The Land Rover Discovery Sport won the 1700-1899kg weight category last year.

It has dropped down the pecking order in 2017, but that’s more a reflection on the high standards set in this class than any shortcomings.

As we found last year, the Discovery Sport is a very stable tow car. It’s not quite as unshakeable as the Jaguar F-Pace, but our drivers found they had to be the wrong side of the legal limit before they could feel the caravan moving slightly, even in a crosswind.

When slowing from high speeds the caravan’s Al-Ko ATC sensors picked up a very slight sway, but nothing alarming.

The Discovery Sport towed from 30-60mph in 14.6 seconds. That’s a reasonable pace, but the rate of acceleration is modest compared with the Jag or the Mercedes-Benz E-Class.

However, the engine is comfortably strong enough to pull car and caravan up a 1-in-6 gradient, and the Land Rover easily reversed a short distance up the far side of the slope.

Inside, the Discovery Sport may not be as well finished and the Mercedes-Benz GLC, but it is a very roomy car, with lots of space in the second row and a useful third row of seats.

With the rearmost seats folded into the floor, our practicality testers found room for all but one item from our test load of holiday luggage.

Choose HSE Dynamic Lux spec and you enjoy plenty of creature comforts – as you should do when spending over £46,000. It’s worth noting that mechanically similar models with fewer toys are priced from £34,670.