If you want a Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross, at the moment you have no choice but to buy a petrol. Does that hamper the Mitsubishi as a tow car?

Not as much as you might expect. Work the engine hard and it will pull car and caravan from 30-60mph in a reasonable 13.2 seconds.

It helps that although the gearbox is a continuously variable transmission, it has eight fixed ratios to make it seem more like a regular automatic gearbox.

However, the official combined figure of 40.4mpg isn’t great, and leads us to expect that the Eclipse Cross would be rather thirsty when towing.

At 60mph, the Mitsubishi felt stable. It wasn’t quite as planted at 70mph, though, and the Al-Ko ATC sensors detected a little sway from the caravan while slowing down.

The Mitsubishi coped well with the lane-change. On the quickest attempt at the manoeuvre the caravan slid dramatically, but the Eclipse Cross pulled it straight again without being dragged off course.

It’s a shame Mitsubishi hasn’t managed to combine stability and comfort. With or without a caravan, the ride is poor. Any sharp edges in the road are felt with a harsh jolt. To be fair, the ride does improve somewhat at speed.

Inside, the Elipse Cross is well made and well equipped. The driving position is comfortable and the seats are supportive, and there’s decent legroom in the back, too.

However, for a car of this size the boot is very small. Our advice is to travel light or invest in a roof box.