New Kuga and new to towing, soon.

Depends on what size of van you are looking at.

We have a Kuga 180 PS AWD and tow a coachman 450/2. Not a problem as the car can tow much more that that van.

The problem nowadays with the caravans is that they have such a low personal weight allowance, that just about everything has to go in the car, hence the reason for the big car.

We like the AWD as we often go on grass and we live in Scotland, so having that extra bit of pulling and grip we thought worth it. Having said that we have towed for over 30 years without an AWD and not experienced and issues.

I would look around at caravans first to see what you like, look at the weight of the caravan and see what size of car you will need to tow it. 

As you say there is a choice of Kuga's so you will find one to do the job.

The car I will be getting will be the 2.0 150PS Titanium 2WD. Kerb weight is 1720kg tow bar 100kg.  Been looking at Bailey Ranger GT60 510/4 which is light but prefer something like the Bailey Unicorn Madrid though this is a little heavier but only a bit over the advised 85%.  not buying a new van at this stage, seems daft to lose all that VAT not knowing if we will like it so going to try to get around the 10k mark if possible.  Maybe the Swift Corniche 17-4 or Swift Charisma 560 all fit the bill. 4 Berth with side dinette and rear door with nice rear washroom.

As you say you are new to the towing lark, I would recommend an auto gearbox if possible as makes towing a lot less worrying and easier to cope with. Enjoy.

I had an early model 2WD Kuga with the 135PS engine. Towed 1350Kg quite comfortably with a fuel consumption around 30-32mpg.

Personally I would decide on a caravan first and then match the car once you know it's MPTLM etc. You might just fall for a caravan and then realised that the car you have recently purchased is not quite up to pulling it!

Coming at from another angle,what sort of caravanning will you be doing?If you plan to rally or go off grid,say have a grass storage site,then I would recommend going for a 4x4.

My personal opinion is a 4x4, and I currently tow with a 2014 163bhp Kuga,again towing a Coachman.

I too would look at your Caravan choice shortlist first and ensure you choose the right spec (weight) of car. Personally I would pay the extra for 4wd (even if you think you don’t need it) and automatic - and you cannot have too many horses when it comes to towing so go for the most power too. There is a saying that you should buy the heaviest most powerful car you can afford to tow the smallest lightest Caravan you can manage with! 

Top model is 1815 kg but its still 180ps,with AWD and Auto, that would be my choice.

So eventually my post gets accepted after over 7 days but then the content is removed?  All I tried to say was thanks for the replies and advice.  Anyway opted for the 2.0 150PS FWD Kuga, get it in March so no hurry to get a Van as yet and will look very carefully.