What Tow Car?! Challenge!

[BazT]

Happy Easter! I'm after some suggestions for daily/tow cars please!

This has a number of criteria, first and foremost because i already have one, a boring Vectra, but would ultimately like to replace/combine it and a couple of road toys with something a little more interesting/fun, and secondly, because, for now, i do not have B+E entitlement!

The trailer, i have plates for both 1600kg and 1490kg Mass.

The cars that i tow are 750-900kg hatchbacks.

Ideally diesel for the obvious reasons! And an Estate.

I'd really like it to be fairly modern with bluetooth/aux connectivity etc, relative comfort, pace

Budget; ideally i'd like to keep it around, if not a little less than £8k.


I've recently been looking at things like diesel e39/e90/e60/a4/a6, an e90 318d Msport really fits the bill, i like the cheaper tax on later ones... The main problem is not really knowing any weights, so experience of similar situations would really help here, as well as just general experience of cars! Open to other suggestions of course!

TIA!

[Order66]

I tow with an LCI E61 525d which has been remapped. The map transformed the car. Very capable tow car and good steer otherwise. It has 110k on the clock now and drives like new. Strongly recommended. Its also a manual box, which I prefer for towing but also makes the car very cheap to buy as no-one else wants a manual 5-series.

[rallycross]

You are doing the same sort of towing as me.
2 of the best tow cars I've had that were also good road cars were
Bmw 330d touring ( pulled like a train )
Bmw E39 touring 5 series 6 cylinder big enough to make towing a trailer and hot hatch a walk in the park.
BMW Alpina 2 door 3 series - quickest tow car I've had!

Some disappointing ones - Vovlo T5, didn't like towing too soft at rear, Mondeo estate V6, never felt stable, Bmw 320d, good on fuel but lacked in brakes. Touareg 2.5 V6 tdi was terrible on fuel when towing, although it towed nicely but was a horrible barge when not towing.

[ex1]

E39 530d Touring. Air suspension, loads of torque. A better proposition than the E60 with much less to go wrong.

Best towcar I've ever owned, I have 3 penalty points to prove it. I momentarily forgot I had a twin axle trailer with a 911 on the back.

[rayyan171]

Any big estate/SUV with a diesel with more than 4 cylinders should be fine. 6 cylinders deal with towing very well. There's someone on here with an old Range Rover TD6 that's 170hp and that tows just fine.

[ex1]

rayyan171 said:

Any big estate/SUV with a diesel with more than 4 cylinders should be fine. 6 cylinders deal with towing very well.

Not the case. As Rallycross mentions above some are pretty poor.

Obviously any full size 4x4 will be pretty good but then you are left driving a 4x4 everyday.

[jamiebae]

I had a 2010 E91 325d Touring for a bit, but incredibly it didn't have Bluetooth (although all the buttons were there for it) so do check carefully if that's important!

[frodo_monkey]

Skoda Superb - I have one, it is an epic tow car. Pulls my Fiesta with no dramas

[bearman68]

I used a saloon E39 525 mapped. Very good.
Currently use a Jeep KJ, also remapped. A bit better for towing, but a bit worse for everything else.

[SlimJim16v]

Hummer, spec truck, C5, last of the V8 Interceptors...............................................................................................................

[jackthelad1984]

I tow with a old Saab 9-5 aero estate, tows lovely, plenty of grunt, admitedly not great on fuel when towing but fairly decent when not towing.

[bearman68]

I would suggest you need at least 170bhp.

[anonymous-user]

525d estate

[helix402]

No to a 318d. Or any 4 cylinder BMW.

[exelero]

Volvo XC70 or V70?

[BazT]

Thanks all, some good suggestions!

I've used a few V70's, they differ greatly, FWD softer sprung models can be succeptable to badly placed loads and a bit wallowey at the rear especially, but the sportier stuff and AWD models are fantastic tow cars, we had an 855 AWD for years that was fantastic. Just not a fan of the newer models with crap electrics etc - V70R AWD has been a nightmare tbh. Plus many of the newer models, V50/60 seem smaller and a bit down on power, even the diesels.


Any info on weights? No B+E means that's an important part for me, hence a lot of the big/4x4 suggestions are out i'm afraid!

helix402 said:

No to a 318d. Or any 4 cylinder BMW.

Expand on that please?! I think the 2.0 should be fine power-wise, circa 140hp(lots of torques!) and after all isn't far different to what i use now, a 2006 Vectra CDTi150.

[andye30m3]

I towed around 1500kg's with a merc C220 and 3.0tdi A4 quattro both did it without issue although the extra power in the Audi made it a nicer car to use on a day to day basis.

[helix402]

BazT said:

Expand on that please?! I think the 2.0 should be fine power-wise, circa 140hp(lots of torques!) and after all isn't far different to what i use now, a 2006 Vectra CDTi150.

318d has the N47, famous for it stretched and snapped timing chains. Also doesn't do much better mpg than the 3.0. The petrol 4s are equally as bad.

[ZX10R NIN]

2011 508 GT 92k 200bhp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

2009 Mondeo Titanium X Sport 74k175bhp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

2007 E320cdi Avantgarde 70k 220bhp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

2007 E320cdi Sport 80k 220bhp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

[BazT]

helix402 said:

BazT said:

Expand on that please?! I think the 2.0 should be fine power-wise, circa 140hp(lots of torques!) and after all isn't far different to what i use now, a 2006 Vectra CDTi150.

318d has the N47, famous for it stretched and snapped timing chains. Also doesn't do much better mpg than the 3.0. The petrol 4s are equally as bad.

Ahh, yes I was aware of a few of the common issues but thought the later ones weren't as bad?! It'll be '10> LCI car I'll be going for if at all, cheaper tax, better spec & prettier IMO!