Sporty and diesel are good companions

If you want to really try a car out for its sporting characteristics, I recommend the 34-odd miles from the NUJ annual delegate meeting in Ennis to the great pint in Liam O Riain's pub in Ballina, just across the bridge that links that village with its Lough Derg twin, Killaloe ... while the Aintree Grand National is on TV and keeping most other people out of the way.

It works best with 'The Very Best of Elton John' in the CD player. The trip is the basis of this appraisal of Citroen's Xsara Coupe with a 2-litre engine. It scored very well. Particularly given that it was a diesel engine.

(Diesel and 'sporty'? Listen, April 1 is long gone, pal.)

Sure it is. And this is no joke. I now reckon that if you want to have the best of both sports and economical worlds, this little sweetheart is one way to go. It's even practical, as there's seating aft for a couple of small people.

From the Clare capital to the little village of Moymore is deceptive, as you're mostly driving the car like any other, and as a diesel (turbo, though) you experience the normal slightly ploddish performance of oilburning. Simply because there mightn't be the occasion to use it to its best. (Even to the background of 'Honky Cat'.)

But from there on the twisty and marvelously indifferent and changeable surfaces of the road across Bridget Lake to Bodyke ('better Off Dead'), it becomes a real opportunity to have fun. While at the same time keeping inside the legal limits.

The engine under the bonnet of this sweet-looking yet nonaggressively styled car was the latest HDi from the PGA Group, bringing that particular manufacturer right back to the pole position of medium-sized diesels which it held for so long in older technology. I was nonplused when given it in a coupe, because the two elements simply didn't seem to gel in concept.

But ... oh, yes, but ...

Back a bit to specifications. The serious torque/power band in the engine is between 2000-4000rpm. And once you've set that in your mind, it has a sporting instinct that one normally only expects from petrol engines of similar size. Just make sure that your gearshift-stirring keeps you in that band, and the Coupe HDi responds with a verve that is perceptually amplified by the massive low-down pulling power. Actually, while maximum torque is available at 1900rpm, about 2700rpm seems to be the really sweet spot.

That stirring is done by a pretty good shift, though in the review car there seemed to be a notchiness in reaching for second. It's something you forget as times go by, and overall the shift is very comfortable and precise to use. The clutch is light, with a slightly long pedal that I liked very much.

As the Ted Walsh-trained Papillion coursed its way around Aintree to a win applauded by Ireland (with 'Bennie and the Jets' cheering him on), the suspension of the Xsara was well tested in Clare on the road to Tuamgraney and its town centre cemetery/park. There's nothing exotic about the underpinnings of the car, but in true Citroen tradition it absorbs the worst of bumps and potholes while at the same time allowing tight wheel control to the hard stuff.

The road surface gets better, but twists nicely, around the eastern side of the Sliabh Bearnaghs and along the scenic edge of Lough Derg to Killaloe, a sweet village with a problem, because the bridge across to Ballina simply can't take two cars abreast, let alone the trucks and buses that regularly block it ('Saturday Night's Allright for Fighting').

But any road rage possibility can be eased by a pint of the black stuff in Liam O Riain's, which even has a decent space in front to park and find out just what won at Aintree, given that my particular commentary was by Elton John ('I Feel Like a Bullet' seemed particularly apt).

You can see what the car looks like from the pix. The seats were supportive in their sporty style, but bum-numb sets in after 100 miles. There are good spaces for bits and pieces, especially those nice lidded compartments under the door-armrests. And the luggage area in this liftback-style car is certainly adequate for any travelling couple which does not include shoe-fetishists.

So, sporty and diesel DO make travelling companions. Have to ask, though, if paying almost £4,000 more over the entry-level 1.4-litre Coupe will be considered worthwhile by many? And how will residuals hold up for a peculiarly niche car? Maybe the fact that it is fun at 54mpg will help.