News: Renault ditches Scenic, launches XMOD

Renault has decided to stop making the Scenic. That might sound like a bit of a shock, but hang on, the devil is in the detail. The seven-seat Grand Scenic will continue on as one of Europe's best-selling medium-sized MPVs, but the five-seat Scenic is now going to be dropped, and replaced by a new model called the Scenic XMOD. 

News: Renault's Captur wants to box the Juke

They may be part of the same group, and even share a chassis, but the new Renault Captur is most definitely muscling in on the Nissan Juke's compact SUV territory.

Teased earlier this week and now revealed here in full, the Captur takes both chassis and styling cues from the just-launched new Clio but bulks everything up into a much more muscular shape. Is it just us or are there hints of the old Avantime in the overall shape and stance? Maybe just us. Whatever, it's a handsome beast and that is just as true on the inside, where again Clio elements have been taken, put on a bit of muscle and are looking pretty darned good.

Renault is claiming best in class fuel economy and the two key engines will be the TCe three-cylinder petrol turbo and the long serving 1.5 dCi diesel, an engine which should see the Captur's emissions fall as low as 96g/km.

The Clio has already been much praised for its dynamic performance, so we can hope that the Captur will prove as invigorating to drive. Will the fact that it's shorter (slightly) the the Juke compromise interior space too much though? We'll find out when the Captur makes its public debut at the Geneva motor show.

Between this the and Peugeot 2008, it's looking like a good year for compact French SUVs...

Road Test: Hyundai i30 Tourer Deluxe 1.6 Diesel

Price as tested: €24,295

+ Spacious, practical, comfy, well made, economical, handsome
– Cabin could do with a touch more flair
= As sensible as it gets


Sensible gets a bit of a bad rap. It’s never the sensible guy who gets the girl in the movies. It’s always the maverick hero, swinging in on a bullwhip, with his hard-drinking, hard-living ways who walks off with the heroine at the end. The sensible guy is left behind, with nothing but his nice suit and steady job to keep him happy. C’mon Hollywood, can’t we do a movie where, just once, sensible comes out on top?

Certainly when it comes to buying a car, sensible is what should (and largely does) take priority. We Irish tend to buy our cars on the basis of longevity and practicality, not style and sex appeal. It’s why Toyota was a top-selling brand in Ireland long before it was a big hit in the rest of Europe.

And it explains, partly anwyay, the meteoric rise of Hyundai. Solid, Korean-built reliability, backed up by a five-year, unlimited mileage warranty and usually with a sensible, practical body shape. What’s not to love? OK, not love, perhaps, but certainly sensibly appreciate.

The good thing is that, on top of that solid layer of sensible engineering and reliability, Hyundai has of late been adding just a touch more visual and tactile appeal to its cars and the i30 Tourer we’re testing here is a good example of that.

For a start, it’s better looking than the hatchback on which it’s based, with those flowing, sharply defined lines given a little more real estate on which to strut their stuff. And yes, I know, many of you still think of estates as commercial traveller’s cars, but come on; it’s time to wake up to the appeal of an estate, and this i30 is more appealing than most.

Out back, where it counts, there’s a 528-litre boot, which is more than big enough for most growing families’ needs, and easily the equal or better of most of the more fashionable compact SUVs on the market. We’d avoid the option aluminium boot divider though. It has its uses, but it eats us a crucial inch or two of loading space, which could cause some fraught scenes in the IKEA car park...

Up front, the cabin is identical to that of the i30 hatchback, so you get cleanly designed, clear instruments, comfy seats and plenty of space. Rear seat space is good too, certainly enough for any lanky teenage offspring and, as ever with Hyundai, the build quality is exceptionally good. Just one criticism; the layout and style could do with a touch more visual flair, if it’s to match the appeal of the exterior.

No arguing with the engine though, which is the latest version of Hyundai’s 1.6 diesel. With 110bhp, it’s right on the money for the class, and a combination of 109 g/km of Co2 and claimed average fuel economy of 4.1-litres per 100km (we managed around 5.5 overall) means that it’s suitably efficient for 2013 Ireland. A little more torque would be nice, as it never feels quite so fleet of foot as, say, a Focus or a Golf, but you’ll pay just €180 a year to tax it, which isn’t bad for a car this versatile.

Versatile? In a world of MPVs and SUVs? Yes, really. The trouble with SUVs and MPVs is that they’re all great ideas and very little substance. The great thing about estates is that what they lack in whizz-bang concepts, they make up for in genuine usefulness. Fold down the back seats in the i30 and you have yourself a well-upholstered van, complete with 500kg payload. Get it up on the motorway and set the cruise control and you have as refined and comfortable a car as you could wish for. Head out on a favourite back road and you have a chassis that’s both capable and entertaining, but also one which is sadly held back by Hyundai’s three-mode steering set-up. Being able to choose between Sport, Comfort and Normal steering settings looks good in the showroom, but we’d have preferred it if Hyundai just went for one setting that satisfies, rather than three that don’t.

Still, when the €24,295 price tag for our Deluxe model test car includes air conditioning, cruise control, Bluetooth phone connection, iPod connection and every safety system you could think of, it might be rather churlish to complain about the steering setup.

What the i30 is, in the final reckoning, is a really solid and fine family car. Spacious, comfortable, reliable and useful, it pushes all the right buttons for an all-rounder that can please both kids and parents. Sensible? Yup, and this time, sensible wins.

Facts & Figures
Hyundai i30 Tourer 1.6 Diesel Deluxe
Price as tested: €24,295
Range price: €21,995 to €27,745
Capacity: 1,582cc
Power: 110bhp
Torque: 260Nm
Top speed: 185kmh
0-100kmh: 11.8sec
Economy: 4.1l-100km (68.8mpg)
CO2 emissions: 100g/km
VRT Band: A2. €180 road tax
Euro NCAP rating: 5-star; 90% adult, 90% child, 67% pedestrian, 86% safety assist
 

Road Test: Jaguar XF Sportbrake 2.2d SE

Price as tested: €47,000 (approx)

+ Utterly gorgeous, terrific handling and ride, spacious, practical, agile
– 2.2 needs to be revved hard to work best, brakes could do with more bite
= Easily the equal of 520d or A6, and more characterful than either


Jaguar, it may surprise you to learn, is no stranger to the big-booted format. It has dabbled in estates before.

There was the late, unlamented X-Type estate, which was the designer Ian Callum’s first work for Jaguar. Since then Callum’s Jag portfolio has expanded prodigiously, taking Jaguar out of its 1960s-style design straitjacket and into the realm of the modern, clean cut and ruthlessly contemporary.

It was the 2008 XF that broke the Jag mould and its updated 2011 version that returned Jaguar to the design winners’ circle. So grafting an estate body on to the XF had to be done with the utmost care, preserving the beauty of line while still creating a practical, usable loadspace beneath.

Job done. The XF Sportbrake is possibly even better looking than the standard four-door, and it is certainly less boxy-looking than the rival BMW 5 Series Touring or Audi A6 Avant. In fact the Jag’s only real rival in the handsome- estate department is the new Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake, a car that will cost the better part of €30,000 more.

Underneath the swoopy rear tailgate (which raises and lowers electrically on all but the base model) is a square-sided, flat-floored 550-litre boot that matches its German rivals (except for the gargantuan Mercedes E-Class estate’s) for space and is trimmed with sumptuous carpet and shiny aluminium load rails. The entire structure aft of the front doors is all new, with more headroom for rear-seat passengers (alas, not with a commensurate increase in legroom) and darkened privacy glass if you fancy it.

Up front little appears to have changed, but Jaguar has been carefully tweaking the XF’s cabin to keep it ahead of the game. Revised dials, comfier seats and some switchgear updates keep the XF’s cabin feeling fresh. Plump for swanky Portfolio trim and the suede headlining feels so good it’s almost naughty.

So far the Sportbrake is available in Europe only with diesel engines; the updated 2.2-litre four-cylinder engine is the key one for the Irish market. Crucially, its emissions have dropped from 149g/km to 135g/km, so the XF now drops a tax band, to band B2.

We tested the 197bhp version (a 162bhp version, with the same emissions figure, is also available), and, although it occasionally struggles with the XF’s weight, it is mostly well suited to the car, revving smoothly and quietly. It’s not as economical as Jaguar claims, though, with low-40s mpg being more realistic than the claimed 55mpg. It could also do with sharper brakes; the bite point is just slightly too far down the pedal for comfort. Thankfully, that wasn’t an issue on the 3-litre V6 diesel S that we also sampled.

Comfort, in another sense, is very much a priority. The 2008 XF was often criticised for its too-firm ride. Jaguar has since honed it, and the Sportbrake’s standard-fit self-levelling rear air suspension makes it a paragon of bump-absorbing refinement.

The BMW, Mercedes and Audi rivals all beat the Jaguar for cabin space, but the Sportbrake is such a delight to drive, and so handsome with it, that we cannot see it as anything short of the best in the class.

Facts & Figures


Jaguar XF Sportbrake 2.2d SE

Price as tested: €47,000 (approx)

Range price: €TBA

Capacity: 2,279cc

Power: 197bhp

Torque: 400Nm

Top speed: 200kmh

0-100kmh: 10.9sec

Economy: 5.1l-100km (55mpg)

CO2 emissions: 135g/km

VRT Band: B2. €280 road tax

Euro NCAP rating: Not yet tested

Road Test: Fiat Punto 1.3 MultiJet

Price as tested: €15,495

+ Styling, improved quality, excellent engine, value, comfort, space
– Still too much cheap cabin plastic, not much else
= Unfairly ignored compact hatch, deserves more attention

I bet you've forgotten about the Fiat Punto. It wouldn't be hard to be fair. Since its 2000 heyday when it was one of the best selling cars in Ireland's all-time bumper year for car sales, the Punto has steadily slid down the car sales cliff, in spite of a gorgeous 2005 re-issue with Maserati-like styling by Giugiaro. In a class populated by the likes of the Ford Fiesta, Volkswagen Polo, Peugeot 208, Kia Rio and so many talented others, it's just too easy for the Punto's light to stay well and truly beneath a handy bushel.

And I'll also bet you have some pretty lazy pre-conceptions about Fiat cars in general. If you're of a certain age, rust and electrical maladies will still be top of your list when it comes to Fiat, in spite of two decades where Italian build quality has done nothing but improve.

Of course, Fiat itself has seemed to occasionally ignore the Punto. While the glamorous 500 and the practical Panda have since come along to take centre stage, the current Punto is merely a facelifted version of the car that was launched in 2005.

So, I wasn't expecting all that much when I grabbed the keys to the test car. Yet another facelift of the Punto has come along, reversing some of the rather poor styling decisions made when it became the Punto Evo in 2009, but I too had fallen prey to assuming I knew the Punto's place in the universe.

I'm therefore pleased to report that I was wrong. The updates to the latest generation have gone a long way to strengthening the Punto's hand and it's actually a much sharper competitor to the likes of the Fiesta and Polo than you would have thought. Certainly, it looks arguably better than either, and the cabin now benefits from much higher quality surfaces than before, albeit you don't have to look too hard to find hard, scratchy plastics.

There's good space in there too, and the seats are comfy while out back, the boot is big and well shaped.

The actual production version of the updated 1.3-litre MultiJet Diesel engine will have 85bhp in the Puntos you'll find in dealerships, but our test car actually had the old 75bhp version fitted. No matter, even with the rise of the clever little two-cylinder TwinAir petrol, the diesel is the Punto to have, even if it is a pricey option. Quite apart from exceptionally good economy and emissions figures (90g/km of Co2 and potentially as good as 80mpg if you're in-cred-ibly delicate with the throttle) there is the matter that its 200Nm of torque means it is a relaxed and capable long-haul car, something you could never have said of the old 1.2-litre petrol. Mind you, an extra cog in the slightly slack-shifting five-speed gearbox would help in this regard.

Also a touch slack is the steering, which feels entirely artificial and fake, which is a shame as through the clouds of over-assistance you can feel a really quite talented chassis at work. It's not quite as sharp or rewarding as a Fiesta, but it's more fun by far than most others in the class to throw around, and in spite of ever-increasing girth the Punto still feels properly small and enjoyably agile. It also rides better than it did in 2005 when I first drove it. It still jiggles a little over small, sharp surfaces, but bigger bumps are smoothed over with a deft Italianate roll of the shoulders.

Add to that a reasonably affordable list price of €15,495 which includes pretty decent equipment as standard, and the Punto's package is starting to come together really rather well. And then there's the intangible loveliness that comes with merely driving an Italian car. A little touch of flair, a merest hint of style all makes the experience that bit more enjoyable. It's not something that will appeal to all, perhaps indeed only to a select few, but it's the difference between shopping on Grafton Street or in the Grand Piazza in Milan. You just, or at least I just, feel as if you're cutting a bit more of a rakish figure climbing out of your Punto at the kerb side.

No, the Punto's not perfect, and yes, thanks to that broad public perception you will pay a harsh price come resale time, but I left it back feeling quite surprisingly sad to see it go. Character is a rare thing in an increasingly homogenised car market, and the Punto has that in buckets. To find that it also has a remarkable amount of substance to back that up was simply a welcome surprise.


Fiat Punto 1.3 JTD 85bhp
Price as tested: €15,495
Price range: €13,495 to €15,495
Capacity: 1,248cc
Power: 85bhp
Torque: 200Nm
Top speed: 170kmh
0-100kmh: 12.7sec
Economy: 3.5l-100km (80mpg)
CO2 emissions: 90g/km
Road Tax Band: A2. €180
Euro NCAP rating: 5-star adult, 4-star child, 3-star pedestrian

Road Test: Skoda Superb 2.0 TDI 170 L&K

Price as tested: €36,645

+ Comfort, practicality, space, solidity, quality, refinement
– A touch pricey for a Skoda?
= Lovely car, but lesser Superbs are just as good

It’s doubtful that Vaclav Laurin and Vaclav Klement established their eponymous motorcycle and bicycle company in 1895, that either of them ever imagined having their names on a car that competes with contemporary BMWs. Very doubtful in fact, because in 1895, BMW didn’t exist. Nor did The Czech Republic, modern federated Germany or much else that we today consider so familiar. What did exist was the Skoda Engineering Works, founded in 1859 by the aristocratic Count Wallenstein-Vartenberk. Skoda would buy out Laurin and Klement in 1925 and the two were joined at the hip until the creation in 1945 of Czechoslovakia and the nationalisation under Communism.

A little bit of history there, and apologies if it dragged, but it’s a necessary bit of background to understand why modern-day Skoda is launching a pricey limited edition (just 40 units coming to Ireland) of its Superb saloon, complete with calligraphic Laurin & Klement script on the wings.

€36k may seem a lot to be shelling out for a Skoda, any Skoda, but the fact is that these days, the brand seems able to bear such an expensive car with ease. We’ve all waffled on so much about how far Skoda has come since its eighties nadir, but the simple fact is that the cars now turned out by the Mladá Boleslav factory in what is now the Czech Republic are among the very best that you can buy, and stand easy comparison with rivals even from premium brands such as BMW and Mercedes.

Certainly when you crank open the Superb’s hefty door and lower yourself onto a buttery-soft dark brown leather seat, you’d be hard pressed to call the Superb L&K anything short of properly luxurious. The surfaces of the cabin are all finely graded, the seats terrifically comfortable and, as has been the Superb’s calling card since its introduction, the rear seat space practically presidential.

Out back, accessed by the oddball TwinDoor boot system that allows you to decide whether you want your Superb to act as a saloon or a hatchback, lies a massive 565-litre luggage area (which even with two demanding children aboard, we were unable to overwhelm with luggage). It’s these practicalities of space and comfort that give the Superb such an instant ‘want-one’ factor – the fact that there are few, if any, tasks you could give it which it would not be able to easily deal with.

Standard equipment includes bi-xenon headlights, 18” alloy wheels, Bluetooth phone and media player connection, full leather trim, climate control (for both front and rear passengers), heated seats (ditto), automatic wipers, cruise control, sat-nav. The list goes on and on, but it should be noted that apart from the deep brown colour of the leather seats, there is nothing here that you couldn’t already spec an existing Superb model up with.

As with all other Superbs, the L&K steers sweetly and faithfully. It never exhibits the handling alacrity that you’d get in a Ford Mondeo, but it’s never less than utterly competent in the corners and is a very relaxing, easy-going car to drive. Skoda has improved the Superb’s ride quality over the years, but it remains a touch too jiggly at times, which is a shame given the car’s overall levels of comfort and refinement.

The 170bhp 2.0 TDI diesel engine, familiar from many other Volkswagen Group applications, remains a paragon of its kind – quiet, efficient and with decently brisk performance. We averaged 6.5-litres per 100km, better than 40mpg, but bear in mind that your overall touring range will be limited by the Superb’s surprisingly small fuel tank. An on-paper 8.8secs 0-100kmh dash time makes the Superb sound quite quick, but the reality is that its performance feels more relaxed than that.

It’s a very satisfying car, the Superb L&K. One of those cars that feels instantly ‘right’ the moment you sit in, and that’s a feeling that doesn’t fade with familiarity. As a spacious, high-quality family car, it’s all but impossible to beat, and loaded up with the L&K’s extra equipment and luxury appointments, it really can take on the likes of the BWM 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class. It’s not as agile to drive as either, but destroys the Germans when it comes to interior space and practicality.

For all that, you could say the same of any Superb, and if you’re willing to forego the soft leather and sat-nav, there’s better value to be had further down the price list. Not that dear old Vaclav and Vaclav would have cared though; most of their original L&K cars were luxury models anyway...


Skoda Superb 2.0 TDI 170 Laurin & Klement
Price as tested: €36,645
Price range: €24,695 to €47,895
Capacity: 1,968
Power: 170bhp
Torque: 350Nm
Top speed: 222kmh
0-100kmh: 8.8sec
Economy: 5.7l-100km (52.3mpg)
CO2 emissions: 149g/km
Road Tax Band: C. €330
Euro NCAP rating: 5-star; 90% adult, 81% child, 50% pedestrian, 71% safety assist

News: Volkswagen plans new SUVs, launches hotter Scirocco

Volkswagen has confirmed that it will begin developing a huge range of SUV style vehicles, dramatically expanding its range beyond the current Tiguan and Touareg,


It's not exactly a surprising move, considering that compact SUVs are pretty much the only market segment still capable of pulling in a few buyers at the moment, and VW's range is looking somewhat light on SUVs compared to some rivals, especially Nissan's

So, two new SUVs are already in the works, both designed to compliment the next-generation Tiguan (which should look very similar to VW's CrossCoupe concept car, above). The first will be a compact, Polo-based car designed to take on the Nissan Juke, Mini Countryman and in-house rival Skoda Yeti. The current CrossPolo kind of fills that niche at the moment, but VW product planners are convinced that what buyers want is a car that's more obviously 4x4 based and more versatile too.

Then there will be a Passat-based seve-seat SUV, to take on the likes of the Hyundai Santa Fe and next-generation Land Rover Freelander. That won't arrive till 2015 at the earliest though, and kind of revives an abandoned plan that would have seen the last-gen Passat spin off a luxurious seven-seat Mercedes R-Class rival.

In the meantime, VW is tilting at enthusiasts with the new Scirocco GTS. Don't get your hopes up; there's no new or more powerful engine. GTS is a trim level that includes those bonnet stripes,  red mirrors and brake calipers, spoiler, diffuser and 18" wheels. Inside, there's loads of red stitching, piano black panels and a retro-eighties golf-ball gearknob.

News: Honda teases new Civic estate

Honda has teased us with a sketch image of an upcoming Civic estate. The picture, flashed up on the screen at Honda's stand at the Paris motor show, seems to show a tightly-contoured compact estate with a distinctive wraparound rear-end.


Honda is keeping tech details close to its chest for the moment, but when a pre-production version gets an airing at the Geneva show next March, expect it to have a slightly stretched version of the current Civic hatch's platform and Honda's all-new 1.6 diesel engine which should push emissions well below the 100g/km mark.

Road Test: BMW 320d SE Touring

Price as tested: €51,930

+ Style, chassis, practicality, comfort, economy, performance; everything really
– Engine too noisy around town. That's it.
= As close to perfection as currently mechanically possible.



They. They are omnipresent. They are all-knowing. They are the They who show up in every pub conversation, They are the true and all-seeing know-alls of the universe. You know, the They in "They say that..."

Well, They say that perfection is unattainable in nature. To which I say, well, what about Scarlett Johansson? And perhaps more pertinently for a motoring website, what about the new BMW 3 Series Touring?

Now, perfection is a dangerous word for any critic to use. It essentially paints you into a corner, as if this thing here is perfect, then what about the next thing, which may be even better again. Do we need to have a graduated system of perfection? A Johansson scale, as it were?

BMW's mighty 3 Series has always been pretty high up the scale of perfection, certainly since the iconic E30 version of the 1980s and the current F30 3 Series is for my money the best one ever. It manages to combine traditional BMW virtues of style, agility and an entertaining driving experience with a level of comfort and refinement that few other cars, indeed few other BMWs, can match.

And here's the Touring version, the estate, which really and truly pushes all my buttons. Now, I know many of you still dismiss estates as Brewery Rep's cars and you'd all rather be seen in your trendy compact SUVs. To which I say, good luck to you and enjoy the fuel bills. I'll be happy in my wagon.

To turn the regular 3 Series into a Touring, BMW has really been doing its homework. The expected separate opening glass rear window, a feature pioneered by the original E30 Touring, is there as ever, while the main tailgate is now electrically powered as standard. A shame that; electric 'gates are just an annoyance in my book. Why not just offer it as a no-cost option? Still, the boot once open is large (495-litres, which BMW claims is a best-in-class figure), square and luxuriously carpeted. The sill is just 620mm off the ground the the standard stainless steel scuff plate should keep dings and scratches in the paint work down to a minimum.

The rear seats split into three 40:20:40 sections and if you fold everything flat, there's 1,500-litres of load space. Practical, then.

Up front, it looks and feels the same as any 3 Series, which is to say really rather wonderful. I've heard complaints from some quarters that the cabin looks too plain or too similar to the previous E90 3 Series, but to that I say just take a long journey in one. Then, when you've noticed the spot-on driving position, the comfy seats, the space, the clear dials and the general air of purposefulness, get back to me.

Sufficient eulogies to the brilliance of the 181bhp 2.0-litre turbo diesel engine found herein have been written that future archaeologists will be forced to conclude that there was at one time a church that deified a Munich-built oil-burning engine, so it's enough here to say that it remains powerful, smooth and very efficient. Thanks to the now-expected battery of EfficientDynamics technologies, you should easily enough be able to match the claimed 5.1-litres per 100km fuel consumtion figure, That's mid-fifties in MPG, and I managed low forties bombing around with the sport setting on the gearbox activated. Select the Eco Pro mode and you should do better still.

If there is a chink in the armour of perfection though, it's in the engine. Simply put, refinement is not quite all it should be. On the main road, at a cruise, it's fine, blending seamlessly into the background. But around town, especially from cold, and it just growls and gurgles a bit too much, an effect heightened by the otherwise excellent 8-speed automatic transmission, which tends to hunt around for cogs at low speeds.

Still, if that's enough to put you off then you'll never sample the 320d's greatest party trick. In the past, BMWs would always wow you with sharp steering, iron-fisted body control and an entertaining attitude to wet roundabouts, but then punish you when the road got bumpy, something that got progressively worse from 2002 onwards when the runflat tyre systems arrived. Now though, you'll be pitching your 3 Series down a favourite back road, revelling in the steering and chassis balance when a traditional Irish pothole will appear. You'll brace yourself for the impact, getting your wince face ready and then... nothing. The car will glide over the cratered surface as if it isn't there. Wonderful.

And that, to me at any rate, is why the 3 Touring flirts so closely with perfection. It's that combination of talents, that blending into one of sports car, family car and practical holdall. You can drop the kids to school, clean out the garage and go for an invigorating spin on a challenging road, all in one morning, all without changing cars.

Perfect? Not quite, but probably as close as They will allow.

BMW 320d SE Touring
Price as tested: €51,930
Range price: €36,620 to €52,120
Capacity: 1,995cc
Power: 181bhp
Torque: 560Nm
Top speed: 250kmh
0-100kmh: 5.6sec
Economy: 5.1-100km (55.4mpg)
CO2 emissions: 135g/km
Tax Band: B. €225 road tax
Euro NCAP rating: 5-star; 95% adult, 84% child, 78% pedestrian, 86% safety assist

Road Test: Mercedes-Benz CLS 63 AMG Shooting Brake

Price as tested: €192,000 (approx)

+ Gorgeous but practical, explosive but smooth
– Thirsty and expensive. Do you care?
= Awesome performance matched with everyday usability




It’s all too temping to describe the Mercedes-Benz CLS AMG with the same terminology that you’d use for armaments and munitions. The artillery barrage of noise from the engine, the machine-gun speed of the gearchange, the sheer weapons-grade explosiveness of the performance. A great wall of Prussian might (Swabian might, actually, but Swabia never had Prussia’s PR machine), a steel hand in a steel glove with some small velvet edging.

But it’s not really like that at all. You see, AMG is in some ways a both a victim of its own publicity and a cunning usurper of its own image. The once independent tuner, now long since an official, fully-owned subsidiary of Daimler-Benz, is happy to project an image of tyre-smoking lunacy, V8-powered bombast and a general mien of being the chief of staff car for the Autobahn Aggressor Corps. And if you were to pick one of the more deliberately lairy AMG models, a Black Series C63 Coupe for example, that’s what you’d have.

This, the CLS 63 AMG Shooting Brake is rather a different kettle of seafood, and in many ways a much more pleasing one. One of the nice things about all but the most hardcore AMG models is that, long ago, Mercedes laid down a diktat that no matter how much AMG DNA is injected, the core genes must always be those of Mercedes. So comfort, usability, practicality and refinement are at least as high up the list as sideways shenanigans.

Let’s deal with the CLS Shooting Brake in isolation for a moment. An oddball idea, to take a four-door coupe, itself closely mechanically related to the saloon and estate E-Class, and turn it into an estate, but Mercedes, like so many car makers, is using its manufacturing power and its scales of economy to explore niches in the market that no-one previously knew existed. The original CLS itself was just such an odd idea, and one that proved massively successful. So who knows, maybe there are people out there who want a car with CLS looks and B&Q practicality. Certainly, I can see the appeal myself and that lushly carpeted (or American cherry wood trimmed) load bay is actually quite practical – the 590-litre luggage capacity easily matches the supposedly more upright and practical BMW 5 Series Touring or Audi A6 Avant.

Back to the AMG, and it’s hard not the feel a touch intimidated when you climb aboard first. I recently drove the new 560bhp BMW M5 and pronounced it glorious, but almost impossible to drive legally on the public road. The CLS, with 525bhp, is giving away a touch of power but with 700Nm of torque and a fast-acting twin-clutch seven-speed paddle-shift gearbox, it sure isn’t going to be hanging around.

Like the M5, you can use a series of buttons on the centre console, adjoining the stubby gear selector, to tune the suspension, gearbox and throttle response to your liking. Or you can simply jab a finger at the button marked AMG and get the full-on, full noise performance.

Do so and... and the CLS still feels remarkably docile. Oh, the 5.5-litre twin-turbo V8 still snarls and barks as you’d want it to, and the horizon is reeling in towards you at a massive rate, but it never feels intimidating or overwhelming. The power seems to be delivered at a more steady rate than the all-of-a-sudden thump of the M5. The CLS just feels like it leaves a tiny cushion between you and the serious end of the performance spectrum, and that is all to the good when it comes to driving on the road with some level of sanity.

Of course, start to push a little harder, build up your confidence and things really start to come to life. Suddenly, the scenery is flashing by, the steering, accessed through a small, squared-off, suede-wrapped wheel, is alive with information and devilishly quick at getting the CLS’ snub nose pointed into an apex. The whole car feels delightfully slim-hipped and agile, seeming almost to hang weightless between movements, never exhibiting slack yet also never feeling as if it’s going to turn and bite. Add in some wet surfaces or slippery autumnal leaves, and that may change but the CLS’ demeanour is mostly that of a pussycat.

All of which makes it one of the most bewitching performance cars I have ever sampled. Beautiful, practical, comfortable, refined and yet with the kind of rocket-assisted sledgehammer performance that you subliminally expect from an AMG, all wrapped in a delightfully unusual package. It won’t be to all tastes, and certainly won’t be within the reaches of many pockets (235g/km and 10-litres per 100km how are you?) but as an icon of what can be done with modern high performance technology, it is little short of ballistic.

Mercedes-Benz CLS 63 AMG Shooting Brake
Price as tested: €192,000 (approx)
Range price: €70,000 (approx) to €192,000 (approx)
Capacity: 5,461cc
Power: 525bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Top speed: 250kmh
0-100kmh: 4.4sec
Economy: 10.1-100km (27.9mpg)
CO2 emissions: 235g/km
Tax Band: G. €2,258 road tax
Euro NCAP rating: Not yet tested