Which medium SUV is king?

Once again CAR and Leisure Wheels magazines tested the towing viability of various vehicles in their 2014 TowCAR of the Year competition, concentrating this time on the popular medium SUVs. To establish which is truly the king of towing, participants were required to tow a Jurgens Penta caravan with a GWM of 1,400 kg.

TowCAR of the Year Winner - Subaru Outback 2.0 Diesel Lineartronic

The magazines, in partnership with Campworld and Forever Resorts, got together eight expert judges at a vehicle-testing facility near Pretoria where they put the 12 participating turbo-diesel SUVs - all AWD with automatic gearboxes - through their paces. With no holds barred, the testing was fairly formidable, covering everything from an emergency lane change on a slippery skidpan to high-speed cornering and stability, to slow-speed parking.

The winner was the Subaru Outback 2.0 Diesel Lineartronic. Congratulations to this 'new kid on the block' taking over from one of the old stalwarts.

There was another winner in this competition, this time one of the magazines' readers who had to vote for the TowCAR of the Year by SMS on Ignition Channel 189. The names of those astute enough to predict correctly went into a lucky draw and the winner was Johan Roux - winning the Subaru Outback.