Anybody tow with a petrol engined car
Discussion
I tow 1500kg of caravan 
with my v6 passat, tows fine and certainly quicker of the mark than most diesels.
As someone above said most modern diesels have very little torque till the turbo kicks in, this can be an issue on hill starts whilst towing causing you to need to slip the clutch more. (only on a manual obviously)
Fuel economy is a different matter, a stunning 15mpg seaming to be the norm at 60(ish)
You mustn't exceed the manufactures max braked towing weight figure though, these can vary massively even on similar weight cars. parkers.co.uk list them for most cars.
with my v6 passat, tows fine and certainly quicker of the mark than most diesels. As someone above said most modern diesels have very little torque till the turbo kicks in, this can be an issue on hill starts whilst towing causing you to need to slip the clutch more. (only on a manual obviously)
Fuel economy is a different matter, a stunning 15mpg seaming to be the norm at 60(ish)
You mustn't exceed the manufactures max braked towing weight figure though, these can vary massively even on similar weight cars. parkers.co.uk list them for most cars.
jellison said:
was the most unsuitable thing imaginable Alfa Sud Sprint (1.5 Green Cloverleaf), pulling an 850kg race and about 1/2 ton trailer - the slightest hill was struggle, and the big one before Cadwell just killed it! Had to roll it back a mile or so and gun it to death to get it up!
And flat through the chicane at the bottom must have been interesting...TVRleigh_BBWR said:
I've also been looking for a tow vehicle, for a few weeks now.
The biggest problem I've found is the limit most vehicle's can tow legally, also its not the weight you are towing, but the max weight of the trailer, and if you want to tow more than a 1000KG car, most trailer max weight will just to 1,800KG. which is more than any car will tow, and even a lot of vans.
Not sure if anyone has the full facts or any know of any cars that can tow 1,800 KG.
Most Subaru Outbacks will tow 1800kgs and the 3.6 will tow 2000kgsThe biggest problem I've found is the limit most vehicle's can tow legally, also its not the weight you are towing, but the max weight of the trailer, and if you want to tow more than a 1000KG car, most trailer max weight will just to 1,800KG. which is more than any car will tow, and even a lot of vans.
Not sure if anyone has the full facts or any know of any cars that can tow 1,800 KG.
HiRich said:
jellison said:
was the most unsuitable thing imaginable Alfa Sud Sprint (1.5 Green Cloverleaf), pulling an 850kg race and about 1/2 ton trailer - the slightest hill was struggle, and the big one before Cadwell just killed it! Had to roll it back a mile or so and gun it to death to get it up!
And flat through the chicane at the bottom must have been interesting...Just be very careful with weight limits when towing with cars, can`t remember the exact laws but around 10 years ago the laws changed and overnight all the smaller rally teams changed from using 4x4 sierra estates to proper 4x4 (shogun , trooper etc) it is pretty much illegal to tow most(not all) cars on a trailer with a car, you need a 4x4!!!
The licence laws changed regarding what new drivers could tow having passed their tests. There is anecdotal evidence that around the same time the police started to prosecute people towing more than the manufacturers recommended towing limit for having an unsafe load (or something similar). This despite the fact that the manufacturers recommendations had no statutory force at that time (may have changed, but I remember the then secretary of state for Transport writing to Horse and Hound to say that there were no plans to make manufacturer towing recommndations mandatory) and are usually based on what the vehicle can pull from a standstill on a 1 in 8 hill (which is why all Land Rover Defenders etc have 3.5t manufacturer recommended towing limits, low ratio first gear will pull a house up a mountain).
dellow said:
Don't laugh, but what about a Skoda Superb estate 2.0 TDI CR 4x4 170bhp 6spd £25,045 otr
Braked trailer towing weight 2000 kg, Unbraked 750 kg
To be honest I have thought about it, but this will get me shot down in flames.........I am just too much of a badge snob to have one Braked trailer towing weight 2000 kg, Unbraked 750 kg
I know they are much better than they used to be and my head says ‘get one’ but my heart ‘says no’Since one of our neighbours bought a bog standard Octavia a few years ago, both myself and my next door neighbour have used that fact to take the ‘mick’ out of him at every gathering we have – all in pure jest, and if I turned up and parked a new Skoda on my drive - I would never live it down
blueg33 said:
TVRleigh_BBWR said:
I've also been looking for a tow vehicle, for a few weeks now.
The biggest problem I've found is the limit most vehicle's can tow legally, also its not the weight you are towing, but the max weight of the trailer, and if you want to tow more than a 1000KG car, most trailer max weight will just to 1,800KG. which is more than any car will tow, and even a lot of vans.
Not sure if anyone has the full facts or any know of any cars that can tow 1,800 KG.
Most Subaru Outbacks will tow 1800kgs and the 3.6 will tow 2000kgsThe biggest problem I've found is the limit most vehicle's can tow legally, also its not the weight you are towing, but the max weight of the trailer, and if you want to tow more than a 1000KG car, most trailer max weight will just to 1,800KG. which is more than any car will tow, and even a lot of vans.
Not sure if anyone has the full facts or any know of any cars that can tow 1,800 KG.
NJH said:
blueg33 said:
TVRleigh_BBWR said:
I've also been looking for a tow vehicle, for a few weeks now.
The biggest problem I've found is the limit most vehicle's can tow legally, also its not the weight you are towing, but the max weight of the trailer, and if you want to tow more than a 1000KG car, most trailer max weight will just to 1,800KG. which is more than any car will tow, and even a lot of vans.
Not sure if anyone has the full facts or any know of any cars that can tow 1,800 KG.
Most Subaru Outbacks will tow 1800kgs and the 3.6 will tow 2000kgsThe biggest problem I've found is the limit most vehicle's can tow legally, also its not the weight you are towing, but the max weight of the trailer, and if you want to tow more than a 1000KG car, most trailer max weight will just to 1,800KG. which is more than any car will tow, and even a lot of vans.
Not sure if anyone has the full facts or any know of any cars that can tow 1,800 KG.
PAH! your are all wimps.
We tow a brian james minno-shuttle with a caterham R500 in it with a 1.0 nissan micra!
Its fine on motorways - just sit back at 55, and change down to fourth for hills on the motorways, drop to 50 and smell that engine :P
But seriously - its actually fine. All these horse boxes and trailer users with massive 4x4 or 3.0 diesils are wasting their money!
the cars done 120000 miles and only ever needed one clutch at 90k miles. great little car!
We tow a brian james minno-shuttle with a caterham R500 in it with a 1.0 nissan micra!
Its fine on motorways - just sit back at 55, and change down to fourth for hills on the motorways, drop to 50 and smell that engine :P
But seriously - its actually fine. All these horse boxes and trailer users with massive 4x4 or 3.0 diesils are wasting their money!
the cars done 120000 miles and only ever needed one clutch at 90k miles. great little car!
Al Weyman said:
I do take it you are joking Supertoady! If not expect to get your collar felt in the fullness of time because whether it can tow it or not it ain't legal! Moose is that Moosehead the Mustang King?
Sadly I'm not! I was not aware of an law on the power of a towing vehicle as surely it is relative to the load its carrying?Edited by Al Weyman on Tuesday 13th April 08:22
In terms of a danger due to low speed - the car happily pulls at 55-60 and never goes below 50?
- Goes off to do some research**
most cars have a plate on them with the weight it can tow on a braked trailer, you should really not do this to the full though, think you should pull gross weight - 10%
so if car can pull 1850kg according to the plate (owners manual) you should really only be pulling 1850 - 185 = 1665 (thats including the trailer)
think there is something about the total weight of car with pax in etc also, as you could load up car fully and pull trailer and still get in the deep do do with the law.
so if car can pull 1850kg according to the plate (owners manual) you should really only be pulling 1850 - 185 = 1665 (thats including the trailer)
think there is something about the total weight of car with pax in etc also, as you could load up car fully and pull trailer and still get in the deep do do with the law.
The Moose said:
Stop pussying around - Toyota Landcruiser Amazon is the way to go. Think it's 3,500kg max weight (IIRC!!).
Doesn't have any issues with MY MR2.
How come everyone on this thread has MR2s?!?!
Cheers
The Moose
Well I'm trying to get away from having 2 cars (well 4 cars, but the TVR 400SE and racer don't count)Doesn't have any issues with MY MR2.
How come everyone on this thread has MR2s?!?!
Cheers
The Moose
And seeing as I do 20k miles a year, then using a 4x4 everyday it going to kill me on fuel bills.
one interesting thing I found out, if you trailer is plated at 2000KG or 2600KG but your only going to put a light car on, you can get it re-plated to a lower spec. don't go to crazy though incase they ever put you on a weigh bridge. but will stop the jobs worths saying it says 2600KG on the plate so you must have 2600KG on it, and you vehicle must be able to tow 2600KG etc.
Supertoadylight said:
Al Weyman said:
I do take it you are joking Supertoady! If not expect to get your collar felt in the fullness of time because whether it can tow it or not it ain't legal! Moose is that Moosehead the Mustang King?
Sadly I'm not! I was not aware of an law on the power of a towing vehicle as surely it is relative to the load its carrying?Edited by Al Weyman on Tuesday 13th April 08:22
In terms of a danger due to low speed - the car happily pulls at 55-60 and never goes below 50?
- Goes off to do some research**
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