MPV'S AS TOWCARS?

[Grant]

WE ARE CONSIDERING AN MPV AS A TOW CAR FOR OUR BAILEY RANGER 500/5, HAS ANYONE TOWED SIMILAR WITH A FOCUS C MAX 2.0 TDCI AS ON PAPER IT IS CAPABLE? ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS?

 

[Garfield]

Generally, most 7 seat MPV's are designed to be stable at high speed carrying a heavy load and thus make excellent towcars, I question the term MPV when used for 5 seat vehicles as what do they do in addition to a conventional estate car or hatchback?

The VW Touran would be worth a look.

 

[Grant]

Thanks Gary, however, our funds may not stretch further for a Touran. Is there anyone who is presently towing with a c max could offer some feedback please?

 

[STEVE_5041381]

Not a C max but a Picasso/Scenic same sort of size - watch your loading of the car and van and check your Gross train weight.

I think you will be very near the max mark with a 500/5. But I have no complaints I tow a ranger 460/2 they make excellent towcars,

 

[michael_5111967]

I towed a Bailey Ranger 500/5 1999 model with my 2ND C-Max 2l TDCi & now tow a 2004 Pageant moselle,the car performs excellent better than my previous tow car which was a 4*4.The Ford has plenty of power and feels very stable one can easily forget that the van is in tow its a very versatile car, the only thing I find takes a little getting used to, as mine is a Ghia, is the electronic handbrake especially when pulling away on a hill.

Practical caravan magazine actually had one as their test tow car back in 2004/05 and it scored very highly i Believe.Hope this feed back is of some use.

 

[Grant]

Thanks for your comments, we are yet to drive one, we liked the design, but,feared it looked too small for towing our caravan although the kerb weight is similar to a Mondeo hatchback.

 

[Tony A.]

Rhian,

I used to tow with a Citreon Synergie 2.0ltr HDI ,I think Peugot do a `derivitive`(excuse spelling) known as the 806, It had a max tow weight of 1500 kgs and took my ranger 460/2 to the south of France with out any problems, it even came with climate control, which was great on the Med.

Hope this helps, let us know what you choose

Tony A.

 

[Ewan_5130997]

We tow a 2006 Bailey Ranger 550/6 with a Fiat Multipla JTD. Although if fully loaded, the van would be about a 95% match, the car has 115bhp and with the wheels almost at each corner, is very stable.

 

[Keith_5099196]

We tow a Lunar Solaris 2 with a Toyota Previa MTW1600kgs no problems

 

[RobP]

We have a 2005 model Ranger 500/5. We started off with a Peugeot 307 SW 110 Bhp HDI. This worked fine and was a very stable combination for a year.

The 307 SW is a brilliant car, every passenger we had loved the glass roof. We have subsequently changed to a 407 SW 136 Bhp HDI which gives us that bit more towing capacity. The 407 is a longer vehicle but has the same wheelbase as the 307 so has a tendancy to pitch up and down slightly more on B roads. Otherwise its a very competant towcar, not really an MPV like the 307 though.

On reflection if the 307 was a newer model with the 136 BHP engine (and the very useful 240lbft torque), we would still be towing with it now.

 

[stanretoma]

I bought a Ford S-Max 2.0 TDCi (140bhp) and pull a Swift Charisma 570. Although we've done trips in the UK of about 100miles each way, the car has been excellent (used to have VW Sharan). This summer we go to France and will cover 1300 miles in 4 weeks so, it'll really test the car but so far we're delighted and no hitches whatsoever (excuse the pun).

 

[Grant]

Thanks for all your comments to our topic, we have an update,we are due to collect our recent purchase tommorrow, its a VW Touran, 2.0 tdi sport edition, hopefully we will have many holidays without any worries?

 

[wombat1]

I bought a Ford S-Max 2.0 TDCi (140bhp) and pull a Swift Charisma 570. Although we've done trips in the UK of about 100miles each way, the car has been excellent (used to have VW Sharan). This summer we go to France and will cover 1300 miles in 4 weeks so, it'll really test the car but so far we're delighted and no hitches whatsoever (excuse the pun).

I purchased a 2002 VW Sharan TDi (115hp) in December to tow my first ever van. How would you rate your new car against the Sharan? Can you give any tips/advice for happy trouble free towing with a Sharan, or was it just so damn good you never had any issues?

Tim

 

[dandiesel]

i have a chrysler voyager 2.5TD and tow a 86 abbey 418gt cant fault it had a pajero 2.8 before and that really struggled towing the van ,good luck with the touran nice cars should be a good tug

cheers

dan