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The Volkswagen Passat is crowned the best car for towing at the Tow Car Awards 2015

The Volkswagen Passat has been named the best car for towing in 2015, emerging as the winner at the Tow Car Awards.

The estate was named the overall winner at the awards, which are run by the team of experts at our sister publications What Car? and Practical Caravan in conduction with The Caravanning Club.

There were eight categories in all, with the five main classes divided by the cars’ kerbweight. The other three awards honoured the best petrol tow car, the best ultralight tow car and the Green Award.

The full list of winners was as follows:

Up to 1400kg: Skoda Octavia Hatch 2.0 TDI CR 150PS SE Business

1400 to 1549kg: Volkswagen Passat Estate 2.0 TDI BMT 150PS SE Business DSG

1550 to 1699kg: Mazda CX-5 2.2D 175PS AWD Sport Nav

1700 to 1899kg: Volkswagen Passat Estate 2.0 BiTDI SCR BMT 240PS 4Motion GT DSG

1900kg+: Land Rover Discovery 3.0 SDV6 SE Tech

Green Award: Volvo V40 Cross Country D4 Lux Nav Geartronic

Best Petrol Tow Car: Ford Mondeo 1.5T EcoBoost 160PS Titanium 5dr

Best Ultralight Tow Car: Citroën C4 Cactus BlueHDi 100 Feel

Overall Winner: Volkswagen Passat Estate 2.0 TDI BMT 150PS SE Business DSG

The assessment process featured a series of tests, with high-speed stability, hill starts on a one in six gradient, emergency stops and lane changes all included. Each car was matched with a caravan or a lightweight trailer weighted up to the manufacturer’s maximum towing limit.

This was the third year that a Volkswagen Passat has taken the award, having previously taken the top prize in 2007 and 2011.

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Andrew 61 12 June 2015

Only one in six.

Not much of a hill start test, or are they having to allow for the electronic hand brakes ;-) No more pulling it up another notch, I love it when folks feel the need to re invent the wheel....