Tow car

restive

If you had to chose a 2 litre diesel that could draw a load of less than one ton once a month which car would u chose? Outside of that I would simply be driving to work.

Would it be worth upgrading to a 2.2 litre diesel?

ltdslipdiff

Your average daily driver diesel would be rated in and around one tonne (braked) these days. Something heavy-ish like an Avensis, Mondeo, Audi A4, Passat should fit the bill. Any other requirements? Must it be a 2.0?

jimgoose

Any modern 2-litre turbodiesel should be equal to that. Are we talking much less than a ton, or near it?

granturismo

Does your trailer have brakes?

Do you need a 2 seater, 5 seater or 7 seat car?

Honest John has braked and unbraked towing limits for most makes.

The caravan club suggest that the laden weight of your trailer should be less than 85% of the car weight to help stability.

restive

I would be ok between 1.8 to 2.2 litre. But it must be reliable and I would be keeping it for a number of years. I .would prefer 2011 onwards and would like a good radio with bluetooth.

restive

I would b talking 900kg load. I would like a 5 seater. I prefer a 5 door. The trailer does not have brakes.

jimgoose

restive wrote: »

I would b talking 900kg load. I would like a 5 seater. I prefer a 5 door. The trailer does not have brakes.

Mmm. What about some sort of 4x4?

restive

jimgoose wrote: »

Mmm. What about some sort of 4x4?

My main concern would be running cost (fuel). But I would love one!

Tea 1000

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Volvo/XC60/2.4-D5-M/36113680330581580/advert?channel=CARS

That'll tow shít in plenty of comfort!

PaudyW

Skoda superb tdi

granturismo

granturismo wrote: »

Honest John has braked and unbraked towing limits for most makes..

Sorry, HonestJohn's max towing limit seems to be for braked trailers only.

TrailerBob

No car is rated for more than 750kg unbraked.. Above this weight your trailer is required to have brakes. It's stopping the extra ton that's the problem, not towing it. Your cars brakes are not up to stopping the car fully loaded with another ton behind.

I towed an unbraked trailer once and it is very unsettling when you try to stop, an that's with a 2 ton landcruiser in front.

restive

TrailerBob wrote: »

No car is rated for more than 750kg unbraked.. Above this weight your trailer is required to have brakes. It's stopping the extra ton that's the problem, not towing it. Your cars brakes are not up to stopping the car fully loaded with another ton behind.

I towed an unbraked trailer once and it is very unsettling when you try to stop, an that's with a 2 ton landcruiser in front.

Are their any special connections needed on the back of a towing car for brakes?

TrailerBob

restive wrote: »

Are their any special connections needed on the back of a towing car for brakes?

No, trailers with brakes need no special connections. The brake system is contained within the trailer hitch. When you brake, it compresses the hitch coupling and applies the trailer brakes via steel cables. Works on simple push/pull principle.

dgt

I've towed compressors and trailers with my 406, no problems getting up and down steep hills (even a 14ft twin axle for the laugh :pac:)

If you'll be doing plenty of towing, try to get something with a long stroke engine/undersquare, better for engine braking

restive

dgt wrote: »

I've towed compressors and trailers with my 406, no problems getting up and down steep hills (even a 14ft twin axle for the laugh :pac:)

If you'll be doing plenty of towing, try to get something with a long stroke engine/undersquare, better for engine braking

Sorry I am overly motor minded. What is a 406? What is a long stroke engine / undersquare?

Also is their a difference between an automatic and manual gearbox when towing?

dgt

restive wrote: »

What is a 406?

restive wrote: »

What is a long stroke engine / undersquare?

Undersquare means that the piston bore is smaller in diameter than the stroke travel. Without getting too technical, short stroke is great for revving (Formula 1 cars have a ridiculously short stroke to enable the engines to rev to 18k rpm) and long stroke is more suited to low revving engines (ie diesel). Long stroke compresses the fuel better and burns cleaner too

restive wrote: »

Also is their a difference between an automatic and manual gearbox when towing?

I'd be inclined to stick to a manual with a pretty good clutch

jimgoose

TrailerBob wrote: »

No, trailers with brakes need no special connections. The brake system is contained within the trailer hitch. When you brake, it compresses the hitch coupling and applies the trailer brakes via steel cables. Works on simple push/pull principle.

Aye, those setups are around a long time. I remember my father leaving plenty rubber trying to reverse a caravan in the driveway with a 2.3l Granada many moons ago. Took him a while to cop the push-brake.

restive wrote: »

...is their a difference between an automatic and manual gearbox when towing?

Effectively, yes. If you're towing a ton or so with an automatic you should really have a supplementary transmission fluid cooler. These are very common in North America, where nearly everything including pick-up trucks and 4x4s, are automatic.

tin79

I use a mondeo for towing a boat close to 1000kg.

It gets it up slipways no problem. Towing too is fine.

derry

Back in the good old days my father would tow a 1 ,5 ton boat with 404 Peugeot 1.6 engine on four wheeled braked trailer .Its probably be illegal these days to do the same .
On Flat ground towing is breeze up to 60mph but speed limit today for towing is 80kph or 50MPH

2 liter diesel always stick shift is better for towing but automatics can do it if its not so long distance and it flat ground just stay in towing mode push the tow mode button or use the lower gears 'If it steep hills and lots of speed changing muddy roads such as farms or camping sites then its better to go for bigger engines and gear boxes with good clutches such as 4 wheel drive cars things

Diesel engines tend to be long stroke engines and the non turbo type tend to have better ability not to overheat and blow up the turbos I would prefer for towing a 2.2 liter non turbo than a 1.8 turbo diesel for towing work even though the 1.8 turbo version would have more BHP it would need to to use higher RPM to do same work create more heat and have more risks to melt turbo and blow it up .Non turbo diesel have better pulling power when under heavy loads but might spew out more black smoke that normal for very heavily loaded diesel engines to do

Petrol engines to give BHP have to do High RPM but they take that in their stride just drop the gears and rev up more and 2.2 petrol will have more BHP than diesel 2.2 but will eat fuel when towing as it will be doing high rpm in lowwer gears to do same work .If its only small towing once a month no big issues
A non turbo petrol 2.2 will suit most people fast when not towing less costly on repair bills about the same MPG in town running as diesel
A diesel is better bet for those that do long high way commutes and very little city traveling

The 900 kg will have to be braked for towing with normal cars 750 kg is max limit unbracked

What is this 900 kgs a carvan or what .Carvans have more wingage drag so if you need speed towing diesel is often the better bet with that type of load
If it low profile car ambulance type with race car or quads whatever then petrol cars is fine for this

To reply correctly the distance you commute work every day and is town or highway or what mix ratio#the type of stuff to be towed and what distance in to what terrain boats onto beaches cows onto farm horses onto races ? over mountains or only on highways

with 900kg
1.8 petrol non turbo will be fine for short town commutes and towing low profile trailers on flat road highways etc

2.2 non turbo diesel will be fine for long commutes on highways and towing high sided caravans in hilly or not good roads such as farm tracks or camp sites

Derry

restive

Actually i do some part time farming. Now and again i have to draw a heavy load from the co-op. Bus my main use for the car is to go 10 miles to and from work.

spank_inferno

Skoda Yeti
170ps from 2ltr diesel & is AWD.

Can take upwards of 1,800kg braked.

Ferris

Citroen C5 2.2hdi Estate. Very strong engines in these. Capacity to tow 1500kg braked.

The best bit about these is that the estates have a button to lower and raise the suspension in the boot which will lift a heavy trailer (saves your back). They're comfortable, seats are like couches. Also the suspension is self levelling so it won't bottom out over bumps and undulations.

Best of all they're cheap as chips:

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/4788373

(don't worry about the mileage, it'll do twice that).

FrontDoor

Ferris wrote: »

Citroen C5 2.2hdi Estate. Very strong engines in these. Capacity to tow 1500kg braked.

The best bit about these is that the estates have a button to lower and raise the suspension in the boot which will lift a heavy trailer (saves your back). They're comfortable, seats are like couches. Also the suspension is self levelling so it won't bottom out over bumps and undulations.

Best of all they're cheap as chips:

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/4788373

(don't worry about the mileage, it'll do twice that).

Are these a good buy as a used car, particularly the 2.0 HDI? They are a seriously comfy bus.

Do they have the same gremlins the 407 had? Or are they a far better car?

Ferris

Don't know about 407's. I've been in a few taxi's and a lad from work used to run 2 of them at the same time as he did huge mileage. Never heard any complaints, only praise. The 2l and 2.2 hdi's are seriously strong engines. the main service item to watch is the hydraulic suspension, it needs a fluid change and new spheres every 60k which puts a lot of people off but its not really that expensive.

I had the older 1.9 in a xantia and the odometer had broken 2yrs before at 250k. Everything in tha car was broken apart from the engine and gearbox.

I don't think the PSA 1.6 is as reliable but its a much newer design of diesel engine and its in everything from bmw's to volvo's now. I would guess it would be a bit short on guts for serious tow work.

derry

For me no brainer get a non turbo 1.8 petrol thing preferably again biger type example if the car comes with 1.8 Liter to 3.5 liter getting the bottom version will give you heavy car with lower running costs than the bigger engines the heavier car will tow the trailer and not get pushed around so much .When you don't do big mileage hard to get the diesel to get up to correct temp to give the better MPG .Suggest cars like Toyota Carina Eventis or Nissans or similar .I avoid any European cars makes like the plague they got problems to get spares for electronics and they always seems to give problems in electronics that cost way too much to fix .Asian cars electronics are not so fancy but cheaper easier to fix if they ever break .

Like I said petrol, engines have great BHP but throw gobs of fuel at it to get the BHP
If your only going to COOP once a month that's not a problem just stay in lower gears and use lots of wellie and high RPM 3000 to 4000 all the way to red line and you can tow easy peasy .Dont tow in fifth gears or high gears going uphills as that wrecks the clutch sooner and if in doubt if the car isn't pulling so well just drop a gear and your sorted even if the engine is near red lining the petrol engines can take that no sweat.Petrol engine cant take laboring slow RPM with heavy loads .

Derry