LONG journeys in holiday time can be purgatory and I quail at the thought of all the holdups and jams and the motorway turned into a car park.

When I went to see my daughter in North Wales recently I was not looking forward to it at all but the SEAT Alhambra diesel MPV I was driving made me feel so much better.

The motorways were very slow but didn't stop and the four hour journey was surprisingly easy.

The trip back was even better, because it was Friday so I worked out a route without touching the motorways. It was much more enjoyable, there was often little traffic and it only took 15 minutes longer.

The latest Alhambra is a gem, hugely comfortable over all kinds of surfaces with six people up, reasonably quick and amazingly economical, averaging nearly 47mpg that day without really trying.

It is agile and well balanced, refined, quiet and well equipped in Ecomotive form, even including stop/start and an energy recovery system.

It comes with electric rear doors and tailgate - but short people can't reach the tailgate switch, electric parking brake, a light clutch and a very comfortable driving position.

There is a huge boot, the third row seats fold down into the floor and it has electric windows and mirrors, electric child locks, parking sensors, climate, stability control, alloys and an alarm.

: Ford Galaxy