Qashqai

[Mikey_74]

Hello to old friends and new,
It’s been a while since I’ve been in the scene or on the forum, having sold the van and temporarily hanging up the mirrors.
My last tug was a series 1 Santa Fe, 2ltr diesel fitted with a tuning box, which I have to say towed my twin axle better than expected, several cars later I have recently purchased a 65plate Qashqai 1.6 diesel, i have just had it mapped and it now produces 160ps and approx 370Nm of torque.
After buying it, my new swmbo has started talking about another caravan (her previous marriage, they had a van) and wondered if anyone has or does tow with one? I’m fitting my tow bar on Monday, mainly for the trailer, but want to know if they’re any good, I believe in 2014 they won their weight category and overall tow car of the year, any info on them would be greatly appreciated, my handbook and Towbar literature states a maximum of 1800kgs no way would I tow that with such a light car and just a 1.6!!!

 

[ProfJohnL]

I can't help you with towing impressions of a Qashqai, but I will comment about the engine size.

It's not Cubic capacity that tows a caravan but the power and torque the engine produces. It does also rely on the vehicle having suitable gear ratios so the engine can be kept in its most effective power band. This has and will always be the case.

If you were to compare two engines of with the same power and torque figures, but one was twice as big as the other, it’s likely the smaller engine will have to run faster to match match the performance, and that can make it seem as though its being placed under greater duress.

But the reality is in the 1980’s the majority of caravans were towed by cars with 1.6 to 2.0 litre engines, and their power outputs were well below those of today’s cars, so a modern 1.6L should have more than enough clout to haul a caravan, and keep up with normal traffic flows.

Having bigger power outputs makes little difference except when accelerating, and in reality the general traffic flows on our roads prevent the full potential of these more powerful vehicles from being used.

 

[Guzzilazz]

I had a Kadjar (same chassis) and the main problem with that was the kerb weight. It was only about 1300kg as I recall, and wasn't a starter for towing. The power wasn't the issue, the weight was...

 

[Mikey_74]

Thanks,
My Qashqai Is apparently around 1750kgs so I don't have that trouble.

Time will tell

 

[ProfJohnL]

I had a Kadjar (same chassis) and the main problem with that was the kerb weight. It was only about 1300kg as I recall, and wasn't a starter for towing. ...

It may not have been heavy enough for your requirements, but there are smaller caravans and of course trailer tents for which it would probably work with no problems.

 

[TandKM]

I have a Qashqai 1.6dci xtronic. Max towing weight is 1400kg. Use it to tow a Bailey Platinum 640 it comes in MTPML at just under the 1400kg. It tows just fine. The weight of the car is about 1625kg. I don't put much weight in the van, awning etc. are in the boot.

 

[Mikey_74]

Thanks for the replies

I’ll see how it goes

 

[camel]

Mikey74, My 2014 plate 1.6 Qashqai tares off at 1520 with half a tank of fuel and no driver in the car when it was weighed, I'm towing at just under 95% with no problems, the onle problem I find with the Qashqai is three second release on the foot brake when you are stopped on a hill, another bit of advice I found that my had been used for a lot os short journeys in Norfolk by the previos owner consequently I ended up having a DPF regen, also I now avoid supermarket diesel like the plague only use BP ultimate,

 

[gyp]

Hi,
We have our second Qasqai , an 18 plate 1.6 turbo diesel N Connecta with a kerb weight of 1529 kg .
It tows a Bailry Genoa GT 70 which has an MRO of 1141/MTPLM 1265 kg.
The Nose weight load for the car is 100kg.
This outfit tows extremley well and we are very pleased with it .We have been away in Cornwall for 2 weeks and I checked my return journey on A30 , M5 & M4 .This was 199 miles and took me 5 hours which included 2 sops totalling approx 45 mins. The fuel calculated at 34.9 mpg.

This was the busiest I have seen these roads on a Friday for years and we were in continuous traffic all the way .We stayed in the slow lane for most of the journey whch meant we could hold approx 60mph.

The main pont is that the car is extremley good for towing within its 85% of kerbweight recommendation.
Having towed since the early 1980's with bigger cars with larger engines I can support the previous reference to older cars not being directly comparable to todays engines.
Hope this helps.

 

[Mikey_74]

Many thanks to those who have replied, I have now fitted my towbar and been out with the trailer to the tip, but obviously I can’t comment on towing a van, your words are reassuring, I just need to wait now and see what SWMBO,decides to do regarding another van.
Thanks once again.