The 2012 awards saw 16 manufacturers enter 30 vehicles into the awards - all of which were tested rigorously by the Caravan Club. The results of the 2012 Competition were announced at The Caravan Club Towcar of the Year Awards ceremony at the Royal Automobile Club in London on 21st September.
Also seemd a bit strange to be doing tests for 2012 when 2011 is not even over!
Cheers
Richard
------------- If you Don't ask, you Don't get..............
Easter - Alton Towers
May - Aveniemore
Summer - South West London (theme parks all Around)
September - Not Sure
October - Blackpool (Yet more Theme parks and attractions
Life is a Roller coaster and we will be on loads this year...
Manufacturers were invited to submit for testing any cars that were new launches in the period 1 August 2010 to 30 September 2011, or existing models that had been substantially modified (eg new engine, different transmission etc). The Caravan Club also invites the previous year's overall winner to submit its car for re-testing - in this instance, the Škoda Superb Estate Elegance.
Quote: Originally posted by alan29 on 29/9/2011
Seems a bit strange to group them by price and not by weight.
It's swings & roundabouts, as testing by weight you may get a Citroen Berlingo in the same group as a BMW 5 series. That not really a fair test either.
Complete rubbish, trying to promote and push people into small under weight, under powered roller-skates. Tow cars of the year will always be heavy weight 4x4's as they can tow 99% of all caravans safely. Yes they are bad for the environment but caravans are getting heavy and with 2.4 children as an average the average family will have a 4 birth.
It puzzles me when a certain make and model gets a good revue last year yet this year the same vehicle does not get such a good revue and no changes to the vehicle either.
Strange that they also didn't review the Kia Sorento? I would have thought this would have been an ideal model due to its price and towing weight! Also no mention of the Honda CRV!
Personally I thought their "winners" weren't the best as they were very limited on the towing weights, i.e limiting on your van choice. How can a car with a 85% towing limit of 1225kg's win ! Our Vectra is much the same as this and when we were looking for our first 4 berth van we were extremely limited in what models we could go for!
We are thinking of changing to an SUV next year from our Vectra as would really like a bigger four berth in a few years or maybe even a 6 berth....shame the Sorento wasn't reviewed as we are quite tempted by this due to its 7 year warranty!
Quote: Originally posted by dazzer252 on 02/10/2011
Strange that they also didn't review the Kia Sorento?
Does Big Al's post above explain it? I can't remember when the model changed.
It also depends on the manufacturer making the car available; but given the popularity of Sorentos amongst caravanners it would be stange if they didn't, if it qualified.
A couple of years ago one of the class winners would have been an illegal match. The car was placed in a band relative to 85% of it's kerb weight this was 100 Kg more than it's max tow limit!!