Life

ULTIMATE PULLING POWER

Agonising over the question "what is the best tow car?" may not have kept you lying awake in bed at night but on the off-chance it has, you can now sleep easy thanks to the hard work of the folk behind the annual Tow Car Awards, writes William Scholes.

They have tested 56 cars of all shapes and sizes, from the diminutive Fiat Panda to the gargantuan Range Rover, costing from £11,000 to £75,000, to come up with winners in 10 categories plus an overall champion.

The cars were put through a series of tests which assessed high speed stability, hill starts on a one-in-six gradient, plus emergency stops and lane changing.

Boot space, running costs, ease of fitting towing mirrors and driver appeal when not towing were also considered.

Each car was matched to a caravan or a lightweight trailer, weighing up to the recommended safe limit of 85 per cent of the car's kerbweight. Full details of how each car performed can be found at www.thetowcarawards.com

GREEN AWARD: Volvo V60 Plug-In Hybrid D6 AWD Geartronic SE Lux Nav - £44,975

OVERALL WINNER AND 1,400-1,549kg WIHT CLASS WINNER: Nissan Qashqai 1.6 dCi 130PS - £23,995

BEST PETROL TOW CAR: Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer 1.6i 16v Direct Injection Turbo (170PS) Elite Nav - £25,129

BESTULTRALIGHT TOW CAR: Renault Captur 1.5 dCi 90 Dynamique MediaNav - £16,395