Well my particular frontier was the hill at the end of the road and  I pushed, I slithered and I left it at the bottom before walking back home.

 

Pitiful really, given its rufty tufty pretensions - raised ride height: check, black plastic body cladding: check - and 'Outdoor' tag. Especially considering Richard managed a far more treacherous journey in his BMW limo.

 

Blind faith, probably. Got up uber-early this morning, to the proverbial snow blanket. Long-term 7 was a haven of heated-seat warmth, but also rear-wheel-drive. As I quickly realised.

 

Now, slidey tail-out fun is welcome, but not when you’ve 100 miles to commute. It was a journey more eventful than even I currently appreciate. Here’s some highlights

 

It’s not often a car stumps us, but the heavily-disguised one in the following picture has got us scratching our heads.

 

It must be a VW Group car, because look at all the cars around. Or is it? Click on add a comment if you want to have a guess…

 

What? The man outside, buzzing our door. See, we were expecting a Volkswagen Golf test car today. But the snow – what about the snow? It had us fearful, for sure. Heavens, both of US struggled to get in!

 

But I knew as soon as I spotted VW man Gareth walking up the path that, somehow, he’d made it through the carnage. That our car was here. Delivery drivers, you see, have a certain something about them. Give me a football stadia full of folk, and I’ll pick out the delivery drivers for you. Most journos can.

 

And hadn't since Sunday apparently, leaving huge sections totally waterlogged, including one of the fastest corners on the track. The Audi guys looked nervy but the guy driving the safety car (who recognised me from the S4 launch last year) said we could head out, so long as we stuck behind him and didn't do anything stupid. Expecting a steady pace I was somewhat alarmed when he set off at a proper rate of knots, the plumes of spray completely hiding his car (and his guiding brake lights into the bargain) on several of the corners.

 

It’s the current European Car of the Year beating the fantastic new Ford Fiesta to the acclaimed top spot.

But until now, I haven’t had the fortune of driving it. That changed today when Vauxhall delivered an Insignia 2.0T saloon.

 

What a motor! Forget any prejudices you have about the Vectra – this is an altogether different animal. In the metal it looks like a junior Jaguar XF, with chunky doors that make a satisfyingly Germanic ‘thunk’ when you shut them, leading to a premium interior that could easily be from the sector above. “Very swish” was my girlfriend’s reaction when she first seen it.

 

And in case you were thinking Spain + supercar = sun soaked fun allow me to shatter your illusions! While the snow falls in the UK over here it's tipping it down. And dark. I know, your heart bleeds...

 

Anyway, it's hardly ideal conditions for your first drive in a 525hp supercar. After being delayed by snow at home we got a quick run just now in the new uber R8 and it was ... interesting. I think lurking in the mist there might have been an amazing road but between the streams running across the tarmac and errant buses (how tight is that?!) it was all a bit stressful.

 

To drive the 104 miles to work. Journey down was, relatively a breeze. Yes, it was snowing. But the motorways were clear. And getting to them was simple, as the Honda Jazz we’re testing this week coped with fresh, virginal inches of snow as if it were born to it. Nervous? Not a bit.