Corolla 1.4d4d

sean61

I want to get a small economical van soon. The reason I want a van is because I intend on doing some motorbike trackdays next year and a van is handy for tools etc.

I've been looking at corolla vans, especially the 1.4d4d. A work colleague has one and he gets great mpg from it and it's been very reliable for him. I also like that it would be cheap to tax if i couldn't get the commercial rate on it.

Would the 1.4 be underpowered for pulling a trailer? The trailer and bike would be fairly light. Probably about 300-350kg altogether. I towed it with a 1.5 almera lately and got on grand but there wasn't enough torque and the car felt a bit dead. I'd go for the 2.0 but for the sake of the couple of trips, i couldn't justify the extra tax and fuel

Bpmull

My dad had one a 06 1.4 d4d van version a few years ago. They are a good van when it comes to economy and reliability. We pulled a 10 by 6 ifor Williams double axle trailer with it a few times and it pulled it fine but if it was anyway loaded you'd feel it it's still only a 1.4 d4d at the end of the day. But if your only pulling a small single axle trailer with a motorcycle on it you should be fine. Just when you start getting over about a ton weight your in trouble. I recon you will struggle to get a good clean one as most are wrecked. I have a golf van myself and it was pure hardship finding a clean one but I was lucky and got one in the end. But 1.4 d4d corollas are a good be rarer than golfs.

JohnBoy26

sean61 wrote: »

I want to get a small economical van soon. The reason I want a van is because I intend on doing some motorbike trackdays next year and a van is handy for tools etc.

I've been looking at corolla vans, especially the 1.4d4d. A work colleague has one and he gets great mpg from it and it's been very reliable for him. I also like that it would be cheap to tax if i couldn't get the commercial rate on it.

Would the 1.4 be underpowered for pulling a trailer? The trailer and bike would be fairly light. Probably about 300-350kg altogether. I towed it with a 1.5 almera lately and got on grand but there wasn't enough torque and the car felt a bit dead. I'd go for the 2.0 but for the sake of the couple of trips, i couldn't justify the extra tax and fuel

It will pull the trailer you've got without any issues whatsoever. The 1.4 is also a much nicer engine than the 2.0 in terms of refinement. It's actually one of the most refined small diesels out there and it's extremely quiet too.

CJhaughey

Would you not get a good size van that you can keep the bike inside ?
Pissing rain and road grit does a bike no favours and bouncing around on a trailer isn't ideal.
A SWB box van probably won't be vastly different than a small diesel car to run ad you can always sleep in it if you rig it right.

sean61

CJhaughey wrote: »

Would you not get a good size van that you can keep the bike inside ?
Pissing rain and road grit does a bike no favours and bouncing around on a trailer isn't ideal.
A SWB box van probably won't be vastly different than a small diesel car to run ad you can always sleep in it if you rig it right.

That would be ideal but I can't run a car, a track bike, road bike and a van so I'm trying to make do with the buget I have. A van wouldn't be the best for heading off for a spin with the missus at the weekend anyway I'd imagine! Maybe when I have the cash I can have both but I need a good middle ground for now.

As for finding a clean corolla, they are rare I admit but I've been watching for the last few months and you do see an odd one pop up. They hold their value well though and decent ones seem to have big price tags to match

mullingar

A 1.4D corolla is only legally able to tow a loaded trailer of 1T.

An ifor 10x6 unladen is probably near 1000kg Pulling a loaded trailer that is grossly over the plated limits of the towing vehicle is highly illegal and stupid.

JohnBoy26

mullingar wrote: »

A 1.4D corolla is only legally able to tow a loaded trailer of 1T.

An ifor 10x6 unladen is probably near 1000kg Pulling a loaded trailer that is grossly over the plated limits of the towing vehicle is highly illegal and stupid.

The op will only be towing a small trailer with bike which they say is no more than 350kg though, so your point is?

Bpmull

mullingar wrote: »

A 1.4D corolla is only legally able to tow a loaded trailer of 1T.

An ifor 10x6 unladen is probably near 1000kg Pulling a loaded trailer that is grossly over the plated limits of the towing vehicle is highly illegal and stupid.

A 10 by 6 trailer is 500 kg well an ifor Williams one is that. Anytime we pulled the trailer with it it had very little in it which I mention in my post that the trailer wouldn't want to be anyway loaded. If it was loaded we used bigger vans to pull it. I'm not even sure if you can legally pull any double axle trailer now with the likes of a corolla but then this was 4 years when the laws weren't in. Infairness corollas 1.4d4d are grand but if you put 2.5 ton in a 10 by 6 trailer which weighted 500 kg that's 3 ton I'd be suprised if the van would even physically pull that from a stop you'd certainly not have much of a clutch left. I dont think anyone would be stupid enough to pull one loaded to that extend. A ton is just about ok but anything more you'd be wasting your time with a corolla it's still only 1.4 as well as breaking the law.

Anyway if the op if only going to be towing a small single axle trailer it's fine probably won't be every anymore than 1/2 ton. However it may be a better idea to get the like of a SWB transporter as was mentioned above as you have a dry place to put the motor cycle and a good bit of space but then economy wise your looking at 35mpg vs 55 mpg.

mullingar

Bpmull wrote: »

A 10 by 6 trailer is 500 kg well an ifor Williams one is that. Anytime we pulled the trailer with it it had very little in it which I mention in my post that the trailer wouldn't want to be anyway loaded. If it was loaded we used bigger vans to pull it. I'm not even sure if you can legally pull any double axle trailer now with the likes of a corolla but then this was 4 years when the laws weren't in. Infairness corollas 1.4d4d are grand but if you put 2.5 ton in a 10 by 6 trailer which weighted 500 kg that's 3 ton I'd be suprised if the van would even physically pull that from a stop you'd certainly not have much of a clutch left. I dont think anyone would be stupid enough to pull one loaded to that extend. A ton is just about ok but anything more you'd be wasting your time with a corolla it's still only 1.4 as well as breaking the law.

Anyway if the op if only going to be towing a small single axle trailer it's fine probably won't be every anymore than 1/2 ton. However it may be a better idea to get the like of a SWB transporter as was mentioned above as you have a dry place to put the motor cycle and a good bit of space but then economy wise your looking at 35mpg vs 55 mpg.

The towing max weight limits law was always there for cars (that you can't exceed the car/van manufacturer spec) , there were law changes to the actual trailers recently alright and you are right any laden trailer that is <1t on a corolla is fine and its also 100% legal.

A quick google for an ivor 10x6 general trailer found this and they are 620kg unladen so I was way off the mark (cattle trailers that size are 900).

A corolla is 100% legal to pull any monstrous trailer with 2/3/4 axles, even a 1000kg cattle trailer, but you can only tow a maximum load of unladen+load=1000kg (braked trailer)

But you must have a BE licence too if any trailer has a DGVW of 1300kg plus+ and most trailers of that large size probably are plated to 3500kg.


Anyway @ op,

The corolla has an unbraked towing capacity of 480kg, so any wee trailer is fine for dirt bikes if it weighs under that and you only need a standard B licence.