| Motors
Passat Alltrack victorious at Caravan
Club Towcar of the Year Awards
Volkswagen is celebrating a number of class wins, and overall victory, in the annual Caravan Club Towcar of the Year
Awards. The 4MOTION-equipped all-wheel drive Passat Alltrack has been named Towcar of the Year 2017 while the
Passat and its smaller sibling, the 4MOTION-equipped Golf Alltrack, have taken three class wins between them.
n the respected
awards, once
again presented at
the Royal
Automobile Club
in London, the
Passat Alltrack won the £32,000 to
£35,000 category and also
scooped the honours in the hotly
contested All-Wheel Drive Under
1800 kg group. The Passat
Alltrack then went on to take the
biggest prize of all: Caravan Club
Towcar of the Year 2017.
Meanwhile the Volkswagen Golf
Alltrack triumphed in the £29,000
to £32,000 category.
The driving dynamics and
ergonomic efficiency of both
Alltrack models were thoroughly
tested by the judges, who praised
the Passat as being “one of the
classiest mid-range cars by a
mile… it simply oozes
competence." They added: “It
pulls away strongly and exhibits
excellent flexibility throughout the
mid-range."
The Passat Alltrack was singled
out as the best of the best thanks
to its combination of advanced
technology and attractive
affordability. The car features
permanent all-wheel drive with a
I
Haldex coupling, which means the
drive is sent to the rear wheels as
soon as it is needed. Meanwhile,
the default is front-wheel drive
which contributes to an impressive
fuel consumption figure of 57.6
mpg* on the combined cycle, with
CO2 emissions of 130 g/km*.
The Passat Alltrack, priced from
£31,215 (RRP OTR), differs from
the standard Passat Estate in a
variety of ways. Perhaps the most
obvious is the ground clearance
which is increased by 27.5 mm to
174 mm. It also features additional
underbody and wheel arch
protection, and has exclusive front
and rear bumper designs. Matt
chrome door mirror housings and
anodised silver roof rails work with
the 18-inch ‘Kalamata’ alloy
wheels to complete the Passat
Alltrack’s rugged looks.
Versatility is another reason why
the Passat Alltrack is Towcar of the
Year 2017. The car is available
with a 150 PS 2.0-litre diesel
engine with a six-speed manual
gearbox or a 190 PS 2.0-litre diesel
unit with a six-speed DSG
automatic gearbox. The
configuration that won the Towcar
of the Year award was the 150 PS
option, while both engines have a
braked towing capacity of 2200 kg
and an unbraked capacity of 750
kg.
A host of other technological
features add to the driving
experience offered by the Passat
Alltrack. As an example, the EDL
(Electronic Differential Lock)
system reacts to a wheel slipping
by directing the drive power to the
wheel on the opposite side within
fractions of a
second. Furthermore, XDSPlus
brakes the wheels on the inside of
a bend during fast cornering and
thus perfects the steering
response and improves traction.
The driver can also select ‘Offroad’ mode, which adds Hill
Descent Assist to give more
progressive accelerator control.
A particularly pertinent option
for caravanners of all grades on
the Passat Alltrack is Trailer Assist.
This ingenious system helps to
control the reverse guidance of the
car and trailer, thus making
manoeuvring considerably more
Dual clutch for Dacia
or the very first
time, the multiaward-winning
Dacia Duster is
available with an
automatic sixspeed EDC (Efficient Dual
Clutch) transmission, whilst still
maintaining its shocking
affordability. The Duster EDC is
the most affordable automatic
F
52 | Farming Monthly | October 2016
straightforward. A visual display in
the infotainment screen shows the
steering angle and how alternative
steering inputs would affect the
route of the car and trailer.
This is the third time in eight
years that Volkswagen has taken
top spot at the Towcar of the Year
Awards. The four titles won
yesterday add to a host of other
notable victories for Volkswagen
this year. These include the Best
Supermini title for the Volkswagen
Polo at the Auto Express Awards;
and Best MPV (Touran), and Best
Electric Car (Passat GTE) titles at
the annual What Car? Awards.
Meanwhile the up! city car was
named Best New Car Under
£10,000 at the Telegraph Cars
Awards.
For more details on the
Volkswagen Passat Alltrack and
Golf Alltrack, together with
brochures and full pricing, and to
use Volkswagen’s online
configurator, please visit
www.volkswagen.co.uk
crossover available in the UK.
Combining the comfort and
smoothness of an automatic
gearbox with fuel economy and
low CO2 emissions that are
similar to those of a manual
gearbox, the EDC transmission
is certain to attract even more
customers to the rugged SUV.
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