WE are staying younger longer, 60 is the new 50 and 40 is barely out of short trousers.

So, just at the point when a chap may be expecting to covet his neighbour's gardening tools he has the will and hopefully the funds to drive something tasty, enjoy the wind in what used to be hair.

On final approach to the decades of grey power the VW Scirocco R can still pull admiring glances and a few Gs. But at £32,000 for the two-litre 263bhp DSG you need to have either held onto that well paid job or invested your pension cleverly.

The Scirocco seems to have been around for ever but of course, it was out of the country for a while, re-emerging into the VW line-up in 2009  the coupe has just had a nip-tuck which has made touch screen navigation a standard feature along with Nappa leather upholstery.

This is hardcore motoring. The interior may be a masterpiece of designed reservation, nothing dazzling and nothing beige either, but the R badge stands for extreme. Drive this and prepare to be smacked in the general area of the gob.

Exterior styling starts off with meaningful deep front end lines then becomes a pair of bulging thighs at the rear. Wide set twin exhausts leave those in your wake clear they have just been overtaken by something special.

And if they don't get the hint VW has a range of paint jobs from ultra white to pass the sunglasses bright green.

Obviously this is a rapid car, 62mph arrives in six seconds. It's front wheel drive and all that turbocharged power would be a recipe for torque steer misery if it wasn't for the electronic limited slip differential system.

There is a word for the six-speed DSG gearbox. And the word is brilliant. You'll be flicking through the gears just for fun - and still be in with a chance of 35mpg.

Not all the time behind the R's wheel will be spent enthusing over its fast and flat composure through the bends, distinctive engine noise and straight line acceleration.

There are more mundane everyday journeys, too. Here all is serenely and  a lack of wind and road noise. Civilised covers it where often the market offers sensory depravation and skeletal dislocation. Three damper settings help.

And as well as being a sheer driving pleasure the R is well equipped, a full package of electrical aids, driver aids and connections for music and navigation.

On a practical level it's a three-door but  there is a deep boot but not a lot of rear leg room. Rearward vision is restricted. Still, it's a very useable everyday tool.

For those who hanker after the good old days consider this. The 1979 Scirocco Storm blew the opposition sideways when it was introduced. What with? Well a pretty pedestrian 8.8 seconds to 60 from a miserable 110 horses unbridled its 1.6 engine.