The Caravan Club Towcar of the Year 2009 Winners

The results of the Competition were announced at the annual Caravan Club Towcar of the Year Awards ceremony
at the Royal Automobile Club in London on 25th September

Under £16,000 Class

WINNER: Citroen Berlingo Multispace XTR 1.6 HDi

Belingo has retained its great versatility with three removable back seats, rear sliding doors and features like interior roof bars and lots of glass area. On the track the Mulitspace XTR 1.6 HDi proved lively enough with a caravan on the back, turned in a great performance on the hill route and gave great visibility courtesy of big door mirrors and some view back through the caravan.

£16,000 to £20,000 Class

WINNER: Hyundai i800 Style

An impressive all-rounder in the caravanability stakes, the i800 is a cracking load carrier, shows a lovely attitude when hitched and good access to towing sockets. Reassuring brakes and a handbrake that held the outfit on the tough hill are bonus points.

£20,000 to £25,000 Class

WINNER: Skoda Superb 2.0 TDI

The Superb is what you'd call a thoroughly nice car. There is acres of room for everyone, comfortable seats and the driver is rewarded by a powerful but quiet engine and one of the slickest six-speed gearboxes around. Our guess is that this will become one of the all-time caravanning favourites.

£20,000 to £32,000 Class

WINNER: Ford Mondeo Titanium X 2.5T Estate

The returning champion, Ford Mondeo, had a lot to live up to, but it triumphed again. The Mondeo estate car's huge load space makes it a very practical caravanning car and the five-cylinder turbo petrol engine has tremendous pulling power, the gearbox ratios (six-speed manual) are just right and both brakes and steering inspire confidence. The icing on the cake is great build quality.

Over £32,000 Class

WINNER: Mercedes-Benz C320 CDI Estate Sport

Mercedes-Benz has produced a very worthy towcar in the C320 CDI Estate Sport. Huge torque from the V6 3.0-litre engine is handled by a seven-speed automatic transmission, so smooth you don't know it is changing unless you watch the tachometer.

Under 1800kg All-Wheel Drive Category

WINNER: Volkswagen Tiguan SE 2.0 TDI 4Motion Auto

First impression of this new 4x4 is that it's a chunky, well-made towcar, and all the judges sang its praises. Volkswagen's 4Motion all-wheel drive system is great at making sure the car stays stuck to the road. The Tiguan's engine/six-speed automatic transmission make a superb pairing and its push-button electronic parking brake is one of those that really works, even on a 17% gradient and with a heavy caravan in tow.

Over 1800kg All-Wheel Drive Category

WINNER: Volvo V70 D5 AWD SE

Aided by six-speed automatic transmission, the Volvo V70 makes an exemplary towcar. Very refined and sure-footed, the V70 comes with a push-button parking brake that worked particularly well on the severe hill test. A good load carrier and nice and level with a caravan hitched up

Overall Caravan Club Towcar of the Year 2009

WINNER: Skoda Superb 2.0 TDI