VOLVO is one of those brands that might surprise you – unless you go to the trouble of finding out, you might never know how good its cars are.

Take the new V40 – it’s a premium hatchback up there with the best of them and really rather a good car.

And in the R-Design trim that I tested, it’s excellent.

With a 190hp diesel engine it’s great to drive, with one of the best automatic gearboxes out there at the moment.

I’ll always argue that those of that really like to drive would choose a manual, but this auto was so good that it didn’t detract from the experience, with seamless changes and the option to take more control through paddles behind the steering wheel.

The diesel has lots of power to give and the overall feel is of a responsive drive, both in handling and in grunt.

The R-Design looks good too, with sporty trim and two nice big chunky exhaust ends setting off the look.

The cabin is modern and well-designed and the panoramic roof is well worth speccing, adding to the feel of lightness and space.

Of course, being a Volvo, there is plenty of safety kit on board.

The adaptive cruise control, for one, is one of the best I’ve experienced – it’s not overly cautious and can be adjusted as well.

Included in the pack that has the panoramic roof is park assist and a rear view camera, while the driver support pack adds more safety gear – collision warning with auto brake, pedestrian and cyclist detection, lane keeping aid, driver alert control and the like are all included.

And figures are impressive – all diesel engines, whether 120hp, 150hp or 190hp, are capable of mid-70s to the gallon and clean enough for free, or minimal, road tax.

The petrols aren’t bad either, with a monster 245hp unit topping the range, but on this evidence the diesels offer a superb combination of performance and efficiency for those that do the mileage to warrant the extra initial cost.

Prices start at a rather reasonable £18,995, although you can add another £10k to that for the R-Design tested here.