Volkswagen Fox 2006-2012

Not the world’s most imaginative design, the new Fox. It’s more ‘Box’ than ‘Fox’, to be honest, with slabby flanks and an upright, featureless snout. The rear is equally unimaginative, making it a pretty dour piece of design overall.

Erm, there’s no way to sugar-coat it: the Fox is achingly slow. The ‘fast’ 1.4 engine needs 13 seconds to reach 100km/h, while the basic 1.2 needs a tear-inducing 17.5 seconds to wheeze to 100km/h, running out of puff before it reaches 150km/h.

Despite its upright shape and small footprint, the Fox actually handles really well. The steering is sharp, if a little lacking in feel, and body control is well contained. Its ride quality impresses as well, considering how small it is, making it feel like a much bigger car than it really is.

The interior design is pretty disappointing for a new Volkswagen. It seems to be made up from pieces of old dashboards because no elements match, there’s no flow to the design and it’s surprisingly haphazard for a VW. The upright driving position also takes some getting used to.

The ride quality is very grown up and the Fox is well isolated from bumps that would rattle another city car badly. Shame, then, that it’s let down by a cheap and poorly matched dashbaord, with hard, nasty plastics and workmanlike construction.

The Fox comes with twin airbags, ISOFIX child seat mounts and that’s about it, I’m afraid. Side airbags are optional, while ESP and curtain airbags aren’t offered on the entry-level Fox.

The deceptively huge Fox can comfortably fit two fully grown adult males in the back, while the boot is also much more accommodating than you might think. Dash-top storage is annoyingly impractical, though, and the other dash cubbies aren’t that useful either.

The Fox might be expensive relative to the rest of the range, but depreciation won’t be much of a problem and running it will be a fairly inexpensive affair. Servicing costs and parts are a little steep, while tax discs are more costly to replace because of the bigger-capacity engines.

The Fox comes with electric windows, a CD player and remote locking, but that’s about it in terms of frills. The big black bumpers, non-split folding rear seats and manual mirrors are a bit stingy on a 13-grand city car.

Only two engines are available in the Fox and neither is terribly suitable for the Irish market. The 55bhp 1.2 is painfully underpowered, even in the diminutive Fox, while the 1.4 copes. Running costs will be unnecessarily high.