Tow Car Awards 2023: 1900kg+ (less than £60,000)
If you’re looking for a great tow car that will also be enjoyable to drive solo, you need one of our 2023 Tow Car Awards winners. Here we look at the best heavyweight for less than £60k...
Volvo V60 T6 Recharge Plus
Kerb weight 2064kg 85% match 1764kg Max towing weight 2000kg Towball limit 100kg
The Volvo V60 was recently updated, although you’ll struggle to notice from the outside. Climb behind the wheel and you might spot the new Google-based infotainment system, but the headline news is the uprated plug-in hybrid technology.
The useable battery capacity has increased to 14.9kWh, giving the T6 an excellent all-electric range of up to 55 miles and official CO2 emissions of just 18-25g/km. That means low tax bills for company car drivers and cheap running costs for anyone who can recharge the battery overnight. Volvo has also made the rear motor more powerful, giving a total power output of 345bhp, shared between all four wheels.
Unsurprisingly, having so much power makes the V60 T6 very rapid indeed. The 30-60mph time of 5.8sec allows for confident overtaking.
The bigger battery and electric motors front and rear contribute to the Volvo’s hefty kerb weight, and because the V60 is an estate rather than an SUV, all the weight is kept low to the ground. That adds up to excellent stability, whether making an emergency lane-change or travelling at 60mph. In fact, our drivers were happy to tow well beyond the legal limit at the test track, and even crosswinds made little difference to the car’s composure.
Thanks to the instant pulling power of the electric motors, the V60 pulled away briskly when making a hill start on a 1-in-6 slope. Our testing took place in dry weather, but given that it’s four-wheel drive, the T6 should cope well in wet conditions.
Without a caravan the V60 is every bit as impressive. While not as agile as a BMW 3 Series Touring, the Volvo strikes a fine balance between composed cornering and a comfortable ride. The automatic gearbox could be more responsive, but otherwise there’s little to complain about.
Build quality is excellent and the interior spacious, with noticeably more rear leg room than in most rivals.
Unusually, Volvo has succeeded in providing the same boot space for plug-in hybrid owners as for other models, so there’s no need to travel light.
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