But she’s a true sleeper car from the outside she looks as if she ought to be packing nought but a cabin full of groceries and a back seat stuffed with squawking, snot-smothered kids but underneath she’s meanness set to music. Framed by a field of far sportier competitors the shiny red station wagon looks slightly absurd. It’s teeming rain at Brands Hatch as my Volvo 850 Estate revs eagerly on the grid.