Towing a twin axle without a 4x4

[Bay343]

Just out of interest, although who knows. Does anyone tow a twin axle with a two wheel drive car rather than a 4x4.

If so what car and van do you have and what weights are they.

Cheers

Mike

 

[paul_5132583]

Hi Mike, i tow a swift conqueror 640 salon, which goes 1315 - 1345 kg unladen, with a diesel Touran, kerb weight with me in it 1720kg's, however the max tow weight for the car is 1500kg's this lends towards carefull loading, however its by far the best car i have ever towed with, minimal overhang and stiff suspension together with the latest safety features make this a excellent allrounder for my use, it also tows my 5.5m rib up slippery launch sites without any problems.

The towing performance is adequate and steady, and certainly keeps up with revelant speed limits.

Regards Paul.

 

[Bazz1]

A Touran is a smart Trany Van with windows. You need to check kerbwieght of paticular chioce to fully laden wieght of caravan. Bazz.

 

[Happy-Lappy]

I tow a Lunar Quasar615 (laden @ 1350kg) with a 2ltr petrol(140bhp) Renault Espace (kerb wgt: 1490 max tow wgt: 1620) with the wife and 3 kids, I find it tows well although 5th gear can a struggle in strong headwind. When we take the full awning, I remove the 2 rearmost seats and this helps keep the GTW down. You just have to change down to a lower gear earlier on long inclines, but other than that I don't have any problem and went to France last year (Calais to Royan) and got low 20's mpg.

best regards, Martin

 

[JeremyClarksson]

We tow a Mendip Magnum (Compass Corona) 636 (1710kg MTPLM) with a Seat Alhambra 1.9 TDI (1820kg KW) it is around 95% on this but we are careful with the loading.

It is a much better tow car with more power, torque and stability than our old Shogun LWB 2.5TD and does not fall foul of the new car tax on new vehicles.

The Seat usually has lower stiffer suspension then the Galaxy/Sharan, which is big plus for towing.

Recommended - particularly for vans a little lighter than ours.

 

[Garfield]

We tow a Lunar Gemini 615TA (mtplm 1400kg) with a Ford S-max 2.0 tdci (used to use a Sharan tdi) I think I dislike 4X4's so much because so many people seem to think a caravan like ours should be towed by a 4X4, In my limited experience of towing with a 4X4, the vehicle was excellent at getting my boat across the beach and up the slipway but on the road this particular largish 4X4 was hopelessly unstable compared to an MPV.

 

[paul_5132583]

Hi Bazz, my Touran is a Volkswagen midi mpv, and is no relation to a transit van, sorry for the confusion.

Regards Paul.

 

[Geordie]

The Transit model is called a Tourneo.

 

[Geordie]

Hi Paul, I've been paying a bit of attention to the Touran as of late and could be tempted by one.

 

[mcghee]

Depending on what size twin axle your towing its perfectly within reason to tow with a saloon type car.

I myself used to tow a Swift Conqueror (1500kgs) with a Saab 900 without complaint. I have a friend who tows a Senator Wyoming with an S60. I also know someone who towed a Crusader Superstorm with a Citroen zx diesel, although that's stretching the realms of possibility a bit.

Once you get to larger twin axles, such as the 2000kg Hobby I have, a 4x4 is pretty much the only thing heavy enough should you need weight on your side. There are admittedly some MPVs with enough weight but not usually a big enough noseweight capability.

 

[Colin_374304413]

Hi Mike

I tow our twin axle Europa, which has max weight of 1640kgs, with E class estate which has kerb weight of 1740kgs. The 3.0 td engine & autobox are exceptionally good - one of the best, & fastest!, diesel towcars I've owned. In an ideal world the tow car could do with being a bit heavier but if you get a later E class estate they weigh in at about 1840kgs which makes a better match.

All the best

Col

 

[Steve L]

We tow our twenty foot Link 575 twin axle weighing in at 1365Kgs max with a 1998 Laguna 2 Litre 8V estate.

We are at 100% of the cars specified tow limit but there is plenty of power in hand to cope with the outfit.

The only considerations I take in are to pitch so that we pull off grass going slightly down hill or level, and if it's realy wet I back the van onto the pitch leaving the front drive wheels of the car on the road way.

Otherwise we have a car just as useable and able as any 4X4 but I get 30mpg towing and 42mpg solo and we can park where we like. No 66 point turns for us.

Steve L.