05 Feb 07
Up front - on those rare occasions when the stereo is not commandeered by CDs of songs about one man and his dog, Spot, mowing meadows - the battle is of a different nature and fought almost exclusively over the bespoke iPod connector in the glove box. I'd never have agreed to my wife's Christmas present request had I known that this was going to be the outcome: Scissor Sisters versus Steely Dan... Round 7, DING...
Mercifully, these fore and aft tiffs all take place within quite the most comfortable interior I can remember. The driver's seat memory button is an endless relief, the heated seats are rarely off, ergonomics are faultless and the air-conditioning ruthlessly efficient.
The ride comfort is also really truly remarkable. Down a twisting by-way en route to relatives recently, I was forced to select the Sport suspension setting in order to reduce the risk of pebble-dashing the interior with flecks of toddler puke, but, largely, we leave the adjustable suspension in Comfort mode and waft serenely about on what I consider to be the first air-sprung system that actually makes a better fist of things than traditional cold steel.
Sadly, the youngest's seat won't quite slide far enough back to prevent his feet from kicking the back of my chair, but the threat of no chocolate mini-roll at tea time usually puts paid to that game after the first 30 minutes or so anyway.
