According to one forum the Swift Challenger570/Sterling Ruby (same model)was Swift Groups best seller at the show. We considered this model but at 1595kgs it is too heavy. What vehicle are new prospective owners using to tow their 570's?
Popular but heavy!
- Thread starter David.R
- Start date
David
We are seriously considering the same caravan. I currently have one of the new shape Toyoya RaV4's. This would be around a 95% match - so yes in theory it could pull it.
I know some people are not concerned about the so called 85% rule (I know it's not a rule and that many people tow comfortably in excess of it) BUT, at what cost regarding the performance of the car and fuel economy?
My current caravan is an 82% match so tows just fine. However on a recent long trip to France we were loaded up with stuff we had bought, as well as a new full sized awning in the car - the difference in the cars performance was definitely noticeable as was the drop in fuel economy.
I am still interested as I think the Challenger suits our needs better than any other we have looked at. Having researched cars that I would be happy to have without worrying about economy I have narrowed the choice (in order of preference) to:
1. Toyota land cruiser
2. Landover Discovery 4
3. Kia Sorrento
The latter is without doubt the best value for money and represents a massive saving on the others, but you would probably be better to buy one of the last models if you can still get one - they are knocking off over
We are seriously considering the same caravan. I currently have one of the new shape Toyoya RaV4's. This would be around a 95% match - so yes in theory it could pull it.
I know some people are not concerned about the so called 85% rule (I know it's not a rule and that many people tow comfortably in excess of it) BUT, at what cost regarding the performance of the car and fuel economy?
My current caravan is an 82% match so tows just fine. However on a recent long trip to France we were loaded up with stuff we had bought, as well as a new full sized awning in the car - the difference in the cars performance was definitely noticeable as was the drop in fuel economy.
I am still interested as I think the Challenger suits our needs better than any other we have looked at. Having researched cars that I would be happy to have without worrying about economy I have narrowed the choice (in order of preference) to:
1. Toyota land cruiser
2. Landover Discovery 4
3. Kia Sorrento
The latter is without doubt the best value for money and represents a massive saving on the others, but you would probably be better to buy one of the last models if you can still get one - they are knocking off over
- Mar 14, 2005
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To refer to the 85% recommendation on grounds of stability is legitimate, although debatable, but I find it very strange to talk about it within the context of performance and economy. Surely, to gain full benefit of performance and economy one would rather go the other way and keep the weight of the towcar as low as possible (the more weight, the more power required to get the same performance).
Lutz
You know an awful lot more about these things than I do - I find your comments consistently helpful.
The point I was making was not so much in the context of the 85% rule but the overall additional weight in the context of how well the tow car performs.
The landcruiser, Discovery and the Kia are heavier and more powerful cars than my RaV so will almost certainly pull a Challenger better without causing undue strain on the actual car.
I used to have a Shogun Petrol (LWB. I hated it, but it did pull the caravan brilliantly without any worrying drop in fuel consumption (it drank like a fish anyway)
So, all I am suggesting is that provided the right kind of car is picked, the easier it will be to tow the Challenger, without having to worry about what you have in the car etc.
You know an awful lot more about these things than I do - I find your comments consistently helpful.
The point I was making was not so much in the context of the 85% rule but the overall additional weight in the context of how well the tow car performs.
The landcruiser, Discovery and the Kia are heavier and more powerful cars than my RaV so will almost certainly pull a Challenger better without causing undue strain on the actual car.
I used to have a Shogun Petrol (LWB. I hated it, but it did pull the caravan brilliantly without any worrying drop in fuel consumption (it drank like a fish anyway)
So, all I am suggesting is that provided the right kind of car is picked, the easier it will be to tow the Challenger, without having to worry about what you have in the car etc.
- Mar 14, 2005
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Hello S
Its small but important point - you wrote:-
"My current caravan is an 82% match so tows just fine."
The way you have written it suggests that your outfit tows well because its is 82%. I am sure you actually meant;
My outfit tows fine and it happens to be 82%.
Its small but important point - you wrote:-
"My current caravan is an 82% match so tows just fine."
The way you have written it suggests that your outfit tows well because its is 82%. I am sure you actually meant;
My outfit tows fine and it happens to be 82%.
At 1600 kg you don't really need a 4x4 tractor to pull it, something like an S-Max 2.0tdci will be a 92{pipe delimiter}% match and the 2.2 is about 88% and it's still got a payload capability of over 700kg (max tow = 1750 for the 2.0 and 1800 for the 2.2) and best of all it doesn't have a silly CO2 tax band, only 159g for the 2.0 =
totally agree (and im an ex 4x4 owner) you no longer need a large 4x4 to tow vans of this weight, ive towed my coachman vip 530/4 with a seat alhambra tdi 130, a ford s max tdci 2.0 and now a ford galaxy mk3 2.0 tdci, i allso towed our old coachman laser 590 with the alhambra.
the large mpv's in my honest and experianced opinion make much better all round tow cars than my old discovery's and shoguns which where better on the "very" rare occasion i had problems on grass but where horrible and expensive to use on my commute to work. my current galaxy is averaging 43 mpg round town and on our recent trip to france with the van fully loaded a roof box on the car and 4 adults on board it returned what i consider to be an impressive 36 mpg average.
the large mpv's in my honest and experianced opinion make much better all round tow cars than my old discovery's and shoguns which where better on the "very" rare occasion i had problems on grass but where horrible and expensive to use on my commute to work. my current galaxy is averaging 43 mpg round town and on our recent trip to france with the van fully loaded a roof box on the car and 4 adults on board it returned what i consider to be an impressive 36 mpg average.
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