THE Phaeton is Volkswagen's first large luxury saloon, joining the Touareg off-roader as part of the brand's determined effort to mix it with the established players in the luxury class.

As you would expect of a company with a reputation for thoroughness in everything it does, the Phaeton (pronounced to rhyme with Dayton) is not a tentative step into the unknown, but a self-confident stride intended to overtake BMW, Mercedes, Lexus - and even sister company Audi - in a single bound.

Volkswagen has a desire to exceed all previous parameters and has a quirky set of statistics to prove the car's capabilities. For instance, the W12 model is capable of main-taining a steady interior temperature of 22 degrees Celsius while the vehicle is travelling at 186mph (300km/h) in an outside temp-erature of 50 degrees - great if you like risking your licence three times over in the Kalahari Desert, but utterly irrelevant elsewhere.

Rather than attempting to produce some "wow factor" by going for a particularly challenging design (the route taken by Renault's Vel Satis), or going for sheer scale (which is the Touareg's most immediately striking characteristic), the Phaeton looks pretty much as you'd expect a luxury Volkswagen to look.

Echoes of the Passat W8, which was used as a test project for the Phaeton, are still there, but the longer, slimmer headlamps, more aggressive grille, arrow-shaped bonnet, oversized badges and wide stance differen-tiate it from its humbler stablemate.

At the rear are the Phaeton's most striking design elements. The tail lights are made up of very bright circular LED units. Using bichrome LEDs makes it possible for all the rear lights to appear uniformly red in appearance when not in use, which simplifies and enhances the car's back end.

Inside, standards of quality and design match and sometimes exceed those of its competitors. The slightly austere ambience that has always characterised Volkswagens is maintained though, and may not appeal to all tastes.

It's more business-like than the soft and comfy interior of a Jaguar XJ, and somewhat reminiscent of BMW's 7 Series.

But in this class, where extreme luxury comes as standard, discussion of the tiny gradations between different manufacturers is of little benefit. Anyone who has been inside the proto-luxury Passat W8 will get a general idea of what to expect, but only in that it acts as an hors d'oeuvre to the Phaeton's main course banquet.

The focal point is the centre console from which it is possible to operate numerous features from satellite navigation and climate control to suspension settings and servicing schedules. One particularly clever touch is a simple steering wheel button that lets you toggle through the most frequently used displays with minimum fuss.

Comfort levels are supreme and should stay that way for many years given VW's reputation for bombproof build quality.

Should you be lucky enough to drive a Phaeton - or even luckier and have an em-ployee to take care of that sort of thing - you will soon learn that the Phaeton is a surprisingly involving drive for such a large car.

The suspension is stiffer than you might expect, virtually eliminating the body roll that is the bane of the luxury class, and the steering provides good feedback despite the copious amounts of assistance that are required to make a 2,400kg car safely nego-tiate a hairpin bend.

Most of the Phaetons sold in the UK will contain the 3.2-litre V6 petrol engine that also features in such varied VW fare as the Golf R32 and Touareg off-roader. However, it's the W12 flagship engine that really catches the eye, producing an incredible 406lb/ft of torque.

It combines with the familiar 4MOTION all-wheel-drive system and the same five-speed automatic transmission as the Touareg to produce staggering performance. Business users in particular should temper their enthusiasm by reading the poor fuel economy and appalling emissions figures (18mpg combined and 374g/km respectively).

A 4.2-litre V8 petrol and a 5-litre V10 TDI join the range some months after the main launch, with a 3-litre V6 TDI completing the line-up (and probably becoming the most popular and sensible choice of all) some time in 2005.

Every Phaeton comes with air suspension, an Electronic Stabilisation Programme (ESP), Hydraulic Brake Assist (HBA) and that other essential acronym, ABS (Anti-lock Braking System). Other standard items include cruise control, a six-disc CD autochanger, metallic or pearlescent paint, Xenon headlights, leather upholstery, 12-way electric seats, eight airbags and automatic wipers.

Good though the standard specification is, it by no means represents an "all the trim-mings" package. That label is reserved for the W12, and V6 customers who want some of the W12's extras could end up spending many thousands of extra pounds on optional but highly useful items such as parking sensors, keyless entry and start, tyre pressure warning system, automatic headlights and an integrated telephone.

A case could be made that some of those items should be included as standard on a car worth more than £40,000.

For more information, call your local dealership, Martins VW, on 01256 867010.