hi can anyone help me ive just brought a 2003 t30 nissan xtrail 2.2di with 112bhp im worried that this wont pull my heavy coachman amara 520/4 its got a mtlp of 1450kg im a bit thick and dont understand all the differant weights etc ive tried using the what tow car calculater but it doent list my car model or caravan please help will my car pull my van
TOWING MATCH ON MY NEW NISSAN
- Thread starter coachmanamara1
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- Mar 14, 2005
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Hello SK,
As far as I can tell from the databases, all the 2003 2.2Di 112bhp Xtrails are rated by the manufacture to be able to pull a braked trailer with an MTPLM of 2000Kg, So your choice of caravan is well within the cars mechanical capabilty.
Good towing as about getting a wide range of things right, not just weight ratios, so you must also be aware of nose load, good distibution of weight within both the car and the caravan, ensuring all the mechanical parts are in good order, adn in my veiw the higgest consideration is how to tow sensibly.
Bearing in mind that caravans are physically large trailers, and they present a number of towing issues which means it is always wise to keep the caravan as practicaly light weight as possible.
The the quoted kerbweights for the 2.2Di models seem to be in the region of 1615Kg which based on your quoted figures gives a notional ratio of about 89%.
So far I see nothing in the figures that worries me.
I am sure that other contributors who have similar outfits will be along soon to add a bit more detail.
As far as I can tell from the databases, all the 2003 2.2Di 112bhp Xtrails are rated by the manufacture to be able to pull a braked trailer with an MTPLM of 2000Kg, So your choice of caravan is well within the cars mechanical capabilty.
Good towing as about getting a wide range of things right, not just weight ratios, so you must also be aware of nose load, good distibution of weight within both the car and the caravan, ensuring all the mechanical parts are in good order, adn in my veiw the higgest consideration is how to tow sensibly.
Bearing in mind that caravans are physically large trailers, and they present a number of towing issues which means it is always wise to keep the caravan as practicaly light weight as possible.
The the quoted kerbweights for the 2.2Di models seem to be in the region of 1615Kg which based on your quoted figures gives a notional ratio of about 89%.
So far I see nothing in the figures that worries me.
I am sure that other contributors who have similar outfits will be along soon to add a bit more detail.
It's a fairly hefty outfit, around 3,400kg depending on car loading,but with only 112bhp it'll run out of steam on gradients - the masses of torque will be fine on the level once you get up to speed but acceleration will be leisurely.
- Mar 10, 2006
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John Watson towed with one of these, he remarked that it was one of the few cars that he considered didn't need a tuning box, or words to that effect. As the power was adequate to start with.coachman amara said:
I towed with the 134bhp version 2004, but only towed a 1333kg caravan, i never found the car lacking, and the low down torque is excellent.
Top gear equates to around 60mph, at around 2000rpm, which is max torque.
I'm assuming the 2003 model is the same.
hi thanks for your replys we used to tow it with a w reg vauxhall frontera 2.2 dti with only 115bhp towed with no problems we will just have to wait and see
Cant see the problem here like RAY we towed 1300kg with 145lbs ft for many years(zantia 1,9td) with no problems at all.As ive stated before we have 350 lbs ft now although to me it doesnt feel to be any better than the 236 lbs ft car it replaced.The only factor i can see is you might get to your destination 5 minutes later.So what.
- Jul 15, 2008
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Firstly you need to understand the term bhp/ton.
This is basically the maximum amount of power produced by a vehicle’s engine for 1 ton of vehicle weight.
Thus a 3 ton vehicle with an engine producing a maximum of 150bhp will have a figure of 50bhp/ton.
An Eddie Stobart truck will have a bhp/ton figure of 15bhp/ton (maybe less) and do around 100,000 miles a year.
Your Nissan has a figure of around 33bhp/ton and will tow how many miles?
Draw your own conclusions.
This is basically the maximum amount of power produced by a vehicle’s engine for 1 ton of vehicle weight.
Thus a 3 ton vehicle with an engine producing a maximum of 150bhp will have a figure of 50bhp/ton.
An Eddie Stobart truck will have a bhp/ton figure of 15bhp/ton (maybe less) and do around 100,000 miles a year.
Your Nissan has a figure of around 33bhp/ton and will tow how many miles?
Draw your own conclusions.
- Mar 14, 2005
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I tend agree with gaffer on this one, but power figures on their own don't tell the whole story.
I don't intend to restart the power vs torque debate(look elsewhere on the forum for that) but in simple terms the power of an engine determines how fast a given vehicle will go, where as the torque determines how quickly it will accelerate
Traditionally the caravan industry has suggested that you need about 40bhp/ton. That was a recommendation made many years ago when the vast majority of cars were petrol engined, and peak power was developed at relatively high engine rpm, and the torque figures were also much lower than today.
These days with the advent of turbo chargers and diesel engines, the you can now generally get significantly better torque figures at lower engine speeds. This is a boon for towing where you need lots of grunt to get your outfit moving at lower engine speeds. Also the modern diesels will have enough grunt to keep the outfit moving at speed with the need for changing gear so much.
As I said in my first reply, the figures for the OP's outfit seem reasonable and I believe will provide adequate acceleration, and ability to maintain driving speed without the need for excessive gear changing.
I don't intend to restart the power vs torque debate(look elsewhere on the forum for that) but in simple terms the power of an engine determines how fast a given vehicle will go, where as the torque determines how quickly it will accelerate
Traditionally the caravan industry has suggested that you need about 40bhp/ton. That was a recommendation made many years ago when the vast majority of cars were petrol engined, and peak power was developed at relatively high engine rpm, and the torque figures were also much lower than today.
These days with the advent of turbo chargers and diesel engines, the you can now generally get significantly better torque figures at lower engine speeds. This is a boon for towing where you need lots of grunt to get your outfit moving at lower engine speeds. Also the modern diesels will have enough grunt to keep the outfit moving at speed with the need for changing gear so much.
As I said in my first reply, the figures for the OP's outfit seem reasonable and I believe will provide adequate acceleration, and ability to maintain driving speed without the need for excessive gear changing.
- Sep 21, 2007
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I had a 2005 2.2 136BHP X trail and pulled a 1500kg senator with it and found it was generally ok for towing that weight. Had to keep it in 5th gear most of the time also had to change down on some motorway inclines. With your 1450kg and 112 BHP I would think that you would be in a similar position. I also found the listed kerb weight was 1520kg but I put it on a weighbridge and found it to be 1720kg. This was with me sat in the car with 3/4 tank of fuel and of course the tow bar. I would add that I thought it was an excellent car and absolutely superb in last years snow.
Regards
Mike
Regards
Mike
as to emmersons post we used to tow it with a w reg vauxhall frontera 2.2dti with only 115bhp and total weight of car and caravan was near 4000kg and it towed with no problems at all so i dont see how losing 3 horses will make a lot of differance seeing as the xtrail has more torqe and is 500kg lighter than the frontera
Personal choice, mate. I tow 1400kgs+ with 200bhp and buckets full of torque, but i'm happy to accept 14mpg.
Jeez - I tow 1250kg with 194bhp / 436Nm and complain if I get under 25mpg towing!emmerson said:
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