SKODA has won The Caravan Club Towcar of the Year 2003 title with its aptly named Superb 2.5 V6 TDI Elegance which combines excellent design, impressive road manners and outstanding value for money to secure this coveted award.

The car was praised for its smooth automatic transmission, stable handling towing a caravan and ability to recover from deliberately induced swaying.

Practically all points under consideration were marked as either 'good' or 'very good'.

The 41 cars entered were put rigorously through their paces by six driving judges and were assessed on their towing performance with points awarded for traction, stability, braking, acceleration and hill-starts.

Cars were also tested by two separate pairs of judges for 'caravanability', which equates to their user-friendliness and ability to accommodate passengers comfortably, along with typical caravanning holiday luggage and equipment.

At the end of the three-day testing period, judges' scores were counted, resulting in the emergence of five Price Class winners, two All Wheel Drive category winners divided by weight and the overall Caravan Club Towcar of the Year.

In ascending Price Class order the winners were: Fiat Dobl 1.9 JTD ELX, Toyota Corolla 2.0 D-4D T Spirit, Toyota RAV4 2.0 D-4D GX, Skoda Superb 2.5 V6 TDI Elegance and Renault Vel Satis 3.0 V6 dCi Initiale.

The Toyota RAV4 took the Under 1800kg All-Wheel Drive category award, while the Mercedes-Benz ML500 took the Over 1800kg All-Wheel Drive category award.

Special guest at the event was writer and television presenter Rowland Rivron, who recently sampled caravanning as part of a BBC Holiday Programme feature.

Caravan Club chairman, Bob Black, commented: "Skoda had its first success in this competition with a class win in 2002 and has topped this for 2003 with another class win and the overall title with the Superb 2.5 V6 TDI Elegance.

"I think this shows how far the Skoda brand has come since being incorporated into the Volkswagen Group.

"I have no doubt this win will give a significant boost to the car's towing credentials and overall appeal."