Just got back from a ride in a colleague's new VW Tiguan. As it clattered and droned agriculturally down the road I commented that there was still some way to go for VW to get diesels to the smoothness of their petrol counterparts.

He was rather upset, as it is a TSi Bluemotion.....

My bad, but in my defence I do have to say that I've heard Routemaster Buses make less noise than this thing did. A level of clatter at idle that I have not heard since I owned an Austin 1100 as a lad (which at least had the excuse of duff tappets and badly worn idler gears) and a dreadful exhaust boom under load to add insult to injury.