Volvo wins awards at The Caravan Club Towcar Competition

Volvo’s extensive experience of designing and developing cars suitable for drivers that tow has been recognised in the results of The Caravan Club Towcar of the Year 2007 Competition.

The Volvo V50 D5 Sport not only won the ‘£25,001 to £33,000’ price class but was also the overall winner of the competition and is ‘The Caravan Club Towcar of the Year 2007’ – beating off 41 other competitors, including rivals from Jeep, Lexus, Saab and Mercedes.

The powerful 2.4-litre D5 turbodiesel engine was introduced to the Volvo V50 Sportswagon range earlier this year and provides a winning combination of high performance and torque levels in a more compact package. The D5 engine delivers 180PS and with the standard Geartronic transmission can achieve 0-60mph in 7.9 seconds. It’s also a very flexible power plant with 350Nm of torque available right across the rev range from 1,500 to 4,800rpm.

The V50 D5 was praised for its ‘crisp acceleration, smooth-shifting five-speed automatic transmission, confident brakes, easy to use handbrake and fantastic stability’.

These awards build on Volvo’s success at the Caravan Club Towcar of the Year competition last year when a 185PS variant of the Volvo D5 turbodiesel engine powered the XC70 AWD and V70 AWD to victory in no less than three classes.

Volvo’s commitment to building great towcars is well known. It performs gruelling towing tests for all its new models both in Sweden and the desert heat of Arizona, USA, and even has its own fleet of trailers and caravans which are towed by vehicles steered using advanced robot technology to ensure consistent testing methodology. This testing also includes measuring the lateral acceleration of the trailer and the angle between the car and trailer at different speeds so that steering forces, chassis settings and engines are tuned to optimise their performance when towing.

“We are delighted to win another Caravan Club Towcar of the Year award. These awards are a great recognition of Volvo's commitment to developing good towcars and carry a great deal of respect from the public and our retailers,” said Hugh Reid, managing director, Volvo Car UK.

The Caravan Club chairman, Bob Black MBE, commented: “The Volvo V50 D5 Sport displayed poise and elegance. Its modern good looks will turn heads and Volvo maintains its reputation for quality and safety. The Volvo V50 is a pleasure to drive and it really is a superb towcar. This vehicle is sure to be popular with our members, both as a new and used car in future years.”

Presenting the awards on behalf of The Caravan Club, Mark Blundell, the former Formula One driver, commented: “It was an eye-opening experience to see how the cars are tested so rigorously and professionally. I am delighted to be involved with The Caravan Club Towcar of the Year competition as caravanning is hugely popular with motorsport fans and thousands of them travel to racing circuits with their caravans as they provide the perfect mobile accommodation for a race weekend.”

Volvo will be exhibiting a selection of its range of towcars at the London Caravan and Outdoor Show at ExCeL, London from the 16th to the 19th November, 2006.