Our fleet: Golf GTD 2.0-litre TDI 184 PS 5dr - Mar 2015

I’m now into my third month of running this model, and the honeymoon period shows no signs of ending. Its mix of sporty appeal and efficiency has continued to impress, while I’ve found its optional technology to be a real boon over the past month.

On a couple of occasions in the past I’ve misjudged parallel parking and scraped alloy wheels against the kerb. Fortunately for me, our Golf is fitted with Volkswagen’s Park Assist technology. A £150 option, this has eradicated the risk of damaged alloys in this situation.

Simple and quick to use – press a button and drive alongside a row of cars, indicating which side you want to park on, and the system will identify a suitable parking space. Using parking sensors, it then tells you whether to drive forwards or backwards and takes care of the steering itself, leaving you nicely positioned in the space around four inches from the kerb.

Our Golf is also fitted with Volkswagen’s £360 winter pack, which includes heated front seats and heated washer jets, which has been useful on the cold winter mornings. It also features the £140 High Beam Assist option, which uses a camera to detect oncoming traffic, at which point it automatically dips the headlights.

Andrew Ryan