GORV - Digital Magazine Issue #19 | Page 43

TOW TEST The GoRV tow vehicle has been on its last legs for, well, a long time. The mighty red 80 Series that you might’ve seen within our pages had a great run, and I’ll be sorry to sell the old girl. But it was time to upgrade. There were some crucial standards our new vehicle had to meet, though. First, budget. Until I figure out how to make money grow on trees, a Land Cruiser 200 or Discovery 4 was out of the question, and I didn’t really want to buy a second- hand vehicle – again. booster seats in the back seat, you’ll understand. So, third-row seating was important, too. Second, towing capacity and performance. We tow vans of all shapes and sizes, though we estimated 80 per cent had an ATM of less than 3000kg. Did we really need a vehicle that could haul 3500kg? TOWING THE MU-X Finally, family-friendliness. With three kids, two of whom remain in booster seats, a dual-cab ute was (though tempting) out of consideration. If you’ve ever tried cramming an 11-year-old between two After weeks – or months – of pondering the situation, I settled on the Isuzu MU-X LS-U 4x4, with six-speed manual transmission. The MU-X is built on the same platform as its stablemate, the D-Max, and shares the same 3L four-cylinder turbodiesel engine. Its performance as a tow vehicle is, so far, impressive. Its 3000kg towing capacity and 300kg towball download makes it a sensible, affordable option for most caravans on the market, including mid-sized family rigs and offroaders. gorv.com.au 43