It seems strange that the Golf, a car that seems to get bigger every year, is now available in a big economy size.

The Golf Plus, as they call it, aims to marry all the benefits of the conventional Golf with the bulk of a mini-people carrier.

It's a world apart from the one-size-fits-all mentality which used to reign supreme in the car world.

Now, cars come in various sizes tailored to your need. So if you're elderly and find ducking into a hatchback difficult, or if you're simply too tall to be comfortable in a more compact model.

It works pretty well. The Golf is a car known for its conservative style and stunning build quality and both these feature strongly in the Plus model.

Ride and handling, another of Golf 's traditional strengths, doesn't translate quite so well into such a tall vehicle but it copes reasonably well with the extra height.

It's 9.5cms taller, which doesn't sound a great deal, and on looks alone a casual observer would fail to notice that this was anything other than a normal Golf - but it does feel more spacious inside. The car sits higher, too, so all the occupants have commanding views.

In truth, it's a car with much to commend it, especially if you don't want to go the whole hog and buy a people-carrier.

It's a rather neat compromise, and considering the £500 or so premium for this taller version it's competitively priced.

People-carriers are all very well, but they're not for everybody. Golf Plus, meanwhile, is more of an everyman's motor.

Most people would fail to spot the differences compared to the regular Golf, particularly as there is no separate badging.

The underpinnings are identical, but most of the body panels have been created afresh but in such a way that you don't really notice them. It hides its extra bulk pretty neatly.

Inside, the cabin is slightly more spacious than the regular Golf, most notably in the rear seats, but anyone who has driven in sister company Seat's Altea or Toledo will have a distinct sense of dj vu as the resemblance is striking.

There are 43 different storage areas inside, according to Volkswagen. I confess I didn't count them all but I can vouch that there are quite a few.

One key difference to the normal Golf is a multifunctional loadbay. It has clever ways of flicking and flapping to create large or small compartments.

Depending on whether you slide rear seats backwards or forwards, bootspace ranges from 395 to 505 litres.

That means it lacks the load-lugging ability of an estate such as the Skoda Fabia, but it does up the Golf 's figures by around 50 litres - the equivalent of a medium-sized rucksack.

As one might expect, the Golf Plus exhibits a little more roll and a little more noise than its smaller sibling, but otherwise the driving experience is almost indistinguishable with the same fine combination of sharp steering, rapid response and a good ride.

The test version has a 2.0 litre diesel engine which zips to 60mph in under ten seconds, which is almost as quick as some hot-hatches.

PRICE: Range spans £12,895 to £18,250.

ENGINE: A 2.0 litre unit generating 138bhp.

PERFORMANCE: 0 to 60mph in 9.7secs. Top speed 123mph.

COSTS: Urban 37.2mpg; extra-urban 57.6mpg; combined 47.9mpg.

EMISSIONS: 159g/km.

WARRANTY: Three years or 60,000 miles.

INSURANCE: Group 13.

All T&A road test vehicles are independently selected and assessments are carried out impartially by members of our own staff who base their opinions only on the vehicle supplied for these purposes by the manufacturer.