24 Jan 08
The Roomster has been performing pretty heroically otherwise. We took our annual run to Calais before Christmas - more for the ritual of that cafe with the amazing moules than for the cheap booze, which isn't anymore - and ended up spending a few hours marooned dockside as the weather attempted to sink our inbound ferry.
And we rediscovered what a very social space the Roomster's cabin is, although I take Farah's point about the large glass area's tendency to mist. It's just such a light and airy space, with absolutely no issue about individual comfort for four adults (two of which are on the large side). A big part of that appeal is the enormous sunroof, an option I would put at the top of the list for the Skoda.
And just to underline the occasional confusion about what the Roomster is, when we were guided onto the ferry (finally), one of ferry people had a little think about whether we should be on the lower, taller deck for 4X4s and vans, or the shallower top deck. I said 'it's an estate car', which is how I tend to think of it now, and off to the top deck we went.
The most challenging recent drive for the Roomster came on Christmas Eve when we loaded up and headed to St Ives in Cornwall. I was worried: we'd be four-up with a week's worth of luggage on what would probably be quiet roads (they were). That's a long drive, there are big hills and I'd want to maintain a pretty high cruising speed (85-90) on those long, deserted stretches. Oh, and our passengers were more used to Range Rovers and Audi A8s on such long journeys.
What a revelation. First of all the speed was brilliant. The Skoda never once felt like it wouldn't deliver what I asked of it - and very rarely with an unwelcome downshift. Maintaining a rather high cruising speed just wasn't an issue and, more importantly, the passengers didn't notice (always a good sign).
