Well you need to choose your caravan and car combination carefully. You're after a small caravan but the car must still be capable of pulling it (without struggling/wibbling about!) and the whole combo must not exceed a certain mass. Have a look at www.whattowcar.com/. If you look at caravan towers on the motorway, they're usually something like a 4x4, a Passat estate, I've seen a few Mondeos or these cross-over kind of vehicles like a Honda CRV.

HI, my family go along to a dog training group in Upper Heyford (Former ASAF BASE) and the dog trainers there attend shows and demos and training courses, with there cars and caravans.

they drive

1. honda crv

2. kia sportage.

3. mondeo estate.

comments the other week involved the mondeo owner saying he was going to get a 4x4 as the mondeo often gets stuck with the weight of the 'van and wet field parking..and a car boot full of junk. (jumps,ramps etc)...making the front end a little light, and no traction. he said a full water tank in the front footwell helped traction a bit, but on more than one occasion he'd got one of the others to tow his van onto hardstanding...

if you don't like the idea of a "softroader" and what about a diesel subaru or something like that. I've owned a impreza estate 2litre petrol (non-turbo) which is all wheel drive, and even has a low ratio for when things get slippy, and father in law owns a legacy estate. but look for the diesel as my petrol impreza used to cover 29-32mpg...

also skoda octavia used to make a 4x4 version, in a previous job we had a fleet of 140hp diesel 4x4 octavias for roadside maintenance work (ie often parked on the grass verges..) all worked until 140,000 miles before being replaced...don't know what the vw versions (4motion) are like,,i can only really comment on what i've come across...but guess there the same underneath the skin...

Paul. (cocker spaniel owner).....(the nutty-est breed about....hahahaa and always laugh when i see her ears flapping up and down like dumbo when shes running!!!!)