A SEVEN seat people carrier that will do a real 43 miles per gallon? Sounds too good to be true -  but it's not.

That's what you can get in a day of varied driving from country lanes to motorways in the SEAT Alhambra.

With the seats all adjusted, there is room for two adults to sit in the third row, which pop up easily from the boot floor.

And with them in place, there is still a small but reasonable amount of luggage space.

Power in my car came from the excellent VW group 2.0-litre turbo diesel, driving through a six-speed gearbox.

It is quiet and refined and gave very good performance on that long haul to visit family.

Surprisingly, it also drives well, with good handling and excellent road holding for something so large.

There is fair acceleration in sixth gear - quite enough for most motorway work - and economy is helped by stop/start and battery charging under braking.

SE CR Ecomotive spec brought excellent equipment including Bluetooth, umpteen airbags, climate, stability control, leather covered steering wheel, alarm and auxiliary music inputs.