Am I hurting my Mondeo

[Gary_374358511]

Good morning to you all. We've just received our third caravan which is a 2004 Sterling Ecles Moonstone. It's a big jump from out 1995 Elddis 4 birth. We love it to bits and the difference going from an old van to a new one is amazing. Anyway, I would like some reassurance on my towing vehicle. I have a 53 plate Mondeo 2.0 TDCI (115). According to weights I'm at a comfortable 80% but when towing, the car seems ever so sluggish. With the last van I could keep my speed at 60 in 5th going up a hill on the motor way but with this one I've had to drop down to fourth. It's also much more effort to pull away as well. Now... I've heard that the Mondeo's are very good tow cars but surly, the strain on the car must take it's toll. My Mondeo is also the (115bhp) version as appose to the 130bph.

The missus assures me that I'm just getting used to a new van that is slightly heavier than the last one but I'm just a bit of a worrier and I'm constantly waiting for something to SNAP.

Thank you in advance

Regards

Gary

 

[RogerL]

5th and 6th gears are overdrives. At 60mph you need power to keep going, not just torque, to overcome aerodynamic resistance, particularly towing. Your 115PS engine needs to be allowed to develop it's limited power by keeping it in the right rev range. At 1555kg, your caravan on the hook isn't helping.

On inclines, you'll need to let the engine get up to 4000rpm where it's got some power rather than keep it down at 2000rpm where it's got plenty of torque but much less power.

 

[Lutz]

For several years we towed a 1300kg caravan with a 90hp Vectra. In order to keep up with the traffic flow on steeper gradients it sometimes needed 2nd gear to maintain 50mph, but the car never grumbled.

 

[Dustydog]

Hi Roger

Are you sure going to 4000rpm is correct? I've had 3 diesels and have always noticed they pull a very heavy load best at 2000- 2500 rpm which is at the peak of the torque. Correct me if I am wrong but I think the torque falls away as the rpm rises and yes I agree the maximium bhp is achieved at circa 4000rpm.

At 4000rpm most diesels will be at their maximum rpm.

Quite honestly I don't fancy thrashing my diesel the way you suggest.

I think Gary's real problem is that his 115bhp Mondeo , which is high geared, and relatively speaking low powered, is struggling to give grand prix performance with 1555kgs on the back and no doubt the boot fully loaded.

I agree with the comment he should make more use of 4th gear on inclines but equally I cannot advocate thrashing the engine mile after mile at 4000rpm.

My previous diesel had a 6 speeder and 6th was totally taboo when towing.

Cheers

Alan

 

[Lutz]

For several years we towed a 1300kg caravan with a 90hp Vectra. In order to keep up with the traffic flow on steeper gradients it sometimes needed 2nd gear to maintain 50mph, but the car never grumbled.

50mph in 2nd was just under 7000rpm, so this was obviously a petrol engine!

 

[Gary_374358511]

Thanks for you replies so far guys. I suppose, to sum it up, what I'm trying to get at is, is my Mondeo under powered, therefore not really suitable for the weight I'm trying to tow?

I do hope not as I couldn't really afford another car and we've just forked out a packet on the caravan. Having said all that though, I've seen some very obviously none matched cars and caravans on the roads and they seem to get away with it. For me though, safety is of the upmost as my young family are more important to me than anything else.

Thanks again guys.

Keep em comming.

Gary

 

[otherclive]

I reckon 1555kg on the back of a Mondeo is probably above 100% ratio but even if its stable (when things get tough) its engine is not really man enoough for the job.

 

[RogerL]

In one of their technical leaflets the Caravan Club recommends a minimum of 40bhp per tonne of train weight.

The one outfit I've had below that figure was simply underpowered, the two at that figure were acceptable but no more. All the others have been much more comfortable. Individuals will have different views on "comfortable".

Although diesel engines have much lower max rpm than petrol engines they should still be able to climb hills at their max power rpm without blowing up or even minor problems.

 

[Gary_374358511]

All the Caravan paper work states that my 2003 vans weight is 1225kg unladen.(the new 08 moonstone weighs 1555kg) We have weighed what we generaly put in there and that comes to well less than 100kg inc awning. With car boot and gas bottles I'm pretty sure we don't go over 150kg. Mmmm. Just re-calculating here. Our car's kirb is 1495(I think) So I think we're around the 92-96% mark. Is this a bad thing? Am I legal? Am I safe?

 

[RogerL]

It's a brave person that says they tow at less than MTPLM on a UK caravan - many of us, thinking we're well under, have weighed all the contents and found it exceeding the permissible payload.

Best to stick to using the MTPLM.

Many continental caravans and a few UK caravans have very generous payloads but most UK caravans have payloads no more than the minimum permitted under EN1645.

 

[Gary_374358511]

Thank Roger. You guy's obviously know what your talking about and I trust your majority judgment fully as I've only been doing this for three years and in that time I've gone from a 14' to a 24' and this is my first experience of the tow car showing signs of struggle. Should I be looking at something bigger then? My last car(with a 14' sprite) was the 1.8 petrol Freelander with the dreaded K series engine and yes.. You've guessed.. the head gasket went. It cost me a fortune so I kinda went off 4X4 altogether.

At first I thought my Mondeo would pull anything safely. Not so sure now. The sales guy showed us a site he claimed the police use to check compatible matches. He put our car and caravan in and it all worked out great. I did double check this with him and saw the figures for myself because this guy wanted to sell us this caravan and if I told him we had a 1.0 Saxo he'd have told us it was OK.

When I say my car struggles, what I mean is it's not as active as it has been with other vans. I can comfortably live with it so long as it's safe. I'm a safe driver and never push it with the van on.

Am I deluding myself or do I go out and buy a MASSIVE 4.0 4X4 to be sure.

 

[S-MaxJon]

Gary - If you can go for the more powerful Mondeo's.The 130 is good but the 155 is incredible.The max towing weight is 1800kg and average kerbweight varies from 1500 to 1640 and above depnding on equipment fitted.My ST hatch weighs in at 1640 with me and a tankful of fuel.

 

[stevieg330]

Hi Gary,

I haven't got a Mondeo, but tow with a 110bhp Audi A6 Avant. Our caravans MTPLM is 1417kg and it is around a 93% match so i'm assuming that the cars are roughly similar!

Our car is definitely sluggish with the 'van on the back and its not going to break any speed records but it actually tows really well. The key I think is not to let the engine labour and anticipate hills or inclines. It is quite capable of holding 60mph along the flat in 5th but needs a gearchange or two when going up an incline.

I think that providing that you pay attention to tyre pressures, nose weight and make sure that you load the 'van sensibly there should be no problem with your outfit. This should always be done anyway but I think it gets more critical the higher the percentage match. With ours I awlays check the nose weight, make sure tyre pressures are spot on and sort the loading as well as I can before every trip.

I have now towed the caravan around 20 times in the last 18 months and don't have any particular worries that I am shortening the life of the car.

I agree with your other half in that you are just getting used to a new outfit. Take it easy and I'm sure you will be fine.

Good luck and I hope this helps

Steve

 

[Gary_374358511]

Thanks for that Steve.

Like I say, on a flat it feels comfortable and very stable. On the hills it still feels stable but I need to drop down a gear earlier than I did in the last van. Pulling away requires more clutch action as well. The only thing I worry a bit about is if I get stuck in traffic on a REALLY steep hill.

My storage site has a steep hill going up to it but it's quite a wide road and not too much traffic around. First gear gets me up it with great ease. I just dread the day that something comes the other way because if I had to stop I would probably need to back up all the way down the hill and round a couple of sharp bends.

Don't get me wrong though, I'm not a total armature. Reversing with the van isn't an issue and I'm very comfortable towing.

The new van is gorgeous and I love caravanning. We don't really want to change the car because we've just spent nearly 9k on the van and couldn't afford it.

Cheers again Steve

 

[Francis_374353316]

Hi I tow a 1400Kg Compass Rallye with a 1999 Peugeot 406 HDI 110bhp. This means our engines have about the same power and I dont have many problems towing atol. I do have to use 4th gear on some incluines but this isn't a problem as 60mph can still be acheived also on a recent trip we got stopped on quite a steep hill and I put the car into 1st and it puled away no bother. So if you use the gearbox and keep an eye on the weights then your car should tow fine.

 

[Gary_374358511]

Thanks for your comments Francis. I'm beginning to feel a bit better about this now. My car's maximum tow weight is 1800 and I obviously don't want to get anywhere near that weight but I've also been assured elsewhere that I'm legal and just some carefull driving is required.

Thanks to everyone else for your comments. This forum is the best.

Regards

Gary

 

[kev.t]

Hi Gary

Until recently I towed with a 55 plate tdci 115. pulling a steling belvoir mtplm 1500. The van was loaded to around 1460kg, and it towed like a dream on the flat. As you say on a good m/way incline 4th gear was often necessary, but having said that, it was the same situation with my previous mondeo 130 bhp. I'm afraid it is something you will get used to. And yes you are right in saying that legally you can tow up to 1800 kg, although maybe not advisable with a car weighing 1496!!!!

Hope this helps

Kevin

 

[Jon_5110218]

Gary I have had a Mondeo 115 TDCI from new in 2003 originally towed an Archway Royal about 1435 fully laden then for the last two years a Swift Challenger 540 max weight 1500. After checking on the weighbridge the Mondeo was at about 96%. It towed both the vans superbly; yes you do need to use 4th gear on occasions when going uphill but generally I cannot fault it. It has now covered 78,000 miles and still going strong, the only thing I had done recently was to get it re programmed as it was a bit sluggish first thing in the morning (cost

 

[Gary_374358511]

Thanks again for your comments Kevin & Jon. I do feel a whole lot better about things now. I was seriously thinking about getting a big chunky 4X4 to be sure dispite the tax increase due.

My Mondeo now has 70K on the clock and, toutch wood, has never let me down. I had all sorts from MR2's to SLK's and can honestly say that my Mondeo is the best car I've ever driven.

I really don't want to get rid of it because you never know what your going to get next. I know my Mondeo and I trust it.

We've found new storage as well where we now have a drive through pitch and NO massive hills to climb when we get there which is great.

Just as a not in regards to a previous post I saw on here about caravan weights rising through the years, I looked up the history of the Eccles Moonstone and it started life at around 1200. Then in 2003/04 (my model) went up to 1225. Now, the 2008 model is something like 1550. This is all MIRO as well. They must have fitted surround sound and bath tub as standard now. Surly you'd think with the current climent on big towing vehicles that they would be trying to keep the weight to a minimum.

Also going away to Blackpool this weekend for a few days. I'm so excited.

Thanks again for all your comments.

It really is apreciated.

Regards

Gary