As a tow car, the Ford Kuga is capable. However, in other respects it’s some way off the best mid-sized SUVs.

Let’s deal with the positives first. The Kuga is a very stable tow car at speed. At 60mph it’s solid, and even travelling 10mph faster, the Ford is very much in control.

The Kuga put in a solid shift in the lane-change, too, sliding a little at the rear but remaining under control despite some tugging at the back of the car from the caravan.

It coped well enough with the hill start as well, although there was a lot of vibration through the driver’s seat when pulling away.

In regular driving, the Kuga steers well and reasonably neatly. However, considering that Ford’s engineers are usually the masters of making mainstream cars that entertain the driver, it’s disappointing that the Kuga isn’t more fun.

Inside, the Kuga isn’t as roomy as some rivals and it’s strictly a five-seater whereas some competitors at this price offer the option of seven seats.

The standard of finish is nothing to write home about considering the car wears a price tag of over £35,000.

For a car of this size, the boot capacity of 406 litres isn’t great and couldn’t handle a full load of holiday luggage. However, the 12V socket in the boot is handy and the reversing camera is very useful when hitching up.

According to What Car?‘s Target Price research, big discounts are available, and impressive official economy figures suggest low fuel bills.