T5 camper or similar for towing race car

[Edmundo2]

Hi.

I'm looking to go historic circuit racing next year and will need to gear up inc buying a trailer etc..

Re tow vehicle I'm thinking a camper van might be the best route although smallish motorhome is an option.

I'll have approx £20k budget and ideally it will be 4 berth so that I can get extra family use out if it away from race weekends.

Race car and trailer will be max circa 1650kg...

So has anyone got any suggestions? My thoughts are a lwb T5 turbo diesel with pop top but looks like I'd need a bit more budget? Seems like I'd need 140bhp as least to tow comfortably.

Something like this looks viable but I hear mixed reviews re the 2.5engine, ( good performance bit expensive to fix )

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325733707833?hash=item4...

Any thoughts or advice appreciated..

Ed

[Trevor555]

Our local VW specialist always said avoid the 2.5 and the 180 bi turbo

[stevemcs]

With that budget i'd be looking at picking up a Sprinter/Transit high roof van and buying a conversion kit off ebay and fitting it out yourself. If you must go down the camper van route go for something based on a Vivaro/traffic, you will get a better van for your money.

[nagsheadwarrior]

As a dealer we rarely get issues with the 2.5 but we also don't retail anything over 100k mileage wise, my trader who does sell the older higher miles stiff doesn't like the 2.5.
As said 2.0 bi turbo to be avoided.
The 2.0 you can map up the lower horse powers for peanuts so you just need any 2.0 t5.1 really
Only work as a 4 berth with 2 in the pop top but most van conversions will be the same anyways .

Campervans in that price bracket are hard to sell at the moment so yiu should have a lot of choice so be picky, take your time and remember the money lies in the cinversion to a dealer like me so pick something from a well known converter, not a homebuild and not stupid mileage, a colour, can aircon etc all a bonus

[troika]

IME the 2.5 is a very strong engine, as long as it’s been well maintained with regular oil changes (with the correct oil). Watch for any oil deposits in the power steering reservoir. Stronger than the 4 pots IMHO.

[LeighW]

troika said:

IME the 2.5 is a very strong engine, as long as it’s been well maintained with regular oil changes (with the correct oil). Watch for any oil deposits in the power steering reservoir. Stronger than the 4 pots IMHO.

It is a strong engine, and no less reliable than the 4 pots, but when they do go wrong they're much more expensive to fix. The 4 pots were used in all sorts of VAG products, but the 5 pot was only used in the T5 and the Touareg AFAIK.

Edit to add my 1.9 has been remapped to 130bhp and pulls pretty well for what it is.