Best tow car £24,000 - £26,000: Vauxhall Insignia Grand Sport

Vauxhall took the £24,000-£26,000 tow car trophy with the Insignia Grand Sport SRi saloon beating its SUV rivals. 

The winning model was the SRi NAV 1.6 Turbo D ecoTEC, costing £24,225 as tested. The car was noted for its comfy and low driver set-up that caters for the company car driver who tows at weekends. 

• Best executive saloons on sale

Power from the 1.6-litre turbo diesel engine amounts to 134bhp and 320Nm of torque. It was able to tow a 1,278kg caravan from 30-60mph in 14.8 seconds with acceleration boosted when Sport mode is engaged. The Insignia also benefits from low fuel consumption with the ecoTEC engine putting out 65.7mpg for a range of 895 miles on a single tank, as well as emissions of 114g/km.

Weighing just over 1,500kg, the Insignia Grand Sport was considerably lighter than its bigger SUV competitors in the £24,000-£26,000 price bracket. The SsangYong Musso pick-up, for example, came in at 2,102kg, 600kg heavier than the front-wheel-drive Insignia saloon.

Running costs are also low compared to its chunkier rivals. It falls into insurance category 16 with annual road taxv coming in at £140. The Insignia comes with a three-year 600,000-mile warranty and luggage capacity of 490 litres with the rear seats folded up.