EVERY car manufacturer worth its salt has a "green" sub-brand these days.

They have a variety of esoteric names, usually beginning with Eco, Blue or Green, but, essentially, they are all the same.

A manufacturer takes a standard turbodiesel hatchback, strips out some of the equipment in the name of weight saving, changes the gear ratios, fits low rolling resistance tyres and plastic wheel trims, and a little light on the instrument panel to remind the dim witted when to change up.

Lately, automatic stop-start has been added to this recipe.

These green machines have become very popular with drivers looking to save money.

But are they really that good?

I drove one this week and it was, beyond doubt, one of the worst vehicles I've had the misfortune to try in many a year.

It didn't help that the car needed a damn good service.

Despite only having covered 5,000 miles from new, the clutch biting point was at the very top of its travel - leading to much revving and very little movement until I'd gotten used to it.

But that doesn't excuse the ludicrously tall gearing which often left me stranded at junctions praying the car would get a move on.

The gap between first, second and third is not so much a gap as a chasm. I ended up screaming the engine in second around town - hardly the recipe for a relaxed drive or lower fuel bills.

The engine itself was decrepit and noisy - as though all the sound deadening material had been removed in the name of weight saving.

It was so cold-blooded that it felt on the verge of a misfire for the first ten miles and never seemed happy in top. The first time the start-stop kicked in I thought the damn thing had stalled on me.

I could go on - about the tyres with no grip, the lack of a spare, the low rent interior, the deafening interior noise - but I think you get the picture.

And what does this purgatory get you? Less than 10 miles per gallon more than the standard diesel, which is infinitely nicer to drive.

Incredibly, these stripped out and emasculated specials actually cost more than a normal car, because manufacturers think the public are gullible enough to believe they are getting something a bit special.

And, judging by the sales figures, they are right.

But in this instance, the "greening" process had created a car that was a pig to drive.

Thanks, but I think I'll pass if this is the green revolution.