Porsche tops the podium

The Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid made it third-time lucky with overall victory at Towcar of the Year

The Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid won its Class in the 2022 and 2023 editions of the Caravan and Motorhome Club Towcar of the Year awards – but this year it went one better by scooping the overall title. In climbing to the top step, the immensely talented plug-in hybrid fought off some extremely stiff competition, not least from an ever-growing glut of electric vehicles. 

In Towcar of the Year 2024, nine of the 28 vehicles tested were purely powered by electricity and three were hybrids, showing just how seriously car makers are now taking the world of towing with an electrified vehicle.

But while there were advances in EV technology this year, there was also a good showing from traditionally fuelled vehicles with a plethora of big-engined SUVs and pick-ups entered, including one powered by a brand new, large-capacity diesel. 

Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire was again the venue for the four-day competition, as each car was put through a series of gruelling tests, including driving on the venue’s tortuous ‘alpine’ section, stability evaluations on the five-lane bowl, and visibility and practicality assessments. Crucially, for the driving element, every car was correctly ballasted to simulate a family of four, with the boot and caravan appropriately weighted to provide a fair analysis.

In the October 2023 edition of the Club magazine we name the winners in the separate weight categories, along with the victors in electric vehicle, hybrid, pick-up, family, and large family towcar categories. The ‘luxury’ vehicle category was new for this year, while there was also a special ‘Judges’ Award’ for a car that particularly impressed the panel members. 

Every one of the cars featured in this year’s competition has been extensively evaluated. For more information about each model, including technical data, visit camc.com/towcar.

See the October 2023 edition of the magazine for full details of all of the towcars tested and each class category or you can download the CAMC Magaine App to your device from Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.