche: a diesel hot hatch estate. The Golf GTD Estate borrows the Golf GTI's styling and sharper chassis, but replaces its punchy two-litre turbo petrol with a torquey, and rather more taxman-friendly, diesel.

Oh, and a boot. Though you can have a Golf R in estate form, you can't (at least yet) get a Golf GTI wagon.

That combination of frugality and practicality means the GTD Estate might not be such a rare sight as its niche-squared pitch suggests. In hatch form, the GTD outsells the Golf GTI by nearly three to one.

What's under the bonnet?

A 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel with 181bhp and many, many torques. 380lb ft, to be precise. Company car drivers love GTDs because as well as being relatively swift - 62mph arrives in 7.9 seconds, 143mph max - they're good on fuel.

VW claims 64.2mpg, and you'll see fifty-something if you drive it normally, less if you drive like the man in the white suit. 115g/km of CO2 isn't bad either.

The auto knocks those figures a bit, so like two-thirds of GTD buyers, we'd stick with the manual. The shift is smooth and the clutch easy, so it's still no chore on longer runs.

But is it any good?

Yep. The GTD may not be much ‘fun' in the traditional sense, but it'll hold its own on a twisty road. Sport mode does bad things to the steering and introduces a comical synthesized engine note into the cabin, so leave it in normal and ride that wave of torque between bends.

The ride's not bad, either: the GTD sits on sports suspension 15mm lower than a normal Golf's, but it's certainly less busy at any speed than a Focus ST Diesel.

But it's on the motorway where the GTD will spend much of its time, and as you'd expect, it works well there, too.

Why shouldn't I just go for the hatch?

The wagon is a £695 premium over the hatch, and that's not half bad considering you get 1,620 litres of bootspace if you flatten the rear seats. That's more than you get in a 3-Series BMW. Or a Ford Mondeo Estate, for that matter. And in terms of cargo space, more is most definitely better.

Prices start at £28,285, so it isn't cheap. But if you're a company car driver (and leaser) who wants something a little more exciting than a Mondeo, and a bit more practical than a normal hatch, go right ahead.