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CARS £20,000 – £25,000
CARAVAN CLUB TOWCAR OF THE YEAR
steering and in the very wet, blustery
S
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koda Octavia VRS
behind our Towcar of the Year in the Mazda6 2.0
conditions maybe drivers were over- 2.0 TDI CR DSG marking. The 1.8 petrol engine is so Estate SL Diesel
correcting. Noseweight of 100kg is
Impressively fast
quiet on tickover you’ll think it’s Price as tested £22,683
good, while handbook information stalled, and the gearbox is both well A Mazda6 diesel estate was
on towing is comprehensive. Sits well sorted and delightful to use. ‘Eager’, voted Towcar of the Year
when hitched, too. ‘willing’ and ‘refined’ are words used 2005 and the judges had
consistently by the judges, who also high hopes of this latest
Dodge Journey referred to confident braking and reincarnation, but it was not to be.
2.0 CRD SXT sure-footed handling. They lavished Maybe Mazda just hasn’t kept pace
Price as tested £20,617 praise on the Superb’s classy interior with its competitors as apposed to
The phrase ‘all show and no and comfortable seats. Choose this the TCoY competition but judges
go’ springs to mind when manual-transmission 1.8 petrol or its agreed the engine was noisy and
reporting on the new 2.0-litre compatriot and you won’t go coarse, and gearbox ratios not best
Dodge Journey. It’s slow off the far wrong with a Superb. Although suited to towing. Sixth was too high
mark, it pitches badly with a caravan the towing socket is set a little too for towing and 5th not much better,
on the back and it doesn’t stop low and under the rear skirt, when while 3rd was too high for the long
particularly well. You can forget any hitched this Superb showed, er, 14% incline. Hill starts needed lots of
Towcar of the Year 2009 idea of a clean hill start. It may look superb attitude. revs, resulting in wheelspin if you
and £20,000 –£25,000 like a butch 4x4 but it’s not a great weren’t careful, and the handbrake
Class Winner caught by gusty crosswinds, it always track and praised its braking – towcar, though one thing in its favour
S
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koda Superb 1.8 TSI
S
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koda Superb 2.0 TDI DSG was pretty poor. No trouble with
S
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koda Superb 2.0 TDI
returned straight away to the chosen including the handbrake which, is the high driving position, with good Price as tested £24,110 stability, though, and the judges were
line, making this a real pleasure to although positioned for left-hand seating and decent-size mirrors. The
Came close to winning
It’s a lovely car whichever full of praise for the well-thought-out
drive. The new Superb has only just drive vehicles, proved both powerful Dodge also disappointed in terms of model you choose, but this and high-quality interior. Our
S
˘
koda Superb 2.0 TDI gone on sale but our guess is that this and easy to use. Could do better in its caravanning friendliness – storage was the judges’ least caravanability judges couldn’t fault
Price as tested £21,935 will become one of the all-time terms of load capacity, but nice and capacity is poor and operating costs favourite. With DSG automatic the Mazda for either its storage
There were 12 cars in this caravanning favourites. The Superb easy to hitch. Only 50kg noseweight promise to be fairly high. A well transmission the Skoda just doesn’t capabilities or its class-leading
price class – more than any swallowed a full load of our carrying limit, but expect running costs to be positioned socket does make for sparkle; the gearbox is continually running costs. Electrical socket
other – so the S
˘
koda Superb gear with no complaints. Our caravan favourable. effortless hitching though. hunting for the right cog. That difficult to access, though.
2.0 TDI deserves special praise for ability judges were also impressed by doesn’t spoil the car’s stability or
reaching the top of its group. To then this car’s attitude when hitched, make it any less luxurious, but it does Mitsubishi L200
go on to be voted Towcar of the Year although they had to get on their upset what could be a relaxing tow, Walkinshaw
2009 speaks volumes about the knees to access the socket, which especially on twisting, undulating Performance Pick Up
judges’ praise for this great towcar. was low down under the rear skirt. roads. As with all Superbs in this Price as tested £22,701
The Superb is what you’d call a competition, the 2.0 TDI DSG No prize for having the
thoroughly nice car: nothing flashy Volvo S40 2.0D couldn’t be faulted in terms of load longest name in the
about it but it does what it promises. R-Design SE Sport capacity, but again its socket is not competition and not much
There’s acres of room for everyone, Price as tested £23,120
S
˘
koda Superb
the most conveniently located. else in the way of prizes if our judges
comfortable seats and space the Great value for a quality car
2.0 TDI DSG
boot for everyone’s luggage. The that feels very well planted
Drivers split over DSG
driver is rewarded by a powerful but on the road and offers
Mazda6 2.0 Estate
quiet engine and one of the slickest stability and safety. The S40’s four-
SL Diesel
six-speed gearboxes around. In 3rd cylinder diesel engine is no match for
AWD up to 1800kg
gear the car and caravan sailed up Volvo’s acclaimed D5 but it’s
Category Winner
Hillstarts need care
our long 14% incline, and at a steady powerful enough and seems well VW Tiguan SE 2.0
60mph there was no reason to drop mated to this car’s six-speed TDI 4MOTION
out of 6th – two good tests for a automatic transmission. Our testers
caravanning car. Whenever it was loved the Volvo’s handling out on the
Volkswagen Tiguan SE
2.0 TDI 4MOTION Auto
Volvo S40 2.0DR-
Price as tested £22,390
Design SE Sport
First impression of this new
Great handling 4x4 is that it’s a chunky, well-
made towcar, and all the
judges sang its praises. We’ve
experienced Volkswagen’s S
˘
koda Octavia VRS the 17% hill. Our judges also liked the
4MOTION all-wheel drive system on 2.0 TDI CR DSG interior of the VRS, including its nice
other vehicles and it is great at Price as tested £21,075 clear instruments. Impressive on the
making sure the car stays stuck to the An impressively fast towcar, storage front, but our judges felt the
road. The Tiguan’s engine/six-speed though some drivers electrical socket wasn’t the easiest to
automatic transmission make a reported slightly twitchy access. Running costs should be
superb pairing and its push-button behaviour on fast acceleration. agreeable though.
electronic parking brake is one of Opinions were divided over the DSG
those that really works, even on a automatic, some drivers feeling that S
˘
koda Superb 1.8 TSI
17% gradient and with a heavy the gears didn’t change at quite the Price as tested £21,500
Dodge Journey
caravan in tow. There were a few
2.0CRD SXT
right moment. All agreed the Octavia A first-class load carrier and
suspect comments about high-speed VRS had a good and effective brilliant on the test track;
stability, but the Tiguan has very light
Slow off the mark
handbrake and made a clean start on this stablemate wasn’t far
12 THE CARAVAN CLUB MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2008 THE CARAVAN CLUB MAGAZINE
13
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