Volkswagen Sharan SE 2.0 TDI DSG Automatic

I had a feeling VW’s initiative to fit Goodyear Ultragrip 8s might be wise. After all, last winter was so unwintery that the geraniums, left out in an oversight, didn’t even quiver. This time, you get the sense the weather means business. And on Boxing Day in these parts, you could smell the promise of snow. We were seven up for a ride back from the in-laws’ Cirencester home. And if you know Cirencester, you’ll know it’s surrounded by a network of remote and exposed roads. The blizzard came in quickly as the light failed and plastered the road in an instant layer. In situations like this, it actually doesn’t matter how brilliant you are. Even if you have a Mercedes-Benz Unimog, if the blithering idiots in front of you have managed to get stuck, you, too, are scuppered.

Gladly that didn’t happen: there were far too few other people daft enough to be out at such an hour. And the Volkswagen Sharan was thus able to prove it can really cut the ice, so to speak. We automatically connote winter tyres with the idea that we will be granted superhuman levels of grip and traction, but the crucial benefit that’s often overlooked is the significant improvement these tyres give you in ice or rain when you’re trying to stop. Apparently the gain, when the weather is under seven degrees, is around 10 per cent. That’s a margin that could spell the difference between near and real disaster.

Not that the Sharan is a faultless winter warrior. The cold weather has exposed a certain amount of early morning lethargy. I’m used to this from the teenagers in our house an inability to grunt more than one syllable before midday, or make/eat toast without somehow having the need to interface simultaneously with the Wi-Fi. The VW’s foible pivots on the issue of waking up and moving away. On the slight incline of our driveway, the measure of throttle you might reasonably expect to do the trick sometimes doesn’t. So you add more; still nothing. So you add a little more… it kangaroos back. The youngest kids think this is funny, but if you had a giddy aunt in the back seat, she might just swallow her false teeth.

Elsewhere, the car’s refusal to accept that winter tyres might spell greater fuel consumption, combined with the sudden impression that the oil companies are not, after all, thieving braggarts, has meant that the last few hundred miles have been joyful and care-free. I remain as much a fan of small cars as ever indeed, I’ve just spent a week enjoying (please look away Ed) the delights of Renault’s titchy new petrol Twingo but my inner child can only be entertained for so long when my outer dad needs a car that can carry a crowd, plus all the pointless stuff they somehow believe necessary for the journey. So the Sharan’s still our ultimate winter car. In all senses, it’s cool.