Please don't tar all us caravaners with the same brush, we get enough of that from Top Gear! I don't dawdle as I understand the frustration it can cause. That said it still amazes me how other people drive, overtaking in dangerous places and pulling out in front without any intention of speeding up.
Don't underestimate modern diesels. I've recently started to tow with a mazda 6, similar to the Mondeo. Night and day compared to to the 300tdi I had before. Yes limited on the weight it can pull, but power and stability by the bucket load.
One point worthy of mention though is nose weight. Knowing I was droping from 150 kilos to 75kg I took stuff out of the front box and moved heavy things about. I weighed the front of the van and it went to the top of the scale, 120 kilos. I've since done some further repacking. With very little in the front box and nothing under the front bunks I've got it down to 75kg. God alone knows how heavy it was when I used to tow with the Disco, as I never bothered about it, but I suspect it was well in excess of 150kg.
Alan