CAMC tow car awards 2021

[Darren.H]

Unfortunately for me, oh and you are correct about make of towbar too, I phoned a very well known reputable local towbar fitter who as soon as I said Audi wouldn't fit one, said it was too complicated so I was stuck tbh.

 

[Dustydog]

Darren, Have you considered the Audi All Road A6 Avant. I nearly bought one . It was a toss up with. VW Touareg. We preferred the SUV because of the dogs. The Audi was more than capable of towing our ta. And it had a reasonable boot. Trim level was good too.

 

[Darren.H]

I do like the a6 avant its just a bit too big for day to day car parking, one of my cars years back the dealer pointed out dents either side that I hadn't notice, he said caused by people opening their car doors into the side of my car.

 

[Raywood]

Does anyone buy a car with towing the upper most thought?
I tow at the most 8 times a year, that being 4 caravan holidays with the total tow mileage less than my annual commute to work.
I dont read the "Best Tow Car" its not relevant, what is would be, "Best All Round Car", and for me I bought just that.

The towing capacity and kerb weight are the first things I look at as if these re not right then the car is no use to me. I can then draw up a shortlist from there and then look at everyday suitability, reliability cost etc.

 

[Guzzilazz]

Does anyone buy a car with towing the upper most thought?
I tow at the most 8 times a year, that being 4 caravan holidays with the total tow mileage less than my annual commute to work.
I dont read the "Best Tow Car" its not relevant, what is would be, "Best All Round Car", and for me I bought just that.

When buying a car, towing is the uppermost factor, because it is one of the limiting requirements... I now have a 3 week old XC40 bought on the basis of our need to tow the caravan. It also happens to fit with our other requirements, but there's no point in ignoring or down playing the tow requirements

 

[Plug]

We go away most weekends towing our TA caravan years ago we had normal saloon cars but since we changed over to a SUV which is a hyundia santa fe i would never go back i am ready for a change now so been looking around love the land rover disco not the new ones about a 2013 but my local garage says keep away from them he will have it more than i will in the garage so hybrids don't interest me so might stick to the hyundia they are brill tow cars

 

[Raywood]

Tend to agree, my wife likes the looks of the Range Rover models and so do I, but my sensible side says possibly too much trouble and stay away.

 

[Plug]

Tend to agree, my wife likes the looks of the Range Rover models and so do I, but my sensible side says possibly too much trouble and stay away.

The Range Rover are lovely motors i test drove the Evoke a few months back lovely inside nice to drive so looked at tow car reveiews and they donts have good rateings so walked away from it any car i choose towing come top of my list

 

[chrisb42]

When buying a car, towing is the uppermost factor, because it is one of the limiting requirements... I now have a 3 week old XC40 bought on the basis of our need to tow the caravan. It also happens to fit with our other requirements, but there's no point in ignoring or down playing the tow requirements

WHat MPG while towing do you get with your XC40 2.0 petrol.

 

[GeorgeandAde]

I agree with you Plug about the Santa fe.
Brilliant tow car.
7 seats.
Self levelling suspension,but not the ideal commute to work car.

 

[Hutch]

I ove my Santa, fe, automatic as the caravan has max weight of 1645. IF i had a heavier caravan I might think of the Manual. The Landrover range don't compete for cost and reliability or for space in the car. ,

 

[GeorgeandAde]

I wish I had gone for the manual Hutch.
Maybe squeeze a few more mpg out of it.
Ive got the auto and getting about 30mpg around town(taking it steady).

 

[Hutch]

I wish I had gone for the manual Hutch.
Maybe squeeze a few more mpg out of it.
Ive got the auto and getting about 30mpg around town(taking it steady).

Thats about the same as mine, towing varies with area, never lower than 25mpg , with normally fully loaded Caravan say 1645kg exactly. !!!
I chose the auto , as I didn't want to be reversing into pitches and our storage with the manual. . Done 72k miles now, extremley happy.
Got the 5 seat Premium as it has more space under the boot floor to store stuff.
Probably 25k to 30 k towing.

 

[Hutch]

Does anyone buy a car with towing the upper most thought?
I tow at the most 8 times a year, that being 4 caravan holidays with the total tow mileage less than my annual commute to work.
I dont read the "Best Tow Car" its not relevant, what is would be, "Best All Round Car", and for me I bought just that.

Yes People do, your towing of only 8 times a year, is very minimal compared to many folk that go away for almost twice monthly all year round and also tour into Europe. Everyone is different some of us even have different cars for towing and daily use. "Best all round car for taking stuff to the tip " does not come high in the the car magazines.

Sorry about the rant. BUT.

 

[Darren.H]

Yes People do, your towing of only 8 times a year, is very minimal compared to many folk that go away for almost twice monthly all year round and also tour into Europe. Everyone is different some of us even have different cars for towing and daily use. "Best all round car for taking stuff to the tip " does not come high in the the car magazines.

Sorry about the rant. BUT.

BUT, all you have said is heavy car and a diesel dont need an expert for that!
My a4 petrol pulls 1550kg mptlm van superbly, acceleration is with ease as is braking, Im here now in Keswick having towed over the A66 pretty much 100% on cruise, letting the car auto brake on the down hill sections, mpg dont care, I've paid £180 for a week on a fully serviced pitch with glorious views an extra few bob on fuel isnt a consideration to get here.
Best tow car as I said has no relevance, its one aspect of ownership

 

[Hutch]

I bought my Santa Fe, as We went to France every 3 months for a month for almost 5 years, towing normally about 2000 miles every trip. So for my usage the consideration of the towcar came very high up.

 

[woodsieboy]

Another Sata Fe fan had it for 3 years now , bought second hand with27 k miles, manual gearbox, we bought it specifically for towing our caravan, it replaced our old Shogun that did 10 years service,test drove a discovery but dashboard warning lights came on during test drive,so yes there are people who buy cars specifically for towing caravans, although we also have Peugeot Partners and a Suzuki Swift sport that we use for work/ weekends

 

[Beachball]

I wish I had gone for the manual Hutch.
Maybe squeeze a few more mpg out of it.
Ive got the auto and getting about 30mpg around town(taking it steady).

Got no choice about a automatic it suits my needs

 

[Tobes]

Towing was high on my priority list when I picked my most recent car, but was not the be all end all. I compromised on space in the car (less) total train weight (less but still enough, and braked towable mass (again down but enough) so that I could have a car that really really works for me solo. I picked an EV. It will still tow my Bailey Unicorn S3 Vigo Max Weight upgrade, with four passengers and stuff for a week away. I just have to add a few mins to each stop to un-hitch and start charging. But the compromise is absolutely worth it so that for the 95% of the time I am not towing, I have an incredible performance car with very very low running costs. Small compromise, massive win.

 

[otherclive]

Towing was high on my priority list when I picked my most recent car, but was not the be all end all. I compromised on space in the car (less) total train weight (less but still enough, and braked towable mass (again down but enough) so that I could have a car that really really works for me solo. I picked an EV. It will still tow my Bailey Unicorn S3 Vigo Max Weight upgrade, with four passengers and stuff for a week away. I just have to add a few mins to each stop to un-hitch and start charging. But the compromise is absolutely worth it so that for the 95% of the time I am not towing, I have an incredible performance car with very very low running costs. Small compromise, massive win.

Nice looking outfit and CL. Looking at the car if you carry four people including yourself what’s the boot volume it doesn’t look large enough to avoid loading the caravan. What goes in the boot?

 

[Hutch]

Towing was high on my priority list when I picked my most recent car, but was not the be all end all. I compromised on space in the car (less) total train weight (less but still enough, and braked towable mass (again down but enough) so that I could have a car that really really works for me solo. I picked an EV. It will still tow my Bailey Unicorn S3 Vigo Max Weight upgrade, with four passengers and stuff for a week away. I just have to add a few mins to each stop to un-hitch and start charging. But the compromise is absolutely worth it so that for the 95% of the time I am not towing, I have an incredible performance car with very very low running costs. Small compromise, massive win.

Tobes, sounds like you have a good outfit, I think for myself I would have to try it out many times to be convinced,
But, being retired, my oldish 6 years SF will see me out, already my bones 69 old, have problems at times getting on my Honda CBF 500.
I will stick to my old SF, and wait for the latest Sport car outings at Silverstone to get my Speed Hypes. (🚜
Lets all enjoy

 

[Beachball]

Tobes, sounds like you have a good outfit, I think for myself I would have to try it out many times to be convinced,
But, being retired, my oldish 6 years SF will see me out, already my bones 69 old, have problems at times getting on my Honda CBF 500.
I will stick to my old SF, and wait for the latest Sport car outings at Silverstone to get my Speed Hypes. (🚜
Lets all enjoy

Hutch I don"t know how you get on your Honda CBF 500 but my mobility scooter is only thing i can manage now

 

[RogerL]

Towing was high on my priority list when I picked my most recent car, but was not the be all end all. I compromised on space in the car (less) total train weight (less but still enough, and braked towable mass (again down but enough) so that I could have a car that really really works for me solo. I picked an EV. It will still tow my Bailey Unicorn S3 Vigo Max Weight upgrade, with four passengers and stuff for a week away. I just have to add a few mins to each stop to un-hitch and start charging. But the compromise is absolutely worth it so that for the 95% of the time I am not towing, I have an incredible performance car with very very low running costs. Small compromise, massive win.

Are you concerned that many places with chargers don't have convenient places to unhitch the caravan and leave it parked somewhere else?

Plenty of caravanners are wary of leaving the car/caravan unattended at services for fear of it being stolen and it seems fairly common than any caravan dedicated parking is frequently full of cars, vans and trucks

 

[Tobes]

Nice looking outfit and CL. Looking at the car if you carry four people including yourself what’s the boot volume it doesn’t look large enough to avoid loading the caravan. What goes in the boot?

The key with this outfit is getting the weight balance (between car and van) right. The car has reasonable payload, but not much space. The van has less payload and loads of space. In the car was awning, pup tent, caravan spare wheel, 4 folding chairs, pegs, hitch / wheel lock, torque wrench, tool kit, drill, nose weight gauge, and bunch of heavy food + BBQ - hookup cables if needed.
The boot has a huge space under the floor that the tent and awning pegs went into (with usual shopping bags and 1st aid kits).
The spare wheel was a stroke of bad luck made good. It should be under the caravan on a winch, but when I let it down to have the tyre changed at then beginning of the season, the witch died ( 2 days before our 1st trip). The van has a massive space under the fixed bed ideal for storing / carrying the wheel - very close to the axle). So now I put the wheel in the car (about 25kg of small dense weight) and free up payload in the van for less dense stuff (bedding, clothes lighter food etc).

 

[Tobes]

Are you concerned that many places with chargers don't have convenient places to unhitch the caravan and leave it parked somewhere else?

Plenty of caravanners are wary of leaving the car/caravan unattended at services for fear of it being stolen and it seems fairly common than any caravan dedicated parking is frequently full of cars, vans and trucks

So far, my plan has been to use locations I am happy with. Just as I plan my approach to a CL using Google maps, so I plan my charging. Classic services are not so good for the exact reason you state. Supermarket chargers (rapid) are good as you can often find lots of space in the carpark for the van. Leaving the car unattended while charging is fine. The van we tend to always leave with at least one occupant, while the other(s) shop / use the loo etc. Very similar to a motorway services type stop. Some places are better than others. Duckmanton M1J29A and Skelton in Leeds - both excellent. Lots of chargers and decent sized car parking.