SHOOT FOR THE STARS(some text hidden)

By Jonathan Crouch

Ten Second Review word count: 53

Volkswagen's sleek Arteon Shooting Brake offers a sleek, yet still very practical alternative to style-conscious compact executive segment models like Audi's A5 Sportback and BMW's 4 Series Gran Coupe. It's a high class stylised estate that doesn't need a ridiculously expensive boot lid badge to stand out. And a very desirable one indeed.

Background word count: 170

The Shooting Brake. It's the kind of upper class, stylised sports estate coupe, first popularised by three-door models in the '70s like the Volvo P1800ES and the Jaguar XJS-based Lynx Eventer. A concept then resurrected in 2015 by a Mercedes with the CLS Shooting Brake and subsequent CLA Shooting Brake models. Now we've this car, the Volkswagen Arteon Shooting Brake, like its predecessors, setting out to combine the visual elegance of a coupe with the practicality of an estate. If you happen to be familiar with the Volkswagen Arteon at all, it'll be as a Fastback, a five-door Gran Turismo-like body style that continues to be sold. The Shooting Brake model aims to broaden the Arteon's appeal, which needs doing because it hasn't sold in very large numbers since its arrival in 2018. The Shooting Brake joined the range as the line-up was facelifted in mid-2020 and as with its Fastback stablemate, can be had in conventional guise, as an EV eHybrid plug-in or as a sporting Arteon R model.

Driving Experience word count: 257

The engine range kicks off with a 150PS 1.5 TSI petrol unit with 6-speed manual transmission, but most will want the 2.0 TDI diesel, which in base form comes with 7-speed DSG auto gearboxes and a 150PS output. There's also a high power biturbo 2.0 TDI 200PS diesel option. Alternatively, there's a 190PS 2.0 TSI petrol unit, also with a DSG auto 'box. There are no mild hybrid powertrains because they won't work with this car's MQB platform. Beyond the mainstream powerplants, there are also a couple of engines new to Arteon buyers. The Arteon Shooting Brake eHybrid uses the plug-in hybrid powertrain from the Passat GTE, a 160PS 1.4 litre four-cylinder turbo petrol powerplant mated to a 115PS electric motor giving a combined output of 215PS via a DSG auto gearbox. This plug-in model offers an electric driving range of 33 miles and can run in all electric form at up to 87mph. At the top of the range is the Arteon R, which uses a 2.0-litre TSI turbo petrol engine with 320PS, a 7-speed DSG auto gearbox and an updated 4MOTION four-wheel-drive system. Refinement is excellent, as is ride quality thanks to a specially developed four-link independent rear suspension set-up that can be embellished with a sophisticated 'DCC' 'Dynamic Chassis Control' adaptive damping system. You won't really want to go throwing this Volkswagen about: it isn't really that kind of car. But what it lacks when it comes to driving on its door handles it more than makes up for with exemplary trans-continental-style cruising ability.