TOWCAR OF THE YEAR - Land ROver takes three awards at this years ceremony, including car of the decade.

• Land Rover Discovery wins the ultimate accolade at the Tow Car Awards 2016 - ‘Tow Car of the Decade’
• Award is one of three top honours awarded to Land Rover’s supremely capable Discovery Family
• Discovery wins its weight class (1900kg+) for the seventh year in succession and the ninth time in the awards’ 10-year history
• The Discovery Sport lives up to the capabilities of the famed Discovery nameplate by winning the ‘1700-1899kg’ weight category

The Land Rover Discovery family of SUVs has amassed three honours at the annual Tow Car Awards. The Land Rover Discovery has been awarded the highest accolade of all after being chosen as ‘Tow Car of the Decade’. 

For the seventh year in succession and the ninth time overall in the awards’ 10-year history, the Discovery once again demonstrated why it is consistently the most capable vehicle when it comes to practicality and effortless towing ability. 

The supremely capable Land Rover Discovery 3.0 SDV6 won its weight class in the ‘1900kg+’ category and impressed the panel of experienced judges from Practical Caravan, What Car? and the Camping and Caravanning Club magazine with its sheer breadth of capability. 

Winning the weight category is no easy feat, as the judges not only test a vehicle’s all-round towing ability but also evaluate other practical aspects such as interior luggage space, accuracy of manufacturer towing advice in the vehicle handbook and overall buying and ownership costs.

David Motton, Tow Car Editor of Practical Caravan magazine, said: “Sometimes our judges take a long time to reach agreement over the merits of different rivals, but the discussion over this award for our first Tow Car of the Decade was short and to the point. Quite simply, the Land Rover Discovery is the best tow car of the past ten years. 

The class of 2016 provided the Discovery’s toughest fight yet. But judged on its towing ability, the Land Rover can still show its newer rivals a thing or two. With 443lb ft of torque, the Discovery pulled over our 1-in-6 test hill at little more than tickover. 

In fact, whatever we asked of the Land Rover as a tow car, it rose to the challenge without breaking a sweat.”

The Land Rover Discovery is available with several intelligent technologies to aid and enhance the towing experience. 

Trailer Stability Assist detects the presence of a trailer and, above 37mph, monitors the trailer and activates selective braking of the appropriate wheel or wheels on the car to help correct any problems. 

Towing Assist predicts the trajectory of vehicle and trailer, providing guidance when coupling a trailer and a predicted path for the vehicle on the touch-screen when reverse is selected. It is also available with the optional Surround Camera System to give the driver a 360-degree view of the exterior displayed on the central dash-mounted touchscreen.

The Discovery Sport TD4 180 SE Tech Auto also enjoyed success and took overall class honours in the ‘1700-1899kg’ weight category. 

With a towing capacity of up to 2,500kg (when equipped with the heavy duty tow pack), the Discovery Sport was praised by the expert judges for its stability at speed while the vehicle’s efficient new Ingenium turbo-diesel engine was also praised for its strong performance.

David Motton added: “The Discovery Sport was close to the top of the category last year – but now it’s back with the new Ingenium diesel, and it’s a class winner. As one of our judges wrote in their notes, the Discovery Sport has clearly inherited its big brother’s DNA.”

Jeremy Hicks, Managing Director of Jaguar Land Rover UK, said, “We are delighted to accept these awards and they prove what we’ve known all along – that the Discovery Family is one of the world’s most capable and versatile premium SUVs ranges available. 

Both Discovery and Discovery Sport offer customers the perfect blend of luxury, versatility and technology and have been designed, engineered and built in Britain for people and families who enjoy an active lifestyle.”

Such is its popularity that over 123,300 customers have already purchased a Discovery Sport in the first year of sales since it was launched.

Customers can specify the Discovery Sport with an electrically deployable or detachable tow bar and coupled with the optional Surround Camera System makes hitching a trailer or caravan a simple task. 

For added levels of practicality, the Discovery Sport is the only vehicle in the premium compact SUV segment to feature a 5+2 seating arrangement and is available on Land Rover Freedom PCP from just £299pm (Discovery Sport 2.0 TD4 180 SE manual).