Happy New Year everyone! And if you're thinking of buying a new tow car for your travels this year, check out our our blog on the ones to watch for 2014.
Looking forward to the new tow cars of 2014
- Thread starter LizziePope
- Start date
Happy New Year to you as well Lizzie.
We already have our new tow car on order for 2014, but we are not having any of the big ones shown in your link. We are downsizing from a Vectra to an Astra, more mpg and only £20 per year road tax.
We should have it in a week or two.
We already have our new tow car on order for 2014, but we are not having any of the big ones shown in your link. We are downsizing from a Vectra to an Astra, more mpg and only £20 per year road tax.
We like the Ssangyong Rexton W, but cannot understand why the Nissan Quashai is even being rated as a tow car? Has any one checked out its towing capacity? No interest in the others even if we were in the market for a new car.
I have towed with a Nissan Qashqai for 1 year now. I tow my caravan with a 1.6 turbo diesel ,manual, and within the 85% weight advice, and at 35+ mpg.
It is the best tow car that I have had in over 25 years of towing.
All the relevant car weights are avaiable from Nissan and its dealers. Surprised you did not check before commenting.
It is the best tow car that I have had in over 25 years of towing.
All the relevant car weights are avaiable from Nissan and its dealers. Surprised you did not check before commenting.
gyp said:
You do not mention the MTPLM of your caravan so my comment is probably correct. The auto has an even lower braked towing weight than the manual. Some how I doubt if it can tow the majority of caravans excluding twin axles.
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gyp said:
The Nissans are well made. Our 7 year old diesel Note has never put a foot wrong and readily delivers 60+mpg without trying. The off road magazine "Total Off Road" has three Qashqais on their fleet and they have all been faultless and are a very good drive, ( but not for 'real' off roading.) So if kept within the makers recommended specification I could imagine the Qashqai to be a useful towcar especially with its short overhangs. But I suspect that the auto may have the same restriction on towing limits that the auto X trail has, which is a great pity as some time back it was a straight choice for me between the auto Sorento (original) and auto X-trail but the former won hands down on towing weight and the Kia dealers were keen to negotiate on price whereas Nissan were not. But that was some 10 years back.
Surfer
I have a 14ft 2 berth with mptlm of 1250.my Qashqai has a kerb weight of 1510 , which includes coolant, oilfuel, spre wheel and tools , but not a driver.Its towing limit is 1400kg.
The auto 4 wheel drive 2.0Lweighs 1604 to 1674 kerb weight but has a restrictive 1350 kg towing weight.
The 1.6DCI that i drive is heavy enough and powerful enough to tow many of the caravans made in UK:-
All of the Venus range,
Sprite Alpines and Musketeers
Smaller Lunars
Whilst not the biggest car in the world , it is capable of bei a very good tow car for those wishing to use the smaller caravns available on the market.
Hope this does something to clear the comments you make by assumption.
I have a 14ft 2 berth with mptlm of 1250.my Qashqai has a kerb weight of 1510 , which includes coolant, oilfuel, spre wheel and tools , but not a driver.Its towing limit is 1400kg.
The auto 4 wheel drive 2.0Lweighs 1604 to 1674 kerb weight but has a restrictive 1350 kg towing weight.
The 1.6DCI that i drive is heavy enough and powerful enough to tow many of the caravans made in UK:-
All of the Venus range,
Sprite Alpines and Musketeers
Smaller Lunars
Whilst not the biggest car in the world , it is capable of bei a very good tow car for those wishing to use the smaller caravns available on the market.
Hope this does something to clear the comments you make by assumption.
Surfer
I have a 14ft 2 berth with mptlm of 1250.my Qashqai has a kerb weight of 1510 , which includes coolant, oilfuel, spre wheel and tools , but not a driver.Its towing limit is 1400kg.
The auto 4 wheel drive 2.0Lweighs 1604 to 1674 kerb weight but has a restrictive 1350 kg towing weight.
The 1.6DCI that i drive is heavy enough and powerful enough to tow many of the caravans made in UK:-
All of the Venus range,
Sprite Alpines and Musketeers
Smaller Lunars
Whilst not the biggest car in the world , it is capable of bei a very good tow car for those wishing to use the smaller caravns available on the market.
Hope this does something to clear the comments you make by assumption.
I have a 14ft 2 berth with mptlm of 1250.my Qashqai has a kerb weight of 1510 , which includes coolant, oilfuel, spre wheel and tools , but not a driver.Its towing limit is 1400kg.
The auto 4 wheel drive 2.0Lweighs 1604 to 1674 kerb weight but has a restrictive 1350 kg towing weight.
The 1.6DCI that i drive is heavy enough and powerful enough to tow many of the caravans made in UK:-
All of the Venus range,
Sprite Alpines and Musketeers
Smaller Lunars
Whilst not the biggest car in the world , it is capable of bei a very good tow car for those wishing to use the smaller caravns available on the market.
Hope this does something to clear the comments you make by assumption.
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It would also tow a goodly number of roomy mid 2000s vans such as Bailey S5/6 ie before caravans got 'lardy'!
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Surfer said:
Surfer!
That's a little short sighted!
Just because a particular car does not suit you, does not means its a poor towcar for others. It falls into the same mind set where some contributors have rubbished the Octvia for being voted TCOTY simply becasue its not big enough to tow their particular caravan.
Essentially any car that has any towing capacity deserves the chance to be liked by someone, it may not be me or you, but for someone it might be perfect.
Why do you think I am being short sighted. I do like the Qashai as it is a very nice car and reliable, but never rated it as a towing vehicle due to its limitations.
Although it has a towing weight of 1400kg, if you exceed the parameters of the gradient test, then the maximum towing capaibility has to be reduced. For example, the kerbweight quoted includes a passenegr and soem luggage. Once oyu exceed thsi you need to deduct from the maximum towing weight, ie 2 extra passengers plus luggage additional weight 100kg then this has to be taken off the towing capability reducing it down to 1300kg. BTW Vauxhall also state this in writing in theri brochure.
This is what we were told by a Nissan Sales person in 2010 when we wanted to purchase the 1600 auto which incidentally at the time had a maximum towing capability of about 1200kg. Our caravan MTPLM was 1100kg so we scrapped the Nissan Qashai.
Although it has a towing weight of 1400kg, if you exceed the parameters of the gradient test, then the maximum towing capaibility has to be reduced. For example, the kerbweight quoted includes a passenegr and soem luggage. Once oyu exceed thsi you need to deduct from the maximum towing weight, ie 2 extra passengers plus luggage additional weight 100kg then this has to be taken off the towing capability reducing it down to 1300kg. BTW Vauxhall also state this in writing in theri brochure.
This is what we were told by a Nissan Sales person in 2010 when we wanted to purchase the 1600 auto which incidentally at the time had a maximum towing capability of about 1200kg. Our caravan MTPLM was 1100kg so we scrapped the Nissan Qashai.
The pro-rata deduction quoted by Vauxhall in their brochure only comes into effect at high altitude (badly worded brochure). It is NOT applicable for general use. It's the same reason that aircraft manufacturers always take newly designed aircraft on 'hot and high' trials at high altitude airports before certification (something to do with rarified air?).Surfer said:
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Hello Surfer,
You have just confirmed what I stated, The "Qashqai" isn't big enough for your requirements. That in its self does not make it a bad tow car. Someone else may be perfectly happy with the loading sharing specifications. I have lived with a similar arangment for many years with my Renault Espace which I rate quite highly as a tow car. But it wont suit everyone.
You have just confirmed what I stated, The "Qashqai" isn't big enough for your requirements. That in its self does not make it a bad tow car. Someone else may be perfectly happy with the loading sharing specifications. I have lived with a similar arangment for many years with my Renault Espace which I rate quite highly as a tow car. But it wont suit everyone.
ummm you started so well prof with the short sighted quote, but i kinda think you might take that on board yourself. re rubbished the octavia...As i was how should i put it "in the thick of that very thread, your choice of words seem rather "short sighted"" no body rubbished the octavia what was rubbished "your words" was how TCOTY is done and maybe some failings it has in its test setups or lack of... Nothing wrong in drawing attention to that fact either as nothing is perfect and everything is sunjective. your co called "short sighted" might well be somebody elses enlighten ment or vice versa.......Prof John L said:
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Nissan state the kerbweight for the xtrail with out driver, so i can't see why they should include a passenger in the weight or luggage for the cashcow, do you have a link to your claims? As i don't think your salesman was correct.Surfer said:
I dont rate the cashcow either, but only because of a low 75kg nose weight limit, and engine that don't give a huge amount of torque, when compared to a 171bhp xtrail, or my Mazda CX-5 with 310 pound feet.
This version has a 1800kg tow limit?
http://carleasingmadesimple.com/personal-car-leasing/nissan/qashqai-diesel-hatchback_2/63047/technical-data/?4810N
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I hav etowed for years with 75kg noseweight limit and ist only when I moved to 4X4 that the limit went up. But I cannot recall any issues arisng from having a 'low' noseweight of 75kg. many other things affect stability some are car related and others are driver related.
Re " dont rate the cashcow either, but only because of a low 75kg nose weight limit, and engine that don't give a huge amount of torque, when compared to a 171bhp xtrail, or my Mazda CX-5 with 310 pound feet.
This version has a 1800kg tow lim"
You are not comapring like with like. The Qashqai is not the same vehicle category as the X-trail and CX-5 so the comaprison is somewhat pointless.
Re " dont rate the cashcow either, but only because of a low 75kg nose weight limit, and engine that don't give a huge amount of torque, when compared to a 171bhp xtrail, or my Mazda CX-5 with 310 pound feet.
This version has a 1800kg tow lim"
You are not comapring like with like. The Qashqai is not the same vehicle category as the X-trail and CX-5 so the comaprison is somewhat pointless.
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Depends which cashcow we are talking about.
1800kg if correct is more than a auto xtrail which again only has 75kg.
75kg is fine with lighter caravans, but low tow limits and nw limits restrict caravan choice.
Some versions of the cashcow weigh as much and more than the xtrail and CX_5, and size is very similar in the case of the +2.
1800kg if correct is more than a auto xtrail which again only has 75kg.
75kg is fine with lighter caravans, but low tow limits and nw limits restrict caravan choice.
Some versions of the cashcow weigh as much and more than the xtrail and CX_5, and size is very similar in the case of the +2.
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RAY said:
Looking at the post that started the discussion on Qashqai it is quite clear that the poster has the standard Qashqai, so information about the +2 is somewaht irrelevant. The 1800kg kerbeweight relates to the +2. The Nissan qouted kerbeweights for the standard Qashqai are 1630kg for the 1.6 diese;, and 1674kg for the 2.0litre diesel auto.
What do you cosnider a 'lighter caravan is" that is okay for a 75kg noseweiight? I have towed at 1500kg with a 75kg nw without any concerns...... and some years ago towed 1350kg witha 50kg nw. So what's the equation governing nw and kerbweight. Or is it perhaps a case of bigger is always better?
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I think youre getting mixed up,so i'll try again.otherclive said:
The link shows a towlimit of 1800kg, and is for a standard cashcow.
Some people prefeer to use the NCC guides when towing so 5-7% of MTPLM is recommended, i've towed with 65kg myself with half a dozen cars, but some NW heavy caravans, such as my 1565kg Valencia would struggled to get below 80kg with out excessive back loading.
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RAY said:
i think I would prefer to go by the figures quoted by Nissan in their brochure for tow weights.
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Ok but Perrys say the same.
http://www.perrys.co.uk/car-news/car-specifications/nissan/qashqai/hatchback-(2014-on)/1.6-dci-acenta-premium-5dr.php?type=technical-data
Nissans brothure says nothing as yet?
But the car was only released this Jan.
http://www.perrys.co.uk/car-news/car-specifications/nissan/qashqai/hatchback-(2014-on)/1.6-dci-acenta-premium-5dr.php?type=technical-data
Nissans brothure says nothing as yet?
But the car was only released this Jan.
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