The Audi Q5 is almost too subtle for its own good, both to look at and to drive.

It’s not a car that overwhelms you within the first mile, but the longer we spent driving – and towing – with the Q5 the more we came to appreciate its qualities.

This is an exceptionally refined car. Road and wind noise are kept to very low levels, and the ride is supremely comfortable, both with and without a caravan in tow.

There’s no doubt the adaptive air suspension (a £2000 option) fitted to our test car helps, but while the standard suspension is a little firmer it’s still comfortable.

The 2.0-litre diesel engine stays in the background, even when pulling up to speed, and towing from 30-60mph takes just 11 seconds. For someone wanting more performance there’s also a 3.0-litre diesel, but the 2.0-litre is strong enough to tow any sensibly matched tourer.

At speed, the Q5 proved stable, but without the absolutely unshakeable feel of the BMW X3 or Jaguar F-Pace.

Some drivers found the car wandering a little when the wind picked up, and the Al-Ko ATC sensors picked up some slight sway from the caravan when slowing from motorway speeds. We’re splitting hairs to separate some very capable cars, though – we’d be happy to tow long distances with the Audi.

The Q5 earned strong scores from our practicality testers. They found room for almost all our typical load of holiday luggage, and stability control and self-levelling suspension are among the car’s many towing-friendly features.