Just in case you are wondering what else won each class in the tow car awards and what came top, the following is taken from the press release about the event.
'Once again, the results prove that winning tow cars are available across all budgets and sizes, with a new overall winner for 2014 – the new Nissan Qashqai - with a 130 PS, 1.6 dCi engine. It also won its 1400-1549kg weight class. The judges said it is: “A brilliant family crossover, a superb tow car, plus it’s built in Britain.”
Last year’s overall winner, the Skoda Octavia, won the ‘Up to 1400kg’ weight class again, while the Volkswagen Passat Estate, Jaguar XF Sportbrake and Land Rover Discovery also retained their titles in their respective weight classes once more.
This year’s Best Ultralight Tow Car is the Renault Captur, while the Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer is the Best Petrol Tow Car. Six cars were shortlisted for the Green Award and subjected to What Car?’s True MPG tests, but the Volvo V60 Plug-In Hybrid AWD was a clear winner.
New awards for 2014 include the Best MPV, won by theCitroën Grand C4 Picasso, and a Money No Object Award which had to go to the £75,000 Land Rover Range Rover Sport.
Commenting on The Tow Car Awards 2014, Julia Bradbury, the TV presenter and President of The Camping and Caravanning Club said: “I don’t think people realise how tough and comprehensive the testing is for this competition, so for everyone’s safety, these results are invaluable for those looking for a new car, or as a reference for a used one in the future.”
David Motton, Tow Car Editor of Practical Caravan magazine added: “We had a really impressive list of entries this year and an extremely busy week putting them all through what we believe is the most rigorous test programme. The results make interesting reading.”
As choosing a good tow car is important for everyone’s road safety, the cars were tested at the renowned MIRA private proving ground in Warwickshire to give the judges from The Camping and Caravanning Club and Practical Caravan and What Car? magazines a safe but extremely demanding venue to push the cars to their limits in a series of dynamic tests, including high speed stability, hill starts on a 1 in 6 gradient, plus emergency stops and lane changing. The judging criteria also includes practical features such as boot space, running costs, ease of fitting towing mirrors and driver appeal when not towing.
Each car was matched to a caravan (with any stability control devices disabled) supplied by The Swift Group, or a lightweight trailer, if necessary,weighing up to the recommended safe limit of 85 per cent of the car’s ‘kerbweight’.
The new dedicated Tow Car Awards website (http://www.thetowcarawards.com) has full details of how each car performed, plus a reference to results from previous years.
